“Secretary Pompeo, where was Floridaman when you told him our embassy was attacked

[Pete F.]

Trump has arrived at the Trump International Golf Club in Florida for a 12th consecutive day.

Our cost to date 115 Million dollars and 99% spent at Floridaman clubs. Every club in the country would love that revenue on their bottom line.

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
Yesterday
@BarackObama
actually spent a full day in Washington. He didn't campaign, fund raise or play golf. Shocking.
12:09 PM · Nov 22, 2011·TweetDeck

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
"
@gretawire
: PresObama is not busy talking to Congress about Syria..he is playing golf ...go figure"
12:04 AM · Sep 8, 2013·Twitter for Android

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
We pay for Obama's travel so he can fundraise millions so Democrats can run on lies. Then we pay for his golf.
3:35 PM · Oct 14, 2014·Twitter Web Client

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
Can you believe that,with all of the problems and difficulties facing the U.S., President Obama spent the day playing golf.Worse than Carter
8:03 PM · Oct 13, 2014·Twitter for Android

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
@BarackObama
played golf yesterday. Now he heads to a 10 day vacation in Martha's Vineyard. Nice work ethic.
1:36 PM · Aug 15, 2011·TweetDeck

[Got Stripers]

Hypocrisy at it’s finest, Trump railed on Obama for golfing to much, so let’s compare the leisure time on the links. Obama played 333 rounds in his eight years, Trump since his inauguration has spent 252 days at Trump golf club and 333 at a Trump property, spent one in five days in 2019 at a golf club. Hard at work not.

[Pete F.]

With yet another golfing vacation on his properties, Trump keeps siphoning taxpayer cash to his accounts.

[Sea Dangles]

Well, at least we can say Merry Impeachmas
🤡🍔🤡
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[Jim in CT]

wherever Trump was when he heard, he didn’t leave the State department staff to fend
for themselves, he sent Marines and Apaches. Unlike someone else I could
mention.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by Sea Dangles

Well, at least we can say Merry Impeachmas
🤡🍔🤡
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2020 could well be a good year for our side. Not here in CT, though...
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[Duke41]

boring

[Pete F.]

So after 3 years of no international crises, Floridaman is facing one with Iran because he has rejected diplomacy & another with N Korea because he thought he knew how to do diplomacy. He will face both with little allied backing, less interagency process, & amidst impeachment. Happy New Year.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[detbuch]

Originally Posted by Pete F.

So after 3 years of no international crises, Floridaman is facing one with Iran because he has rejected diplomacy & another with N Korea because he thought he knew how to do diplomacy. He will face both with little allied backing, less interagency process, & amidst impeachment. Happy New Year.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

You keep painting the destruction of DJT. Fiction, conjecture, reveries of manufactured facts that soothe your angst must all be a great comfort to you. As you keep reminding us to do--keep believing.

[Raider Ronnie]

Originally Posted by Pete F.

So after 3 years of no international crises, Floridaman is facing one with Iran because he has rejected diplomacy & another with N Korea because he thought he knew how to do diplomacy. He will face both with little allied backing, less interagency process, & amidst impeachment. Happy New Year.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Do you realize how stupid you look calling him “Floridaman”
Trump is 100% New York with the I don’t give a #^&#^&#^&#^& attitude
Just put a gun to your head and get it over with you’re so #^&#^&#^&#^&ing miserable.
You’re going to really loose your mind come nov 3-4th

[spence]

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

wherever Trump was when he heard, he didn’t leave the State department staff to fend
for themselves, he sent Marines and Apaches. Unlike someone else I could
mention.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

John? Facepalm emoji...now...please?
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[Jim in CT]

i can see why you’re looking for a facepalm. S&P up 28%, low unemployment, wages up, a trillion dollars repatriated, the caliphate on the run, and a president who won’t sit in his hands while state department staff are threatened in the middle east. I can see why you are so exasperated.
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[The Dad Fisherman]

Originally Posted by spence

John? Facepalm emoji...now...please?
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

We’ve been waiting for the Butt Hurt emoji going on 3 years now, so it could be awhile.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[Jim in CT]

the siege at the embassy is over, at least for now.

all you need to know about the difference between the current and previous
president, is how they responded to embassy threats in the middle east.
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[wdmso]

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

the siege at the embassy is over, at least for now.

all you need to know about the difference between the current and previous
president, is how they responded to embassy threats in the middle east.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Yes 1 responded not with a military response, guys like you insist wasnt allowed and would have helped ( not) and Trump who caused the attack on the embassy in Iraq using a contractor's death as his justifacation to killing 24 Iraqis who may or may not had any connections to the incident. To poke Iran. Not smart

[Jim in CT]

wdmso, youre saying a military response wouldn’t have helped in Benghazi. Seriously?
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[Pete F.]

