Military 2 | ***Dave Does the Blog

Puerto Rico isn’t the only place being neglected post-hurricane

Maybe the Commander-in-Chief can ship the Marines at Camp Lejeune some paper towels.

Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, home of a third of the Marine Corps’ combat power, is still unrepaired after Hurricane Florence hit last year. And the next hurricane season is only months away.

camp lejeune hurricane damage — Hurricane damage at Camp Lejeune

The Marines say they need $3.6 billion to repair the damage to more than 900 buildings at Camp Lejeune, Marine Corps Air Station New River, and Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point caused by the storm and catastrophic flooding in its aftermath. And while they have torn down soggy, moldy walls, put tarps on roofs and moved Marines into trailers, so far they have not received a penny from the federal government to fix the damage.
Now the Marine Corps’ top officer is warning that readiness at Camp Lejeune — home to one third of the Corps’ total combat power — is degraded and “will continue to degrade given current conditions.” In a recent memo to Navy Secretary Richard Spencer, Commandant Gen. Robert Neller cited, among other “negative factors,” the diversion of resources to the border, where the Trump administration has sent active-duty troops to patrol and plans to use military funding to pay for a wall.

Well, as long as the money is going to something important.

Do you want to know more? Camp Lejeune is still a mess 6 months after Hurricane Florence. Where’s the money for repairs?

Continued concerns about the F-35 and cyber-security

I love the smell of Massive, Innovative IT Projects in the morning.

The F-35’s promise — to be the single be-all and end-all of every combat mission that any service (of any nation) might want to fly — has always been terribly seductive, as has throwing every high-tech idea under the sun at the plane, from fully integrated data and networking systems, to the plane being able to tell ground-based logistics what sort of repairs and parts it needs.

But as anyone who has done any sort of large, innovative project, esp. one prone to scope creep (and where such creep profits the party doing the work), such efforts tend to be extremely expensive, as the F-35 has clearly demonstrated. It also has tended to create a complicated jet where a flaw over here can have unexpected consequences over there — and, as a fully networked combat system, something that may be vulnerable to cyber-attack.

Fortunately, we’re not building this to go against any enemies that can do cyber-attacks, are we?

Most worryingly, a report in October from the US government’s General Accountability Office found the Department of Defense had failed to protect the software used to control the F-35’s weapons systems. Testers could take control of weapons with “relatively simple tools and techniques.”
To give you an idea of how the interconnected nature of the F-35’s computer systems is a massive vulnerability in of itself: separate subsystems, such as the Active Electronically Scanned Array radar, Distributed Aperture System, and the Communications, Navigation, and Identification Avionics System, all share data. Thus, the GAO’s auditors warned, just compromising one of these components could bring down the others.
“A successful attack on one of the systems the weapon depends on can potentially limit the weapon’s effectiveness, prevent it from achieving its mission, or even cause physical damage and loss of life,” said the GAO team.

Of course, certainly the contractor and the government have been diligent about finding and plugging any security issues.

“As in previous years, cybersecurity testing shows that many previously confirmed F-35 vulnerabilities have not been fixed, meaning that enemy hackers could potentially shut down the ALIS network, steal secret data from the network and onboard computers, and perhaps prevent the F-35 from flying or from accomplishing its missions,” Grazier wrote.
As for penetration testing of the ALIS system, Uncle Sam dropped the ball, the independent watchdog suggested. Rather than unleash a DoD red team of hackers on the code, the US government paid F-35 manufacturer Lockheed Martin to do it, and just accepted the results. Such hands-off regulation didn’t work out so great for Boeing and America’s aviator regulator, the FAA.

Well, at the very least, I’m sure the Pentagon has no officers who feel their careers are caught up inextricably in the F-35’s success and would therefore push the plane forward before it’s ready for combat, and certainly they wouldn’t be already moving forward with retiring existing successful combat aircraft before the F-35 has demonstrated it can do the job, right?

Right?

Do you want to know more? Easy-to-hack combat systems, years-old flaws and a massive bill – yup, that’s America’s F-35 • The Register

Finally, a job we can all agree we’d rather have done by a robot

People often express a lot of concern about how robots are taking human jobs. Here’s a job I think pretty much any human worker would be willing to hand over to the machines: disassembling and decommissioning obsolete cluster munitions for the US military.

