The 2017 General Political discussion thread, Part 2!

[Birds Away]

There's a balance here and I don't see him handling that well.

Of course you don't. If indeed you served you should be well aware of the value of operational security.

 

[Dddrees]

Of course you don't. If indeed you served you should be well aware of the value of operational security.

Ah, we're back to that. I did serve and I am also a citizen of these United States and the need and desire for both are extremely necessary in my opinion.

 

[Trigger Time]

There's a balance here and I don't see him handling that well.

He's handling it very well because he's listening to his commanders in the field. Very very significant difference

 

[Trigger Time]

Ah, we're back to that. I did serve and I am also a citizen of these United States and the need and desire for both are extremely necessary in my opinion.

You can voice your opinion but you are not in command. Trump is. He is the CIC whether you like it or not. We don't let civilians fight our wars for a reason and every war we've paid attention to civilian opinion we've done very poorly.
And back to that? You brought it up so he's just pointing out that you better than civilians should know this

 

[Birds Away]

Ah, we're back to that. I did serve and I am also a citizen of these United States and the need and desire for both are extremely necessary in my opinion.

I truly don't mean to offend you but sometimes you say things I would never expect to hear from someone who actually served. I really don't want to call your service into question but some of your comments just don't really fit. I am willing to accept that I am wrong in this and that you are just an anomaly. Maybe it's an Army thing.

 

[Trigger Time]

I truly don't mean to offend you but sometimes you say things I would never expect to hear from someone who actually served. I really don't want to call your service into question but some of your comments just don't really fit. I am willing to accept that I am wrong in this and that you are just an anomaly. Maybe it's an Army thing.

Hey Now! It's not an Army thing lol

 

[Birds Away]

Hey Now! It's not an Army thing lol

Well, we had a few wingnuts. I'm sure you guys weren't immune. Ours didn't really progress very far.

 

[SheepDog4Life]

I would love to see us get out of that country. If we are staying, I hope that the soldiers are allowed to actually go out and destroy the enemy. It sounds like that is the plan, but only time will tell if they actually are allowed to.

iMO, leaving now would be another Obama-like pullout of Iraq, allowing another ISIS to synthesize, regardless of the name it goes by.

Of the items Trump did mention, eliminating Pakistan as a safe haven for the Taliban, to rest, to train and to flee counter-attacks, is a necessary component of defeating the Taliban. I'm not familiar with Pakistan politics to determine if the Pakistani President/PM is strong enough to resist the backlash from the large portions of his population that "support" the terrorists, either directly or politically.

And, how resilient the President will be when the Taliban inevitably parades out the bodies of women and children they claim were killed in attacks. The media will accept all stories as factual, whether they are or not.

 

[Trigger Time]

Well, we had a few wingnuts. I'm sure you guys weren't immune. Ours didn't really progress very far.

I was lucky because I wasn't part of the regular Army but yes we did have some new privates being evaluated that sometimes just didn't fit in as a nice way of putting it. Occationaly people also didn't meet the standard mostly for drugs. However we didn't really fit in or play nice with the regular Army either on the few occasions we got to play with them. They were scared of us. I don't know why. We just wanted to be buddies.
In basic there were a lot of nuts though. Like people jumping out of Windows to not have to stay nuts. Bunch of wussies

 

[Trigger Time]

One thing I do tell people sometimes though is the military has all of the same people and problems as in the civilian world. BA I know you know this even better than me because you served much longer. I'm just stating it for others.
So murders and nut jobs and adultery and kindness and love and brotherhood ECT. It's just more isolated, and you can get punished for different things than as a civilian. Deffinately some real nut jobs though in the military. Not the majority though, just like in the civilian world. The military though has to deal with the members in a totality and not just as related to their duties. So personal life too is controlled or addressed

 

[SheepDog4Life]

There's a balance here and I don't see him handling that well.

We are staying, decisions will be made based upon facts on the ground, not the calendar, we will eliminate the Taliban's Pakistan safe-haven, preferably with their help, our commanders, soldiers and marines will be given everything they need to win, including reasonable RoE's (i.e. if you see a terrorist, kill him), and as long as the Afghan government is determined and actively moving to counter the Taliban and other terrorist groups, we will be there to help them and to train them to ultimately secure their country for themselves.

And, Sec. Mattis and Gen. Dunford are in charge.

Oh, and don't forget that Pakistan has nukes, so they must choose us or the Taliban... and if the Taliban gain access to their nukes, we hold them responsible.

So, what do you want? A time table of how many. when and where troops will be deployed? That cray for OpSec.