What happened in Iraq is just another example of the Floridaman administration's incompetence and inability to keep it's mouth shut. It's all about the ratings for Floridaman.

1. At @CNASdc we’ve been doing a study on Israel’s campaign against Iran in Syria where Israel has hit 1000 targets, rolled back Iran’s efforts and not triggered a war. interesting lessons learned. ALL OF WHICH TRUMP’S TEAM HAS IGNORED IN THE MOST INCOMPETENT WAY THIS WEEK
2. Lesson 1: think carefully about your public posture. Israel doesn’t come out publicly after every strike and often doesn’t take responsibility putting less pressure on Iran to respond and escalate.
3. Israel isn’t entirely silent. sometimes articles do mysteriously appear in the Arab press days later with no attribution. Sometimes Israeli leaders and military officials do let on. There is a deterrent value in the Iranians knowing where the strikes came from.
4. But israel does this carefully and they didn’t at all when they first started the campaign two years ago because they didn’t want to trigger Iranian retaliation.
5. Instead the US is owning everything publicly and rubbing the Iraqi government’s and Iran’s face in it. Pictures of marines deploying to Baghdad. Public readouts of calls with foreign leaders.
6. On the record briefings for journalists. This is all really provocative. It doesn’t “reestablish deterrence.” It provokes retaliation
7. Lesson 2: be proportionate and limit casualties. The Israelis go so far as to sometimes purposefully miss with the first shot on a target. Then many of the Iranian supported militia and Qods Force runaway. And Israel destroys the weapons, but avoid bigger escalation.
8. Clearly didn’t happen in this case. Instead we killed 24 Iraqis in response to one US fatality. Of course it was seen not as “establishing deterrence” but as escalation.
9. Lesson 3: factor in the reactions of key political players. Netanyahu has gone to great lengths to negotiate an arrangement with Putin that gives Israel a green light to conduct these strikes while avoiding an Israel-Russia confrontation.
10. And before every strike, the IDF games out the possible reactions of key militia groups, Assad, Iran, Turkey, Kurds, and others.
11. Clearly US didn’t do any of that. We didn’t even coordinate with the Iraqi government!! There was a scenario with a small limited quiet strike that the Iraqi govt would have supported or stayed quiet about. Instead this totally blows up in our face
12. Lesson 4: intelligence intelligence intelligence. Israelis emphasize that they have operated in Syria far longer than Iran, are physically closer and have a better intel picture on what is happening on the ground.
13. It is this information advantage which gives them the confidence to operate in Syria without triggering major Iranian retaliation.
14. Iran clearly has a better sense of what is going on on the ground in Iraq than the US does. Iran borders Iraq. The political and cultural ties are deep and Iran has a lot of Intel assets deployed there.
15. The US embassy staff is stuck in the green zone and since the scale down of our diplomatic presence a few months ago is disconnected from what is going on.
16. When you are at such a disadvantage, it is not a good environment In which to pick a fight and try to conduct very limited and careful strikes and a delicate political environment.
17. Lesson 5: have limited clear objectives. The Israeli objectives with these strikes is simply to degrade Iranian precision guided missile capabilities in Syria. That’s it. Very straightforward.
18. Trump administration’s objectives towards Iran are entirely unclear and confused. Were these strikes just to reestablish deterrence? If so they should have been much more limited.
19. Or was it to push Iran back in the region, get at Pompeo’s 12 points which are Hopelessly unrealistic. When it comes to Iran Policy (and many other things) The administration has no clear sense of what it is trying to do, which is a massive problem.
20. Lesson 6: operate in an arena where you have the military advantage. Israel has a major conventional advantage over Iran in Syria and no troops on the ground who could be easy targets for Iranian retaliation.
21. It’s very hard for Iran to hit Israel as evidenced by its limited and failed efforts to use drones to strike Israeli territory in response.
22. But in Iraq the US has troops and diplomats, which are targets for Iranian militia. And Iranian supported militias vastly outnumber the US presence creating vulnerability for retaliation which gives Iran the advantage.
23. And even with all this cafe, it’s complicated the Israelis triggered a major crisis with Russia when Syrian air defenses took out a Russian plane last year while trying to respond to an Israeli strike
24. But Bottom line: The Israelis have conducted in Syria an impressive, careful well thought out campaign to push back on Iranian influence in Syria and there is much the US could learn from.
25. The Trump administration this week conducted a master class in precisely how NOT to do this.
from Ilan Goldenberg