Roboticists keep saying that robots are there for jobs that are dull, dirty, or dangerous. The best robots are busy doing at least two out of three of those things at once, and the disassembly and recycling of thousands of M26 rockets (about 700,000 bomblets) seems like it would definitely qualify as dull, and mostly likely also qualify as dangerous several times over.

Here’s to the brave Sandia Labs-programmed robots at the Multiple Launch Rocket System Recycle Facility at the Anniston Munitions Center in Alabama — may they never unionize.

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Nuclear powered military bases? What could go wrong?

The US Army sometimes finds itself with bases that don’t have easy or reliable access to an electrical infrastructure. The alternative is diesel generators and the like, but those require an expensive and vulnerable logistical pathway for bringing in additional fuel.

So some Pentagon boffin has come up with the idea of building portable nuclear power plants to generate electricity. Such plants could be trucked or even flown in, and provide a steady, no-fuel-needed power supply to bases in the middle of the Iraqi desert, in Afghanistan, etc.

Sounds like a great, even futuristic idea, right? Until you start to think about what a beautiful target such plants would make — either to steal enriched uranium from, or simply to blow up and contaminate the entire area. And given that these things would be being sent into, by definition, war zones … well, it suddenly stops sounding like such a great idea.

Which concerns don’t seem to be slowing down the US Army from going out and seeking quotes …

Asinine prank “may” trigger discipline?

It's hard to believe that theft of Air Force's mascot, which led to injuries of the gyrfalcon's wings to the extent there was concern she might need to be euthanized, wouldn't "trigger discipline."

❝ Aurora, a 22-year-old rare gyrfalcon, was injured over the weekend when she and another falcon were stolen, wrapped in sweaters and shoved in dog crates while on the road in West Point, N.Y., for the Air Force/Army football game. Aurora is the lead mascot for the academy’s football, basketball and hockey teams. ❞

Which seems a pretty direct violation of the Army Cadet Honor Code: ""A Cadet will not lie, cheat, steal or tolerate those who do." Indeed, failure to discipline the two yahoos who did this would seem to "tolerate" such an action.

West Point prank that injured beloved Air Force Academy falcon may trigger discipline
Aurora, the Air Force Academy’s 22-year-old falcon mascot, is recovering at home after she was injured in a prank at West Point.

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Because of course Trump wants more nukes and less nuke worker safety

Donald is ramping up production of more nuclear warheads, while at the same time slashing the size and the authority of the agency tasked with making sure nuclear warhead production is safe.

Because of course he is.

White House Hobbles Nuclear Weapons Safety Agency
As Trump calls for new bomb production, the administration cuts safety board access to nuclear facilities

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The Great “Negotiator”

So the US has given up, unilaterally and without any agreement by either our own Defense Dept. or our ally South Korea, the joint exercises we have engaged with annually with the South. North Korea always purported to hate these, and sometimes lobbed weaponry around when they happened, but both the US and the South had always maintained they were critical for the conventional protection of South Korea against a conventional attack from the North.

Pfft. Gone. Too “expensive” and, in Trump’s own words (though echoing North Korea’s), “very provocative.”

And what does Donald get in return for this? A vaguely worded pinky-swear by the North, echoing similar pledges in the past two decades, to denuclearize the whole peninsula.

Trump insisted he believed Kim was determined to disarm, adding that at the end of the summit, the North Korean leader had offered to destroy an engine-testing site that is part of the country’s missile programme. “He’s de-nuking,” Trump told ABC News. “I mean, he’s de-nuking the whole place. It’s going to start very quickly. I think he’s going to start now.”

You “think he’s going to start now.” Wow.

Well, at least you know precisely what denuclearization is going to look like, right?

Missing from the joint statement was the definition, promoted up until now by the Trump administration, of complete, verifiable, irreversible dismantlement (CVID). Asked at a press conference why those terms were not included, Trump said: “There was no time. I am here one day.”

Well, I’m glad you gave it all so much due thought and consideration, Donald, before kicking an ally to the curb and giving way on a concrete and verifiable activity in return for your telepathic belief that Kim is going to follow through on just what he’s failed to follow through on multiple times.