 

[Dddrees]

He's handling it very well because he's listening to his commanders in the field. Very very significant difference

But not with the public, and after all he's our President. I understand he may be meeting you needs and going about it perfectly well in your opinion. However in my opinion he's not. It maybe extremely difficult to maintain the balance of secrecy and need to know, but he needs to do better, much better in my opinion.

 

[Birds Away]

One thing I do tell people sometimes though is the military has all of the same people and problems as in the civilian world. BA I know you know this even better than me because you served much longer. I'm just stating it for others.
So murders and nut jobs and adultery and kindness and love and brotherhood ECT. It's just more isolated, and you can get punished for different things than as a civilian. Deffinately some real nut jobs though in the military. Not the majority though, just like in the civilian world. The military though has to deal with the members in a totality and not just as related to their duties. So personal life too is controlled or addressed

Yep, all true.

 

[Trigger Time]

But not with the public, and after all he's our President. I understand he may be meeting you needs and going about it perfectly well in your opinion. However in my opinion he's not. It maybe extremely difficult to maintain the balance of secrecy and need to know, but he needs to do better, much better in my opinion.

If he took a perfect and beautiful **** and you had access to that solemn moment, I KNOW youd be standing there saying it wasn't because it didn't have the face of baby jesus

 

[Dddrees]

We are staying, decisions will be made based upon facts on the ground, not the calendar, we will eliminate the Taliban's Pakistan safe-haven, preferably with their help, our commanders, soldiers and marines will be given everything they need to win, including reasonable RoE's, and as long as the Afghan government is determined and actively moving to counter the Taliban and other terrorist groups, we will be there to help them and to train them to ultimately secure their country for themselves.

And, Sec. Mattis and Gen. Dunford are in charge.

Oh, and don't forget that Pakistan has nukes, so they must choose us or the Taliban... and if the Taliban gain access to their nukes, we hold them responsible.

So, what do you want? A time table of how many. when and where troops will be deployed? That cray for OpSec.

I don't care who's in charge. It could be the most capable President we ever had. It could be the most successfully military leader in our history but that's not the point. We're a Democratic society with a need to know in order to protect that Democracy.

No, I don't want time tables, and I don't need to know whenever they're going to take a s*** either. But I do want a better idea as to what our involvement will be with regard to troop strength and define his strategy better.

 

[Dddrees]

If he took a perfect and beautiful **** and you had access to that solemn moment, I KNOW youd be standing there saying it wasn't because it didn't have the face of baby jesus

Ok, let's try and turn the tables.

Let me hear your best compliment that you have for Obama.

 

[Trigger Time]

As our president, were you happy with Obama negotiating with and releasing terrorists who found their way back to the battlefield to kill Americans again even though we were promised theynwouldnt be able to because they would be watched and or were innocent victims just mistakenly rounded up by soldierrs on the ground?

The president is engaging in military strategy. He doesn't owe the American people any further explanation despite what the liberals want to think. Show me in the constitution where he has to talk about troops strength and strategy to the people. He told you what the mission is now. Nothing further must be communicated.
End of story

 

[Trigger Time]

Ok, let's try and turn the tables.

Let me hear your best compliment that you have for Obama.

I'm glad he's enjoying his retirement

 

[Trigger Time]

I don't care who's in charge. It could be the most capable President we ever had. It could be the most successfully military leader in our history but that's not the point. We're a Democratic society with a need to know in order to protect that Democracy.

No, I don't want time tables, and I don't need to know whenever they're going to take a s*** either. But I do want a better idea as to what our involvement will be with regard to troop strength and define his strategy better.

Oh you do care. And you are flat wrong. The success of the republic isn't in danger because of what the president (this or any in thenpast) tells the American people about military strategy.
If you want to know more then rejoin or become a contractor.
The fact that you want to know is irelivant and doesn't help the mission. Just like a private isn't going to be privy to as much of the battle plan as his sergeant and the sergeant as much as the captain and so on.
You were given your compartmentalised info last night. That's all you get at this time.

And this is a REPUBLIC, NOT a democracy. Why can't democrats ever get that right? Because they wish it was a democracy

 

[Dddrees]

iMO, leaving now would be another Obama-like pullout of Iraq, allowing another ISIS to synthesize, regardless of the name it goes by.

Of the items Trump did mention, eliminating Pakistan as a safe haven for the Taliban, to rest, to train and to flee counter-attacks, is a necessary component of defeating the Taliban. I'm not familiar with Pakistan politics to determine if the Pakistani President/PM is strong enough to resist the backlash from the large portions of his population that "support" the terrorists, either directly or politically.

And, how resilient the President will be when the Taliban inevitably parades out the bodies of women and children they claim were killed in attacks. The media will accept all stories as factual, whether they are or not.

No status of forces agreement no way we could stay.