Middle East Security Director at CNAS. Former ”deep stater.” Iran, Israel-Palestine, broader regional issues.

[Jim in CT]

So Trump should have let Iran help murder an american citizen without repercussions?
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[Pete F.]

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

So Trump should have let Iran help murder an american citizen without repercussions?
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Israel has hit 1000 targets, rolled back Iran’s efforts and not triggered a war.

[Pete F.]

He was fine with the Saudis killing and cutting up a reporter.

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by Pete F.

Israel has hit 1000 targets, rolled back Iran’s efforts and not triggered a war.

Did Trump trigger a war? What in God’s name are you talking about?
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by Pete F.

He was fine with the Saudis killing and cutting up a reporter.

(1) The victim was a Saudi, not an American. Is that going too fast for you?

(2) Trump condemned the assassination, look it up. But you hatred is so deranged, you have to lie about him.

(3) you’re criticizing trump for retaliating for the murder of an american. You’re also criticizing Trump for not retaliating for the murder of a Saudi.

That’s some serious logic there. Tell me more.

Zero logic, zero consistency. Whatever Trump does, is wrong. We get it. Aren’t you embarrassed?
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[wdmso]

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

wdmso, youre saying a military response wouldn’t have helped in Benghazi. Seriously?
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Absolutely not , I have covered this in past post, look how long it took for them to reinforce the embassy in Iraq , those Marines more than likely came from Al Asad air base , 1 hr flight time to Baghdad Via Sea stallions yet it still took 24hrs to get the boots on the ground

Iraq Syria N Korea Iran Trumps policy and US policy don't appear to be aligned

[Jim in CT]

wdmso, you’re correct that a 24 hour response time would not have helped those fighting in Benghazi. But the closest help wasn’t 24 hours away, it was no further than Italy.

If troops are a 1 hour flight away, then there’s no reason why it has to take 24 hours to deliver them. Regardless of political party, a president shouldn’t put people in harms way if it’s not possible to get them help. it’s not acceptable for it to take 24 hours to pull
off a one hour flight, not when lives are at stake. Work out the system ahead of time.

You disagree?
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[wdmso]

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

So Trump should have let Iran help murder an american citizen without repercussions?
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

You act as if the contractor didn't know the risks, he was exposing himself to .
But by using Murder to describe his death you've fallen under Trumps spell


Many Americans were killed in their Humvees with a road side bomb called an EFP. That were provided by Iran and given to the Mahdi army, also known as the Mahdi Militia, yet we didn't use these deaths in public as a spring board to further the war , some see our presence as an occupation and attacks on military bases as legitimized targets

Look at world history and how using the deaths of individuals as a rallying cry! as a justification towards escalating tensions

It never ends well

[wdmso]

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

wdmso, you’re correct that a 24 hour response time would not have helped those fighting in Benghazi. But the closest help wasn’t 24 hours away, it was no further than Italy.

If troops are a 1 hour flight away, then there’s no reason why it has to take 24 hours to deliver them. Regardless of political party, a president shouldn’t put people in harms way if it’s not possible to get them help. it’s not acceptable for it to take 24 hours to pull
off a one hour flight, not when lives are at stake. Work out the system ahead of time.

You disagree?
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

People watch to many movies, there are plans but all are subject to resources and chain of command weather priority mechanical issues the list is endless , it's like calling 911 if your house is the only house on fire you my see a better response , it's a roll of the dice and a big world

[Pete F.]

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

(1) The victim was a Saudi, not an American. Is that going too fast for you?