And you were there only one day, so those four words couldn’t somehow be included in the text of the agreement? Gee, if only you had a State Dept. that could, I don’t know, do much of anything, they might have had this all set up to go when you arrived for your “one day” rush visit. Or maybe if you had bothered to stick around for more than one day, you might have been able to actually get the agreement that the North is almost certain to violate to have some teeth in it.

This would be a world embarrassment no matter who the president was. That it was this particularly president who has always boasted that he can win any negotiation, and artfully manage any deal he pleases … well, it would be funny, except for how it involves, y’know, North Korea and nuclear weapons.

Kim played Trump like a sohaegeum. And he’ll never admit it, even if he realizes it.

US to suspend military exercises with South Korea, Trump says | US news | The Guardian

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In Memoriam

The people who have served and died in our armed forces are a mixed bag, as any collection of humans would be. Some were drafted; others volunteered. Some were drawn by patriotic service; others by the benefits. Some joined in times of peace; others in times of war. Some were born in this country; others were immigrants, legal or otherwise. Some fought and died in conflicts I agreed with; others in conflicts I opposed; some died outside of combat altogether.

But draftee or volunteer, patriot or poltroon, exemplar of nobility or war criminal, action hero or person hugging their foxhole wishing all the noise would stop … all of them lost their life in the service of our nation, and for that we remember both their sacrifice, and the sacrifice of those whose lives were impacted by those deaths.

War is hell. Glorifying it or myth-making about it is rarely a good thing. But ultimately, though every soldier serves for their own reasons, and in their own way, remembering and even honoring those whose service led to their deaths is a worthwhile thing to do, if only to make sure that those whose service should be honored are not forgotten, and that the cost we pay for having and using our armed forces is not just measured in budget line items.

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Tweetizen Trump – 2018-05-28: “Memorial Day”

Memorial Day is a day set aside in memory of American soldiers who have fallen in combat.

So, Donald, what is the President of the United States up to?

You do start off nicely with a glossy recorded video about Memorial Day, focused mostly on your interaction with the child of a dead soldier last Memorial Day.

#MemorialDay🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/Iohcuhi4dQ
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 28, 2018

Still, it’s a nice sentiment overall, in keeping with the subject of the occasion. It would have been a solid capstone on the festivities to just leave things there.

But you’ve never been one to leave good enough alone, Donald.

Happy Memorial Day! Those who died for our great country would be very happy and proud at how well our country is doing today. Best economy in decades, lowest unemployment numbers for Blacks and Hispanics EVER (& women in 18years), rebuilding our Military and so much more. Nice!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 28, 2018

Happy Memorial Day! Those who died for our great country would be very happy and proud at how well our country is doing today. Best economy in decades, lowest unemployment numbers for Blacks and Hispanics EVER (& women in 18years), rebuilding our Military and so much more. Nice!

Um, this is kind of a day to celebrate the lives and sacrifices of soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice for their nation, not of a guy with a convenient set of bone spurs, whose boastful “personal Viet Nam” was avoiding STDs.

Instead, this tweet suddenly seems all about … you. Your personal accomplishments in office. You frame it as about how all those dead soldiers would be “very happy and proud” about your ostensible accomplishments with the economy, though I’m kind of dubious about your ability to speak for people who have died in the line of duty, Donald.

Well, I’m sure that’s where you left things, right? I mean, it’s Memorial Day, a time for sober reflection and focus on those fallen soldiers.

Nope. You started watching — and regurgitating — Fox News about “Spygate”. On freaking Memorial Day.

“The President deserves some answers.” @FoxNews in discussing “SPYGATE.”
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 28, 2018

“Sally Yates is part of concerns people have raised about bias in the Justice Dept. I find her actions to be really quite unbelievable.” Jonathan Turley
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 28, 2018

“We now find out that the Obama Administration put the opposing campaigns presidential candidate, or his campaign, under investigation. That raises legitimate questions. I just find this really odd…this goes to the heart of our electoral system.” Jonathan Turley on @FoxNews
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 28, 2018

“The President deserves some answers.” @FoxNews in discussing “SPYGATE.”
“Sally Yates is part of concerns people have raised about bias in the Justice Dept. I find her actions to be really quite unbelievable.” Jonathan Turley
“We now find out that the Obama Administration put the opposing campaigns presidential candidate, or his campaign, under investigation. That raises legitimate questions. I just find this really odd…this goes to the heart of our electoral system.” Jonathan Turley on @FoxNews

I just don’t even, Donald. Your monomania, your towering tone-deaf narcissism, your lack of internal filters or shame — it all has to be about you and your Bigly Monster from the Id. If Jesus Christ came back to Earth, I have no doubt you would tweet that “Jesus has returned. I’m sure he is very happy and proud of how well our country is doing today.”

