Anti-government demonstrations in Beirut turned violent, as hundreds of protesters clashed with security forces in the streets of the Lebanese capital.https://t.co/VVNNxENBcv
The Pentagon is facing a perfect storm. What is it the hip crowd says? Get woke go broke? Well things are bad and I don't know if the leadership sees what's coming. WTF do I mean? A few points... * The Pentagon Papers Part 2.
Former Defense Secretary James Mattis said Friday he did not consider a bombshell report on the Afghanistan war released this week to be particularly "revelatory," while defending U.S. efforts to rebuild the war-torn country.
So what do we have? A former great that is seeking to downplay reports. A bit of shine came off with this comment and trust in the Pentagon is taking a beating.
If you take the time to read mil-Twitter you'll see some of the pain, anguish and more importantly ANGER coming from many. If the trust ain't gone with the DoD then its fading fast...this will have implications going forward.
* Budget Trainwreck Coming.
We've talked about this for a minute now but let's see where we're at. Many programs have been delayed in an effort to acquire new gear sequentially. That effort has failed due to the gigantic elephant in the room known as the F-35. What does this mean? It means that instead of a 100 train car pile up it's gonna be a 500 train car wreck.
* Recruiting Woes.
Gone unsaid is the recruiting woes the military is facing. Normal avenues of recruiting have been forsworn in an effort to attract urbanites. I get it. Unfortunately while seeking to expand the recruiting base they're alienating those that have normally supported the effort. The canary in the coalmine? Pay Raises out of the blue. Not only is recruiting in trouble but so is retention. I won't hit on many of the issues involved but service members are fed up and no longer willing to pay the price for jacked up rules that make no sense, back to back deployments, women's issues etc...
* The China Problem.
I had a sudden realization. The USMC is turning the clock back on being an independent service and falling full fledged under the Navy umbrella. OK. Don't agree with it but ok. Is that is this because they've wargamed China and it was determined that being expeditionary AND small wars amphibious specialists is a detriment to winning the fight against the Red Dragon? This one is guess work (I have nothing to base this on) but what if the US Navy had RAND do a study and it was found that we would lose at sea against the Chinese? Wouldn't that explain why we're seeing such drastic change in the USMC? Wouldn't that explain why the Navy is all about 355 ships by 2030? Yeah. The DoD is facing a perfect storm and I don't think they're ready.
The Trump administration intends to announce the drawdown of about 4,000 troops from Afghanistan as early next week, according to three current and former U.S. officials. The withdrawal will leave between 8,000 and 9,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, the officials said.
The announcement would come just days after Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad rejoined diplomatic talks with the Taliban, which had broken down in September. On Thursday, Ambassador Khalilzad said the U.S. was "taking a brief pause" in talks after a Wednesday attack near Bagram Airfield killed two Afghan civilians and wounded 70 more.
The U.S. has between 12,000 and 13,000 troops in Afghanistan now. The officials would not say when the drawdown would begin, but did characterize it as a phased withdrawal that would occur over a few months. Two U.S. officials said the drawdown would be a combination of troops re-deploying early and others not being replaced when they rotate out.
This is a move that's 3 years late (for this administration...should have happened during Obama's term in office and his own instincts told him so) but better late than never.
Next. Has anyone wrapped their heads around the fact that all the "support the troops" drivel wasn't aimed at actually supporting the troops but instead to support the policy?
I don't know how it happened but supporting the troops came to mean supporting never ending wars.
It was silly and stupid but somehow they made it work.
Even worse?
Leadership (both military and civilian) had no real plan to win this thing except to keep on wasting lives and money in one of the biggest shitholes on this planet.
Historians will not be kind to our military and civilian leaders...but they won't be kind to the public either.
A year after Ukraine official and alleged whistleblower Eric Ciaramella left President Trump’s White House, a picture of him shaking Barack Obama’s hand was published on a close friend's wedding website.
The Oval Office photograph, obtained by the Washington Examiner, is circulating among Trump allies who consider it evidence that the alleged whistleblower is biased against Trump and had partisan motivations when he filed an Aug. 12 complaint that sparked impeachment proceedings.
In the photograph, a smiling Ciaramella, then Ukraine director on the National Security Council at the White House, is shown shaking Obama's hand. They are standing in front of a portrait of Abraham Lincoln by George Henry Story.
EXACTLY!!!!! Fake excitement for a couple of terrible teams...I bet half the officers don't care either. That leaves the ring knockers (saw a dude that wore his shit in the field...always hoped he'd rip his skin off) to GAF...
‘My mom will f*ck you up!’: 25yo man was arrested after a very emotional interaction with a cop.
He was initially stopped for not having working taillights but was found to be in possession of a retired officer’s driver’s license & marijuana in his pocket, according to police pic.twitter.com/KK15gLrATF
