I’ve had bosses before who always seemed to do everything
they could to disrupt our team’s progress, either through interjecting
nonsense or making decisions that impacted the project without thinking
things through. In the end, if we still managed to pull it off, the guy
would humbly try to take all of the credit for his great
“leadership.” Thankfully, these guys usually didn’t get beyond middle
management, where they were stuck due to the Peter Principle.
It’s very rare to excel in a high-level position without
demonstrating any sort of talent for the job, or at least a baseline of
leadership and competence. Unfortunately, the presidency is one of
those few exceptions where a fake reality star with just the right
amount of easily-impressed dupes from strategic areas can amass enough
delegates to win our archaic Electoral College. Thus, a man with no
moral compass, no concept of service, no experience or knowledge of
anything related to the military or government, and the literal
temperament of a four-year-old can be exalted to the highest government
official and become Commander-in-Chief.
Assad’s forcesCase in point: Trump. After being browbeaten on the phone by
Turkey’s strongman, Recep Erdogan, Trump impulsively submitted to all of
his demands. Trump agreed to immediately pull our troops out of Syria
and deploy them elsewhere in the Middle East, pleasing our enemies and
putting our allies in danger. Erdogan instantly prepared for bombing
raids, and Bashir al-Assad and Vladimir Putin sent forces into Kurdish
territory.
Trump told no one of this, not even his closest sycophants like Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham. He just did it.
When the Pentagon found out, officials were livid. They had
several operations planned in the area, including the one to kill
al-Baghdadi, where intelligence was being provided directly by Kurdish
intelligence officials.
Losing control of the area put the Pentagon in a serious dilemma. According to military officials, as reported by The New York Times, they decided to go with a “risky, night raid before their ability to control troops and spies and reconnaissance aircraft disappeared.” The Times continued that, according to officials familiar with the mission, “Mr. al-Baghdadi’s death...occurred largely in spite of Mr. Trump’s actions.”
Thankfully, due to the competence and adaptability of our special
forces, they were able to pull it off despite Trump jeopardizing the
mission. Pentagon officials also had significant praise for Kurdish
intelligence, who helped the C.I.A. even after Trump decided to abandon them to fight Turkey and their insurgent-backed forces.
Think about that: The Iraqi and Syrian Kurds provided intelligence
that directly led to the whereabouts of al-Baghdadi and even loaned a
facility to practice the raid.
They did this as Trump was stabbing them
in the back and insulting them. Trump had forgotten that it was the
Peshmerga who achieved full territorial victory against ISIS—something he had recently promised he’d never forget.
Trump did mention the Kurds when he was thanking people, other than
himself, during his “big announcement.” Yet he did it in the most snarky
way possible.
Trump chided them for not participating
directly in the raid militarily—failing to mention that they are in the
fight of their lives, thanks to Trump. However, even he had to
acknowledge that the information they provided “turned out to be
helpful.” Because he’s that much of an ass.
In fact, as at least one official admits, without the Kurds, this victory might not have happened. Why? As reported by The Times, one official said the Syrian and Iraqi Kurds “provided more intelligence for the raid than any single country.”
The president did profusely thank Russia in his announcement,
however. Even though they too did not participate militarily, Trump
gushed and fawned all over them. What’s worse, he heaped praise on
Putin’s army even before once mentioning the U.S. troops who conducted
the operation.
Our military should be highly praised for conducting a flawless raid,
despite the executive interference. At least Trump was able to get his
photo-op...sort of.
However, I would also like to thank our allies, the Kurds, for once
again helping our country and our military. The Russian asset in the
White House consistently goes out of his way to do harm to both.
Trump could really learn something about American patriotism from the Kurds.
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