Yesterday, the media erupted with the latest bombshell stories of how President Donald Trump is discussing plans for martial law and the appointment of former Trump campaign lawyer Sidney Powell as a Special Counsel. It was a familiar bomb and bust pattern. A fair basis for coverage on the meeting quickly mutated into what bordered on panic coverage on the threat of a military takeover. This morning Jake Tapper headlined his show with “Conspiracy in the Oval Office” on how Trump discussed imposing martial law. He asked “How scared should we be?” The answer is not very on either count. President Trump publicly denied the report as “fake news.”
Category: Military
There continues to be a virtual news blackout on coverage of the scandal involving House Intelligence Committee member Rep. Eric Swalwell reportedly having a long intimate relationship with a Chinese spy named Fang Fang. Some however were not content to simply ignore the story. In a more worthy of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Brad Woodhouse, the former DNC Communications Director, went on Fox News not to bury Swalwell but to praise him. Asked whether Swalwell should have been left on the House Intelligence Committee after an alleged intimate relationship with a Chinese spy, Woodhouse declared Swalwell did everything right after being notified by the FBI. He then added “we should give Eric Swalwell the congressional medal of honor his conduct.” As a military history buff, the comparison did not sit well with me, but it was particularly odd coming from Woodhouse. Continue reading “Former DNC Official: “We Should Give Eric Swalwell The Congressional Medal Of Honor For His Conduct””
Republicans from Fox’s Brit Hume to GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger(Ill.) have rushed to the defense Fox New reporter Jennifer Griffin, who was attacked by President Donald Trump for simply confirming aspects of the recent explosive story in The Atlantic. My column this weekend discussed the article alleging that Trump has spoken in disparaging terms of our veterans and war dead. Trump called for Griffin to be fired despite other news organizations also reporting that Trump has referred to veterans as “losers” and “suckers.” Trump seemed most upset by the fact that Griffin was saying that she “confirmed” the story when in fact she confirmed comments allegedly made about Vietnam veterans, not the specific alleged comment on war dead in France from World War I. That is a valid point, though likely lost on most citizens who correctly view such references to veterans of any war as vile and disgraceful. Moreover, it is outrageous for a president to call for a respected reporter to be fired for doing her job. Yet, what is most striking is how, again, Trump’s attacks only magnify the attention and damage of the story.
The New York Times is under fire today for publishing the opinion of Sen. Tom Cotton (R, Ark.) on the use of troops to quell the unrest following the death of George Floyd. Journalists and opinion writers have insisted that such views should not be even published because they disagree with it. I have strongly opposed the suggested use of federal troops on both legal and non-legal grounds. It would be an unnecessary escalation of the tensions and curtail the exercise of important free speech activities. However, this view is shared by many and the use of troops has occurred previously in our history. The call for effective censorship of opposing views from journalists is a chilling example of how much ground has been lost in the protection of free speech values. Continue reading “New York Times Reporters and Writers Condemn Paper For Publishing Cotton Editorial”
In Seattle, U.S. District Judge Barbara Rothstein has issued a defiant, and somewhat curious, decision that not only denies some funding for the Southern Wall but seems to defy the Supreme Court in its recent decision in the area. Rothstein barred President Donald Trump from diverting $89 million intended for a military construction project in Washington state to build the border wall. While the Supreme Court recently lifted an injunction on such lower court rulings, Rothstein insisted that that case involved different plaintiffs and issues. I fail to see the clear distinction and the Rothstein decision, in my view, works too hard to find such a distinction.
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By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
A comparatively small burial plot of the World War I Oise-Aisne American Cemetery in France contains the remains of American military personnel who, following convictions in US Military Courts Martial, remain as nearly anonymous as the numbered markers above them. For nearly seventy-five years after their convictions, their grave markers only reveal one or two digit identification numbers and not the names of those so buried. Though they were convicted of capital crimes, do they deserve the dignity of a proper burial that all of us expect for ourselves?
Continue reading “Has The Time Come To Name The “Dishonored Dead”?”
Former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly has defended Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman’s decision to report President Trump’s call with the Ukrainian president. Kelly referred to the call as an “illegal order” that had to be reported. Most of us support Vindman raising his concerns with the chain of command and hopefully Trump will not attack Kelly for stating his support for Vindman. This is a principled and reasonable view of one of our most respected military officers.
Continue reading “Former Trump Chief Of Staff Defends Vindman Over Need To Report Trump’s “Illegal Order””
We recently discussed the shocking tweet from President Donald Trump that the United States might target cultural sites in retaliation of any response from Iran to our killing of an Iranian general. I suggested at the time that Trump may have been referring to legitimate target with dual cultural significance and strongly suggested a clarification. Well, he has now clarified and doubled down that he may target cultural sites — an act that is widely viewed as a war crime.