US intelligence agencies do have a clear “duty to warn” any individual, US citizen or not, of any known violent threats against them. A 2015 directive to the National Security Act, issued by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, requires the US to give “non-US persons” notice of “impending threats of intentional killing, serious bodily injury, or kidnapping.”

The US knew that Khashoggi was a target. US intelligence agents intercepted a plan to lure Khashoggi back to to the US, the Washington Post reported Oct. 10. An unnamed National Security Agency official also told the Observer’s John Schindler that US intelligence had learned that Riyadh “had something unpleasant in store for Khashoggi,” at least a day before Khashoggi went to the embassy in Istanbul. The “threat warning was communicated to the White House through official intelligence channels,” Schindler writes, but it’s not clear whether Khashoggi ever received the warning.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has refused to comment on why Khashoggi was not warned.

(2) Trump condemned the assassination, look it up. But you hatred is so deranged, you have to lie about him.
CIA concludes Saudi crown prince ordered Jamal Khashoggi’s assassination
“We don’t like it even a little bit. But whether or not we should stop $110 billion from being spent in this country… That would not be acceptable to me,” Trump said last October 11, when asked whether he would cancel billions of dollars in weapons sales to Saudi Arabia if its leaders were implicated in the assassination. “I don’t like stopping massive amounts of money that’s being poured into our country.” Never mind that his numbers were as usual total baloney.

(3) you’re criticizing trump for retaliating for the murder of an american. You’re also criticizing Trump for not retaliating for the murder of a Saudi.

That’s some serious logic there. Tell me more.

I did not say that and neither did Iilan. It's not about the ratings and putting more Americans in harms way is not the way to do it.

Zero logic, zero consistency. Whatever Trump does, is wrong. We get it. Aren’t you embarrassed?
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

You support him without question and battle endlessly, are you projecting again?

Floridaman is incompetent and has no clue how to run foreign policy, his best are far from it, more and more becoming a gang of yes men.
Look at his results

North Korea where what easing there has been is owed much more to the new president of South Korea, Moon Jae-in, than to Floridaman and his silly "relationship".

Iran the administration’s Iran non-strategy, aka maximum-pressure campaign, just like pretty much all other foreign policy initiatives of this administration, has been implemented over the objection of all our democratic allies except Israel, because this administration is all but incapable of working with democratic partners.

Russia Ronald Reagan successfully bankrupted the Soviet Union after its invasion of Afghanistan; Trump, by contrast, wants to cede Ukraine and Syria to Russia. Did you see any American support for anti-government protests in Moscow? What about Paul Whelan?

China Hong Kong protests, where Floridaman uses “rioters”—the term preferred by the Chinese Communist Party—to refer to the protesters. He ignores the Chinese threat beyond economics and has never talked about the military threat that China poses. Never mind how much his unilateral trade wars have cost us.

NATO NATO members had already in 2014— before Trump became president—begun increasing their military spending, due in part to the prodding of Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Never mind the low regard our NATO allies have of Trump and his comments alluding that maybe we won't step up if needed.

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by wdmso

You act as if the contractor didn't know the risks, he was exposing himself to .
But by using Murder to describe his death you've fallen under Trumps spell


Many Americans were killed in their Humvees with a road side bomb called an EFP. That were provided by Iran and given to the Mahdi army, also known as the Mahdi Militia, yet we didn't use these deaths in public as a spring board to further the war , some see our presence as an occupation and attacks on military bases as legitimized targets

Look at world history and how using the deaths of individuals as a rallying cry! as a justification towards escalating tensions

It never ends well

"You act as if the contractor didn't know the risks, he was exposing himself to "

You're literally making up gibberish. I didn't say he didn't know the risks, I said that those who murdered him, deserve to be punished. A cop knows the risks, that doesn't mean we don't serve swift justice on anyone who murders a cop.

How could you POSSIBLY conclude, that by saying I want justice, that means the contractor didn't know what he was signing up for?

[Jim in CT]

Pete is criticizing Trump for retaliating against the murder of a US citizen. He is also criticizing Trump for not retaliating against the murder of a Saudi citizen. Logic galore...

[The Dad Fisherman]

Originally Posted by wdmso

You act as if the contractor didn't know the risks, he was exposing himself to .
But by using Murder to describe his death you've fallen under Trumps spell

Classic victim blaming
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