One would hope that your pivoting from even a tangential discussion about Memorial Day and what it means, to instead re-bleating out the talking heads on Fox News about the made-up scandal you’re trying to set up against the very real scandal under investigation — one would hope that even your most dyed-in-the-wool followers would get an inkling of what a self-centered zany you are, Donald.

Somehow, I suspect too many will just turn over their brats on the BBQ and raise a beer in their toasts to you, instead of to the people this day was meant commemorate.

To those who have fallen, and to the families and friends of those still suffering from their sacrifice, my apologies for this yo-yo taking the spotlight from that sacrifice for his own ends.

LATE-BREAKING UPDATE!

Even as I was writing this, we got another Memorial Day video from you, Donald!

Thank you for joining us on this solemn day of remembrance. We are gathered here on the sacred soil of @ArlingtonNatl Cemetery to honor the lives and deeds of America's greatest heroes, the men and women who laid down their lives for our freedom. #MemorialDay pic.twitter.com/YSYAHf7bNu
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 28, 2018

Thank you for joining us on this solemn day of remembrance. We are gathered here on the sacred soil of @ArlingtonNatl Cemetery to honor the lives and deeds of America’s greatest heroes, the men and women who laid down their lives for our freedom. #MemorialDay

Nice message, Donald. Glad you could drag yourself away from retweeting Trump-supporting Fox News conspiracy theorizing long enough to attend the ceremony.

But wait! There’s more!

The heroes who rest in these hallowed fields, in cemeteries, battlefields, and burial grounds near and far are drawn the full tapestry of American life. They came from every generation from towering cities and wind swept prairies, from privilege and from poverty… pic.twitter.com/aOw3QwN2SV
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 28, 2018

The heroes who rest in these hallowed fields, in cemeteries, battlefields, and burial grounds near and far are drawn the full tapestry of American life. They came from every generation from towering cities and wind swept prairies, from privilege and from poverty…

Oh, jeez … are we going to get a whole series of video tweets, camera zeroed in on you, all about you speechifying at Arlington?

Our fallen heroes have not only written our history they have shaped our destiny. They saved the lives of the men and women with whom they served. They cared for their families more than anything in the world, they loved their families. They inspired their communities… pic.twitter.com/Q9cOcQeEDc
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 28, 2018

Our fallen heroes have not only written our history they have shaped our destiny. They saved the lives of the men and women with whom they served. They cared for their families more than anything in the world, they loved their families. They inspired their communities…

The words are good ones, Donald. I haven’t listened to the whole speech to discover if you go off-script midway through to talk about your huge electoral victory or MS-13 or how great the economy is or how Crooked Hillary tried to steal the election with an embedded FBI spy … but, frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised.

Book-ending the day with tasteful video remarks doesn’t make up for the tweets in-between. For shame.

Because, of course, the North Korea stuff was going way too smoothly

The DPRK always goes ape over US/South Korea military exercises. But apparently they had advance warning about this one (as usual), and nobody was expecting things to get all contentious with all the upcoming talks and summits in the works.

Will this put the kibosh on Trump’s summit with Kim? Will Trump cancel the military exercise? Will he bluster and call off the meeting himself? Is Kim bluffing? Is Trump?

We shall see.

North Korea cancels high-level talks with the South

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On the Diversity of Military Spouses and Mothers

So of the military spouses selected / invited / accepting the chance to go to the White House, we ended up with practically only white people?

A very oddly self-selecting (or selected) group of #MilitarySpouses , one might think.

Or at least that looked like the story. It turns out that particular picture was taken back in April, when Ivanka Trump attended the Joint Armed Forces of Washington Luncheon. Which still looks kind of pasty-white and all-female, but is a self-selecting group.