Continue reading “Trump Doubles Down In Threatening To Attack Cultural Sites Despite International Criticism”
President Donald Trump is often incautious in his language when speaking on the international stage. Words matter in diplomacy which often reflect important distinctions of international law. President Trump’s latest tweet is an example of this pattern. In pledging to strike back “very fast and very hard” to any Iranian retaliation for the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, Trump included striking Iranian cultural sites. Under international law, the targeting of cultural targets is viewed as a war crime. The U.S. military has a long history of avoiding such targets.
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Recently, Joe Biden “clarified” his pledge to defy any Senate subpoena to testify in the Trump impeachment trial but stating the exact opposite in a later interview. Now, in a remarkable contradiction, Biden has denied that he advised against the Bin Laden raid in 2011 despite his statement to the contrary eight years ago. Given the importance of the issue to his views as president, the latest in a long line of contradictions could further undermine Biden’s position in a still competitive Democratic field.
Continue reading “Biden Denies Ever Opposing Bin Laden Raid”
In a break from long-standing intelligence practices, President Donald Trump ordered the Defense Department to confirm that the United States was behind the missile strike that killed Qassem Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s secretive Quds Force, and six others, including Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. The public acknowledgement of responsibility is a game changer. While Iran (like most of us) assumed it was the United States, the public confirmation of the assassination removes any doubt and forces Iran and Iraq to deal with a direct and official attack. International law treats the targeted killing of a ranking military figure on foreign sovereign soil as a presumptive act of war. As always however there is no shortage of hypocrisy in the condemnations from Capitol Hill.
Continue reading “Trump Orders Defense Department To Publicly Confirm Assassination Of Iranian General”
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
Earlier this week, a special four-legged hero named Conan was honored at the White House.
The military K-9 was injured in the October raid that led to the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Syria. Fortunately, the commando dog has since made a full recovery.
This is not the first time that this breed of dog was used in a special operation. Back in 2011, a Belgian Malinois named Cairo accompanied Seal Team Six to track down Osama Bin Laden.
As predicted, some Americans are cashing in on Conan’s legacy as the war dog already has multiple Facebook pages, ‘Zero Bark Thirty’ t-shirts, and even held a press conference on SNL.
Continue reading “White House Honors K-9 Serving In al-Baghdadi Raid”
Former Pentagon aide Guy Snodgrass has finally denied that he is “Anonymous” — the author of the book “A Warning.” That was however before he milked the speculation to awkwardly hawk his own less-than-sizzling book. In a Fox interview with Trace Gallagher, Snodgrass went out of his way to tease the speculation while shamelessly pitching his book to try to generate buzz. The curious effort seemed to do little to increase book sales but it certainly generated an abundance of criticism of the previously unknown former speechwriter to former Defense Secretary James Mattis.
Continue reading “Wrong Guy: Former Pentagon Aide Fuels Speculation Before Admitting He Is Not “Anonymous””
While virtually everyone in Washington is burning any Christmas card or note connecting them to Rudy Giuliani, President Donald Trump gave a rambling and at times baffling interview on Fox & Friends in which he not only doubled down on his faith in Giuliani but restated the importance of the widely discredited Crowdstrike server claims. Giuliani has been denounced for his role in the Ukraine scandal and portrayed as a universally despised individual in the State Department and national security agencies. Yet, Trump heralded Giuliani as “a great crime-fighter” and leader even though Fox co-host Brian Kilmeade questioned his role in the scandal and raised the fact that two of his associates are now under indictment. I have been critical of Giuliani’s representation of the President for years. The interview could be an effort to keep Giuliani, who is under federal investigation, in the fold or the President may genuinely still believe that Giuliani is not only blameless but praiseworthy. Either way, this is not good. Both Giuliani and the Crowdstrike theory have been discredited in prior testimony. Nevertheless, the interview offer a glimpse into a possible defense in the Senate.
Continue reading “Trump Goes All-In With Giuliani and Crowdstrike In Fox Interview”
The New York Times and various media outlets are reporting universal denials of the military that there was any evidence to support President Donald Trump’s repeated assertions that ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, died “whimpering and crying and screaming all the way” to his death. The embarrassing denials comes after a videotape contradicted Trump’s claim that “almost all” of farmers who attended his signing of an executive order were crying. The videotape shows no one crying. The statement on al-Baghdadi is particularly curious because al-Baghdadi ran down an alley and blew himself up with a suicide vest. Military sources say that there is no evidence of the whimpering and crying described by Trump.
Continue reading ““Something He Made Up”: Military Denies Trump’s Claim About Al-Baghdadi Death”