General Mattis To Resign

[babe]

Putin claims the US does not have a legal right to be in Syria, without either the invitation of Syria or a UN-sanctioned action there.

I don't care. If there are people being slaughtered, a genocidal "cleansing" on either religious, political or ethnic lines, I'm in.

We could not expect the UN to be a reliable authority on human rights, or a "Legal" basis for anything. I think the UN is an abomination. What, the US is still the only nation on planet earth with elections that count? The UN has no elected officials or representatives at all.

Russia is the kind of oligarchy we would be if the Dems complete their power grab.

I think Trump's move is strategic. There was this big Bowery War planned by the world elites, which they could all watch from their pow-wows down in Thailand served by underage sex-slaves, get drunk, pass out and puke on the marble floors.... while thinning the herd of useless breeders. How much clout do our bomb-makers and fighter manufacturers need to make, anyway.

Trump just said "Deal me out." We've got all the refugees wending our way from Venezuela and half a dozen little failed socialist paradises that we can take care of.

I'd get outta Afghan too. Let China, Russia, and India get back to their ages of failed raids into those mountains. Afghan will never be anybody's little trophy.

 

[babe]

Well since its likely that the worlds next nuclear event will be a terrorist event and the perpetrators will likely be from that region and the victims will likely live in New York, Washington, London Paris or Berlin i would say that it is Americas problem. I could go on and on and on but why bother?

Not sure about our newb here, bro. A little too pat to be a genuine conservative American doin' the Isolationist gig.

I'd think, however, that we have more to fear from our run-amok intelligence services than wild-eyed religious fanatics.

No. I say if we cleaned out the darkside of our own establishment we would not be anybody's target.

It's time for the principles of Locke, of the Magna Carta.... and of the genuine renaissance that propelled the West to some great accomplishments arising from the bare-boned reality of actual human liberty.

Dump your scholastic fantasies of good government done right by the right people.... the ideological mantras of progressivism. I know it will be a tough sale in the middle east, which measures "good" by all the presumptions folks can lump into "Allah", but it's no easy sale either with the religious progressives who love so much being their own damn God.

Human beings have innate rights, and deserve every right they hope for, including
a government answerable to them.

The American Revolution deserves a worldwide rebirth.

I say that, mate, as a blue-blooded descendant of King George III himself, who was a fool, maybe an imbecile.... but worst of all a dupe of the British Merchants and bankers who ran slavers to the Americas to fetch cotton, lumber and sugar for their mills, then dumped finished cloth goods on India and persuaded them to grow opium to be sold at force of arms in China. Rascals.

These were the folks who had their men installed in the colonies as "government" who tried to make the point about who is the boss of who.

nah.

We don't want Facebook paying Snopes or Wikipedia to create a new programmed knowledge base to sweep skeptics outta sight in social media, nor do we like Xi's sort of China with everybody monitored for everything they say online as the basis for sending the paddy wagons around to collect the derelicts in need of "re-education".

If there is a brave new world with a bluer sky ahead, it will come from dumping our present elites and going back to Locke.

So Trump tried to form a cabinet in an inclusive manner, bringing in folks representative of various elements of our present government, tried including "establishment" folks. It didn't work because no one really wanted to work with him.

Dunno what he can do without them. Maybe not much. But Mattis even said he deserves to have people who will support him. Mattis is merely jumping ship, expecting to be picked up by the Good Olde HMS Council of Foreign Relations.

 

[fishonjazz]

Should we build a wall around Russia instead? That’ll show him.

Yes we should. And russia will pay for it!

 

[fishonjazz]

Good heck man.

Take a step back.

Can you see yourself and all the other Russia Gaters for what it is? You dont think that the constant airing of Russian conspiracy theories is brain washing you just a little bit?

****ing Russia everything. What the hell is going on? Propaganda is is so much more effective than I could ever imagined. This **** is insane. Half this country is walking around like mindless zombies repeating Russia Russia Russia Russia everything .