That said, it’s understandable that there would be confusion, because Ivanka tweeted it yesterday in conjunction with the White House event, which was both for Military Spouses and Military Mothers (because Mothers Day, right?). And a closer look from Melania’s tweet of the event does show a few faces of color in the audience (though only just a few).

So a mostly-false-alarm, even if the folk up at the podium for the signing of a bill to help military spouses find work again look pretty darned pale.

Originally shared by +Ken Montville:

What’s the chance.

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The Trump of the Deal

So basically Trump demonstrated leadership by not engaging with Iran, by avoiding negotiations with our frenemies China and Russia, and getting our actual European allies to agree to all sorts of concessions and come supplicate themselves to keep the deal in place, only to throw them under the bus.

It has been said by many others before me, but Trump could not be doing more to destroy American influence and global power if he were an actual Russian agent. This man’s narcissistic buffoonery will take decades to recover from, if ever.

‘Defective at its core’: How Trump opted to scrap Iran deal
WASHINGTON (AP) — It was all there on paper in black and white, down to the precise number of centrifuges: the terms of a potential “fix” that President Donald Trump had demanded

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Obama on Trump’s tearing up of the Iran Nuclear Deal

Because Trump firmly believes …

1. Anything Obama did devalues his own presidency, and therefore has to be eliminated.

2. He can force any country to do whatever he wants.

3. Might makes right.

4. He can do whatever he wants because by the time his actions have truly profound consequences, he’ll probably be dead.

What follow are Obama’s comments on Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran Nuclear Deal.

Originally shared by +Kee Hinckley:

There are few issues more important to the security of the United States than the potential spread of nuclear weapons, or the potential for even more destructive war in the Middle East. That’s why the United States negotiated the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in the first place.
The reality is clear. The JCPOA is working – that is a view shared by our European allies, independent experts, and the current U.S. Secretary of Defense. The JCPOA is in America’s interest – it has significantly rolled back Iran’s nuclear program. And the JCPOA is a model for what diplomacy can accomplish – its inspections and verification regime is precisely what the United States should be working to put in place with North Korea. Indeed, at a time when we are all rooting for diplomacy with North Korea to succeed, walking away from the JCPOA risks losing a deal that accomplishes – with Iran – the very outcome that we are pursuing with the North Koreans.
That is why today’s announcement is so misguided. Walking away from the JCPOA turns our back on America’s closest allies, and an agreement that our country’s leading diplomats, scientists, and intelligence professionals negotiated. In a democracy, there will always be changes in policies and priorities from one Administration to the next. But the consistent flouting of agreements that our country is a party to risks eroding America’s credibility, and puts us at odds with the world’s major powers.
Debates in our country should be informed by facts, especially debates that have proven to be divisive. So it’s important to review several facts about the JCPOA.
First, the JCPOA was not just an agreement between my Administration and the Iranian government. After years of building an international coalition that could impose crippling sanctions on Iran, we reached the JCPOA together with the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the European Union, Russia, China, and Iran. It is a multilateral arms control deal, unanimously endorsed by a United Nations Security Council Resolution.
Second, the JCPOA has worked in rolling back Iran’s nuclear program. For decades, Iran had steadily advanced its nuclear program, approaching the point where they could rapidly produce enough fissile material to build a bomb. The JCPOA put a lid on that breakout capacity. Since the JCPOA was implemented, Iran has destroyed the core of a reactor that could have produced weapons-grade plutonium; removed two-thirds of its centrifuges (over 13,000) and placed them under international monitoring; and eliminated 97 percent of its stockpile of enriched uranium – the raw materials necessary for a bomb. So by any measure, the JCPOA has imposed strict limitations on Iran’s nuclear program and achieved real results.
Third, the JCPOA does not rely on trust – it is rooted in the most far-reaching inspections and verification regime ever negotiated in an arms control deal. Iran’s nuclear facilities are strictly monitored. International monitors also have access to Iran’s entire nuclear supply chain, so that we can catch them if they cheat. Without the JCPOA, this monitoring and inspections regime would go away.
Fourth, Iran is complying with the JCPOA. That was not simply the view of my Administration. The United States intelligence community has continued to find that Iran is meeting its responsibilities under the deal, and has reported as much to Congress. So have our closest allies, and the international agency responsible for verifying Iranian compliance – the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Fifth, the JCPOA does not expire. The prohibition on Iran ever obtaining a nuclear weapon is permanent. Some of the most important and intrusive inspections codified by the JCPOA are permanent. Even as some of the provisions in the JCPOA do become less strict with time, this won’t happen until ten, fifteen, twenty, or twenty-five years into the deal, so there is little reason to put those restrictions at risk today.
Finally, the JCPOA was never intended to solve all of our problems with Iran. We were clear-eyed that Iran engages in destabilizing behavior – including support for terrorism, and threats toward Israel and its neighbors. But that’s precisely why it was so important that we prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Every aspect of Iranian behavior that is troubling is far more dangerous if their nuclear program is unconstrained. Our ability to confront Iran’s destabilizing behavior – and to sustain a unity of purpose with our allies – is strengthened with the JCPOA, and weakened without it.
Because of these facts, I believe that the decision to put the JCPOA at risk without any Iranian violation of the deal is a serious mistake. Without the JCPOA, the United States could eventually be left with a losing choice between a nuclear-armed Iran or another war in the Middle East. We all know the dangers of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon. It could embolden an already dangerous regime; threaten our friends with destruction; pose unacceptable dangers to America’s own security; and trigger an arms race in the world’s most dangerous region. If the constraints on Iran’s nuclear program under the JCPOA are lost, we could be hastening the day when we are faced with the choice between living with that threat, or going to war to prevent it.
In a dangerous world, America must be able to rely in part on strong, principled diplomacy to secure our country. We have been safer in the years since we achieved the JCPOA, thanks in part to the work of our diplomats, many members of Congress, and our allies. Going forward, I hope that Americans continue to speak out in support of the kind of strong, principled, fact-based, and unifying leadership that can best secure our country and uphold our responsibilities around the globe.

