Trump removes senior defense officials & installs loyalists

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10 Nov 2020, 9:41 pm

Trump administration removes senior defense officials and installs loyalists, triggering alarm at Pentagon by Barbara Starr, Zachary Cohen and Ryan Browne, CNN, Tue November 10, 2020. The second and third paragraphs say:

Quote:

The flurry of changes, announced by the Department of Defense in a statement roughly 24 hours after President Donald Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper, have put officials inside the Pentagon on edge and fueled a growing sense of alarm among military and civilian officials, who are concerned about what could come next.

Four senior civilian officials have been fired or have resigned since Monday, including Esper, his chief of staff and the top officials overseeing policy and intelligence. They were replaced by perceived Trump loyalists, including a controversial figure who promoted fringe conspiracy theories and called former President Barack Obama a terrorist.

This article also says, 'Concerns are growing that a chaotic transition period could undermine national security,' and '"This is scary, it's very unsettling," one defense official told CNN. "These are dictator moves."'

The "controversial figure" is Anthony Tata, about whom see: Trump Installs Senate-Rejected Retired General As Pentagon Policy Chief by Marcus Weisgerber and Katie Bo Williams, Defense ONe, November 10, 2020:

Quote:

President Trump’s deeply controversial nominee to become the top policy official at the Pentagon, rejected by the Senate over the summer, will assume the duties of the post following the resignation of former acting policy chief James Anderson earlier on Tuesday.

...

In June, Trump named Tata to the top policy post, but could not persuade the Senate Armed Services Committee to usher him to the floor for a vote. Tata drew fire for falsely saying that former President Barack Obama was a “terrorist leader” and a Muslim.

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Jiheisho
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10 Nov 2020, 9:53 pm

Did you expect the transition to go smoothly?

Pepe
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10 Nov 2020, 10:31 pm

Mona Pereth wrote:

Quote:

My educated guess is it is more left-wing hyperbole.
I will bet your left testicle that the fears are unfounded.
It is just a good way to keep the audience entertained. :mrgreen:

Last edited by magz on 11 Nov 2020, 11:11 am, edited 1 time in total.: Potentially flaming content removed

goldfish21
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10 Nov 2020, 10:52 pm

Who is the orange guy wanting to go to war with and why?

Whoever it is, it’s probably just to get the USA in DEEP trouble to hand off to Biden to have to deal with.. which means he could even go try to start a war with China.

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Brictoria
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10 Nov 2020, 10:58 pm

goldfish21 wrote:

Who is the orange guy wanting to go to war with and why?

He better pick someone soon, as if he doesn't he'll be the first president in many years (since Nixon) to not have initiated one...
Source: https://www.historyguy.com/wars_by_president.htm

Tempus Fugit
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10 Nov 2020, 11:06 pm

Pepe wrote:

My educated guess is it is more left-wing hyperbole.
I will bet your left testicle that the fears are unfounded.
It is just a good way to keep the audience entertained. :mrgreen:

Yep. Gotta milk the trumpmania cash cow for all it's worth. Time is running out. The goose that laid the golden eggs will fly the coop soon.

Last edited by magz on 11 Nov 2020, 11:11 am, edited 1 time in total.: Potentially flaming cross-posting removed

Jiheisho
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10 Nov 2020, 11:07 pm

Brictoria wrote:

goldfish21 wrote:

Who is the orange guy wanting to go to war with and why?

He better pick someone soon, as if he doesn't he'll be the first president in many years (since Nixon) to not have initiated one...
Source: https://www.historyguy.com/wars_by_president.htm

I think you mean Carter...

Brictoria
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10 Nov 2020, 11:21 pm

Jiheisho wrote:

Brictoria wrote:

goldfish21 wrote:

Who is the orange guy wanting to go to war with and why?

He better pick someone soon, as if he doesn't he'll be the first president in many years (since Nixon) to not have initiated one...
Source: https://www.historyguy.com/wars_by_president.htm

I think you mean Carter...

Potentially...I was going from the source I linked which had:

Quote:

Jimmy Carter (1977-1981)

Inherited:

Cold War

Initiated/Engaged:

Iran Hostage Crisis

Cold War Crisis/Incidents: Soviet and Cuban interventions in Africa

Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan. After the Soviet invasion of Afghanista, Carter initiated U.S. assistance to the Afghan resistance.

I guess it would depend on whether the Iran issue or Afganistan (assisting Afgan Resistance) are classed as "Wars"\commencment of wars, given the repercussions of them feed through to the present day.

Brictoria
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10 Nov 2020, 11:25 pm

Mona Pereth wrote:

Quote:

Is there anything in the constitution, or any legal impediment, to him making the changes? If, as I understood, he is President until January 20, and the power to make these changes lies with the President, there seems nothing to indicate a problem with what occurred.

Jiheisho
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10 Nov 2020, 11:34 pm

Brictoria wrote:

Mona Pereth wrote:

Quote:

No, there is nothing illegal about the change. But that does not mean there is no problem. The DoD is not a political organization.

Brictoria
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10 Nov 2020, 11:52 pm

Jiheisho wrote:

Brictoria wrote:

Mona Pereth wrote:

Quote:

No, there is nothing illegal about the change. But that does not mean there is no problem. The DoD is not a political organization.

I think you mean "The DoD should not be a political organization."

Based on the CNN article linked in the OP:

Quote:

The sources said the effort may be because Esper and his team were pushing back on a premature withdrawal from Afghanistan that would be carried out before the required conditions on the ground were met, and other pending security issues.

Given the DoD is under the Executive branch of the government, seeking to prevent legal actions the head of the branch wanted performed could be considered political, depending on the reasoning\motivation behind their actions. In theory, the reason behind this could be as simple as them wishing to defer the requested actions until late January next year, for instance, rather than performing them in\prior to early January, which (assuming a change of President were to occur) would give an appearance of them delaying the request for political reasons.

Tempus Fugit
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10 Nov 2020, 11:53 pm

Trump creating his own military loyal only to him so that he can stay in power has been a long running theme.

Brictoria
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11 Nov 2020, 12:08 am

Tempus Fugit wrote:

Trump creating his own military loyal only to him so that he can stay in power has been a long running theme.

Wasn't there a similar theme started in 2016 where people were claiming he would lead the U.S.A. into new wars if he was elected?

cyberdad
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11 Nov 2020, 12:14 am

Trump fired Mark Esper for criticising the orange dictator for wanting to use the military against the BLM protestors.

Petty vengeance from a petty man.

Jiheisho
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11 Nov 2020, 12:18 am

Brictoria wrote:

Jiheisho wrote:

Brictoria wrote:

Mona Pereth wrote:

Quote:

No, there is nothing illegal about the change. But that does not mean there is no problem. The DoD is not a political organization.

I think you mean "The DoD should not be a political organization."

Based on the CNN article linked in the OP:

Quote:

You are making no sense.

goldfish21
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11 Nov 2020, 1:06 am

cyberdad wrote:

Trump fired Mark Esper for criticising the orange dictator for wanting to use the military against the BLM protestors.

Petty vengeance from a petty man.

This makes sense. Hopefully it’s all there is to it.

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