Its propaganda. Its 100% political propaganda and you are taking it hook line and sinker. This **** is sad. I thought most people were smarter than this.

Turn off the tv. Look out your door. What does Russia have to do with anything? You would think they were marching up and down our streets taking over our country by how much they are being talked about.

I think you are overreacting. In my day to day life I literally never hear anyone ever talk about russia. I never ever think about russia.

You should try turning off the internet and tv, look out your door..... the propaganda is effecting you way too much i think.

 

[Gameface]

Just curious. Why does Russia have to be our enemy?

Because they choose to be.

 

[Red]

Isnt it about time America bows out of babysitting the middle east and let them take care of their own problems? Its exactly what they want anyways. Anything you do is criticized and unappreciated anyways. Its not the job of the American people to solve everyone's problems. Especially since we are going broke doing it, and we havent solved anything and have only made things worse.

Yeah, we abandoned allies that fought alongside us in Vietnam too. Now it's the Kurds turn to learn abandonment is how we repay those who laid down their lives fighting along side us.

I don't want to be the world's policeman. We have 800 bases around the world. We are the imperial power of this age. But I think we have done things that bring dishonor upon us.

I do not have the answers to the problems that are spinning out of control in the Mideast. I do not know how the Shia and Sunni Muslims solve their age long differences. I do not know how the power struggle for control of the Mideast being waged, directly, and by proxy, between Iran and Saudi Arabia, will be diffused. But I do know we did thrust ourselves into that struggle. I do know that Trump chose Saudi Arabia, and abandoned the agreement with Iran.

We should not think for one second that the allliance of the US, Israel, and Saudi Arabia vs. Iran and its proxies and allies is suddenly no more. Our Senate passed a resolution to end American assistance in Saudi Arabia and Iran's proxy war in Yemen. Do you think for one second that Trump will abandon the Saudi's interests here? Yemen is now the worst humanitarian crisis since the end of WWII. Over 100,000 children dying from starvation. Do you think Trump gives a damn about that war more then he gives a damn about the $$$ he makes from Saudis?

But we can be sure, that in the case of the Kurds, we are once again saying to an ally that trusted us and died along side us "F you, thanks, you're on your own now. Best of luck".

 

[Red]

I think it’s worth questioning why Trump’s recent foreign policy decisions are to the apparent benefit of dictators

"Trump has won, which is an obvious fact, but not everyone is willing to accept this victory,” Mr. Putin said. “They have been doing their utmost to delegitimize their president.”

Mattis made it clear in his resignation letter that he cannot agree with a president who abandons our alliances and embraces our adversaries.

I suspect, at this point, that Trump simply does not, and never has, had America's best interests in mind. I suspect the reason lies in this direction:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opin...rrett-graff-thinks-so/?utm_term=.4beeee7705df

"The completely inconceivable idea that . . . the president of the United States is an active agent of Russian intelligence, no longer seems completely unthinkable.”

Yeah, you can conclude that Trump does not listen to advisors, does not read briefings, is only interested in appeasing his base, and that's all true, but you can also see his efforts to advance Russia's interests, when he is able, as based on more then just Trump acting on his gut feelings, or keeping promises to his base. I am willing to believe that we put a traitor in office. That is likely the most extreme way to interpret Trump's foreign policy up to this point, but I do believe it's a very real possibility.

 

[Red]

Just curious. Why does Russia have to be our enemy?

Ideally, our elections should be free of underhanded interference from a foreign power. The degree to which Putin and Russia did just that in our 2016 election is simply not the actions of a friend. It really seems like the actions of an enemy.

Or do you think Putin was thinking alongside these lines: "I love America so much. What can I do to help them? Perhaps we can help Trump become their president. That would be so good for their well being, and I love them so much, and I love the ideals they claim to stand for. Let's do it, and let's keep it a secret. They have such pride, they would be so embarrassed if they knew we cared this much and were helping them like this."