Barack Obama
There are few issues more important to the security of the United States than the potential spread of nuclear weapons, or the potential for even more destructive war in the Middle East. That’s why…

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The Ad Hominem President

It’s long been obvious that, rhetorically, Trump is completely comfortable with attacking the character, background, or physical appearance of individuals he doesn’t like, rather than opposing their positions with reasoned argument. He’d sooner call someone “lazy” or “crooked” or “lying” than actually addres what they have to say.

It appears he also puts his money where his mouth is:

Aides to Donald Trump, the US president, hired an Israeli private intelligence agency to orchestrate a “dirty ops” campaign against key individuals from the Obama administration who helped negotiate the Iran nuclear deal, the Observer can reveal.
People in the Trump camp contacted private investigators in May last year to “get dirt” on Ben Rhodes, who had been one of Barack Obama’s top national security advisers, and Colin Kahl, deputy assistant to Obama, as part of an elaborate attempt to discredit the deal.
According to incendiary documents seen by the Observer, investigators contracted by the private intelligence agency were told to dig into the personal lives and political careers of Rhodes, a former deputy national security adviser for strategic communications, and Kahl, a national security adviser to the former vice-president Joe Biden. Among other things they were looking at personal relationships, any involvement with Iran-friendly lobbyists, and if they had benefited personally or politically from the peace deal.

Team Trump didn’t hire Israelis (!) to try to attack the basis for the deal, or the particulars, or anything about the deal itself. They were hired to find material to smear the Obama people who had helped negotiate the deal, to discredit it through association.

Richard Nixon hired “dirty tricks” operatives, too. Just saying.

Revealed: Trump team hired spy firm for ‘dirty ops’ on Iran arms deal | UK news | The Guardian

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Trump Speaks on Syria

Okay, that little speech was weird.

The man goes veering off into weird paths when he’s not reading the teleprompter — and you can tell every time he does, because his ability to read off the teleprompter (oh, the irony!) is bloody awful — weird pacing, an inability to pace his words naturally to what’s being scrolled past there. “… World War … … … 1 …” “and God bless the United States … of … America …”

And what’s with all the looks off to his left? Was something over there making him think there was another camera?