Sure, it would be great if America and Russia were the best of friends. But they have not acted as friends, and Russia is nothing but a mafia state, an alliance of Putin, oligarchs, and intelligence agencies in a well oiled criminal enterprise. They are a criminal state. Dissenters, esp. journalists, are routinely murdered. I would be more discriminating when choosing who I want as a friend. Of course, our own president is the Don of a criminal family, so I can see why Putin and Trump might admire each other and feel a kinship.

 

[Deleted member 365]

Were all of his advisors opposed to the idea? Who are our so called allies that you’re talking about? Does any foreign action that the US takes need to always be in agreement with our so called allies?

So called allies? We understand that our allies embroiled in that Syrian civil war are doing so because we plunged them into war in Iraq, right? Without Iraq, it’s very unlikely we would’ve seen an Arab spring, Syrian civil war, and rise of ISIS (an offshoot of al queda iraq).

So before we insult our allies as being “so called” maybe we should show them some respect?

And absolutely every decision should be made with allies in mind. That’s called, “being a good ally.” We shouldn’t emulate Russia.

 

[Deleted member 365]

Because they choose to be.

Right? Why do so many Americans not understand this? Are they really so reliant on Fox News propaganda that they don't understand that Russia is one of the worst countries in the world? Their record on human rights, freedom of the press, and anti-democratic aggression in the world makes them the west's #1 enemy. And it's not like this is anything new. They've been our biggest enemy since the close of WWII with a brief intermission in the 1990s.

I think a lot of posters here could benefit by learning just basics on the history of the previous century. Just basics that Fox News and Breitbart obviously either ignore or twist to promote their anti-democratic agendas.

 

[Deleted member 365]

I think this move was alarming for several reasons:

#1 It appears to be a big Christmas gift to Putin. Which brings up the question, how many other policies are being influenced by our President who's clearly favoring the world's worst dictator? How much is this going to hurt the west? Donald chants, "America First" but his actions scream, "America LAST."
#2 It signals to the world that we are weak, retreating, and clearly disorganized. Our government is in complete chaos. If our enemies want to hit us hard they could easily do so right now and have great success.
#3 It destroys relationships with allies. Alliances are built over long periods of trust. Donald ruined all of that in one tweet without notifying anyone of importance about it. Why trust in America anymore?
#4 With China and Russia becoming increasingly more aggressive, we need to hold the western alliance together. This doesn't do that. If Russia invaded Ukraine today, would we have a response? If the answer is no, then we have major problems. I think we all know what the answer is...

 

[Hotdog]

Ideally, our elections should be free of underhanded interference from a foreign power. The degree to which Putin and Russia did just that in our 2016 election is simply not the actions of a friend. It really seems like the actions of an enemy.

Or do you think Putin was thinking alongside these lines: "I love America so much. What can I do to help them? Perhaps we can help Trump become their president. That would be so good for their well being, and I love them so much, and I love the ideals they claim to stand for. Let's do it, and let's keep it a secret. They have such pride, they would be so embarrassed if they knew we cared this much and were helping them like this."

Sure, it would be great if America and Russia were the best of friends. But they have not acted as friends, and Russia is nothing but a mafia state, an alliance of Putin, oligarchs, and intelligence agencies in a well oiled criminal enterprise. They are a criminal state. Dissenters, esp. journalists, are routinely murdered. I would be more discriminating when choosing who I want as a friend. Of course, our own president is the Don of a criminal family, so I can see why Putin and Trump might admire each other and feel a kinship.

Well, I for one dont feel they had any influence on my decision, and I doubt they influenced anybody to vote for Trump. He didnt need Russia at all. Its a false narrative that they had any impact.

Im highly suspect of your sincerity of caring about rigged elections when Hillary rigged the DNC, yet you and many others had no problem voting for her when you knew what she did. Also, you dont seem to care too much about non citizens voting. Which has far more of an impact on the results than whatever Russia supposedly did. So all this dismay about rigged elections coming from the left is just BS.

On another note. I dont think anyone in the US has any right to complain about outside influence on elections when the US is notorious for interfering with other countries affairs.