As to the speech itself — it’s interesting (and, honestly, probably a positive thing) that the UK and France are part of this attack. The “We’re doing this, and here’s why” part was pretty straightforward, the sort of thing any president would give. Then he sort of meandered into discussions about evil and Iran / Russia and local Arab nations paying for military efforts there and the US forces attacking ISIS and what great, great warriors they are … and those parts were a weird mix of Trumpian stream of thought and his wooden script reading.

I don’t have any brilliant answers on Syria. The questions going on are how long this retaliation against Syria continues (the implication of the speech was this was an ongoing thing), how much that costs, and what actual actions will be trigger points. Assad has been doing various brutal attacks over the last year until Trump chose to respond to this particular chemical attack.

And, of course, there’s been all the telegraphing of these attacks by Twitter. Smooth move, Donald.

Crazy times …

Trump: U.S. launches missile strikes in Syria – The Washington Post
President Trump orders military strike in retaliation for a chemical attack near Damascus.

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For dark things cannot stand the light

Regardless of one’s assumptions regarding the various factions involved in the Palestinian protests and Israeli Army live fire response last Friday, the idea that not only is the Israel Army steadfastly refusing (with PM Netanyahu’s support) any sort of investigation of the shootings that left 18 dead, but the US government blocked even a symbolic Security Council resolution calling for an investigation and the right of peaceful protest, is appalling.

For Israel, there’s little political cost to killing Palestinians – The Washington Post
The violence highlighted the desperation of Palestinians and the impunity with which Israel can snuff out their lives.

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Because expertise is SO overrated

There’s no indication Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson is anything other than a hard-working, honorable, respectable and respected kind of guy.

There’s also no indication that he has the ability to manage a massive and highly political bureaucracy like the VA.

But he’s Trump’s nominee, apparently because he’s (a) a military doctor who (b) Trump knows who (c) did something Trump liked (giving him a clean bill of health at his physical).

Because actual experience and proven pertinent ability is clearly not a priority for our president. After all, it’s never been something he’s needed.

‘My first reaction was OMG’: Trump’s VA pick is new to all this – POLITICO

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“Mr. Mattis, build up that wall!”

Having been unable to get Mexico to do it, and even unable to get Congress — even a GOP-majority Congress[1] to actually fund his zany border Wall proposal — the Donald has lit upon the genius idea of having the Department of Defense build it!

After all …

(a) This is all about national defense, so why depend on Homeland Security to do it, when we have a Defense Department?

and

(b) The Pentagon now has incredible amounts of money, beautiful amounts, the most amounts, all of it insisted upon by the President as critical for the modernization and build-up of our military. But not as critical as the Wall! Just ask André Maginot!

Aside from the Wall itself being a nutty idea, aside from it being an awful idea having the US Military pay for it, the biggest problem is that the Donald cannot simply do this by fiat. The Defense Budget isn’t a giant checkbook that can spent on whatever they like; appropriations have to be approved by Congress — the same Congress that has been unable to provide funding for the Wall.

But, hey, no doubt that the Donald will keep pushing this idea until the laughter about it gets too loud, then he’ll drop it for something else — maybe getting the State Dept. to pay for it (“It’s about borders!”) or the Dept. of Health and Human Services to pay for it (“It’s about cutting down on all those freeloading illegals!”).

Stay tuned!

——

[1] Though not a super-majority in the Senate, praise the Maker.

Trump privately presses for military to pay for border wall – The Washington Post
The president has told Speaker Paul Ryan that the military should finance it after Congress provided only $1.6 billion.

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Trump drives through his military trans ban (again)

Because of course he is, regardless of evidence, or readiness, or military impact.

Because why not? He’s not the one who will be affected (or have to pay for any law suits). That will fall to the taxpayers.

And, of course, there’s the Friday night timing for the ban. It’s usually the time chosen to avoid interfering with or distracting from the week’s activities, or else to fly under the news radar. But this week was a hot mess for the Administration’s news cycle, and this particular announcement isn’t going to vanish over the weekend.

Nor do I expect it to stand, in the long run. But in the meantime, lives will be disrupted, the base gets some red meat, culture wars can be rekindled, dogs can feel appropriately whistled, and the Administration can remind the electorate what they and the GOP stand for.