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Inside Trump's decision to send more troops to Afghanistan
Quote:
The anti-McMaster campaign, which Bannon denied orchestrating, infuriated some West Wing colleagues, including Kelly. Instead of marginalizing McMaster, the campaign made him a sympathetic figure to military and administration officials who cringed at the wave of negative stories. Trump signaled which side he was on Aug. 10 when he was asked by a reporter whether he had confidence in McMaster.
“Absolutely,” Trump said. “He’s our friend. He’s my friend. And he’s a very talented man. I like him and I respect him.”
Bannon’s vocal opposition had a cost. He was attending fewer meetings. One of his few allies, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, was pushed out just as Bannon was working to wrangle the Afghanistan decision in his direction. And by mid-August, Kelly, McMaster, Mattis and others planned the Camp David retreat without him.
As Trump began to align with the military establishment, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and other advisers reminded the president of the expectations of his die-hard supporters, who thought they had elected a president who would get the United States out of endless wars.
“There is no conceivable military alignment that’s going to be able to remove him,” said former U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford, now a fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C. “Everyone, including the U.S., has recognized that Assad is staying.”
He delivered encrypted two-way satellite radios to the opposition in the early stages of the revolt.
Mattis directly contradicts Trump on Korea (as well as overruling him on other issues)
Appearing jointly with his South Korean counterpart Song Young-moo, Mattis told the press that “we’re never out of diplomatic solutions” when it comes to Pyongyang.
“We continue to work together, and the minister and I share responsibility to provide for the protection of our nation our populations and our interests, which is what we are here to discuss today,” he explained. Not only did Mattis counter Trump’s declaration, he seemed to undercut the President’s perspective on the matter. “Look for all the areas we can collaborate,” Mattis said. “There is already very strong collaboration, we always look for more, we are never complacent.”
Over the last few days the SAA and friends have come to within 50km of Deir Ez Zour. Heavy fighting west of the city with casualties on both sides and yesterday ISIS launched a counter attack using forces from what was left of their central Syrian assets. The counter attack failed. In central Syria one of the 2 pockets created north and west of Palmyra was bulldozed and the reduction of the second western most pocket has begun. Russian airpower is present in all fighting.
People in the know are SPECULATING it may beover for ISIS by October.
The Russian Ministry of Defense gave that two month estimate.
There were persistent reports that ISIS fighters had been flown out of Iraq and Syria by US helicopters to other theaters, mostly nearby Afghanistan for a proxy war with the Taliban backed by Pakistan. The Islamic State in Afghanistan was formed from the Pakistan Taliban for which the CIA officer Raymond Davis had been kicked out of the country for recruiting militants.
I heard that too Ichoro. Specifically they're being flown to northern Afghanistan in unmarked aircraft . The Stans to the north are taking great interest in these movements because the US does not want stability on Russias southern border. The Khazhaks are especially watchful.
The SAA and friends are reported to be within 10km of Deir Ez Zor advancing along the 2 main routes into the city. the pocket to the west of Palmyra is being shot to pieces but there's heavy fighting.
SAA reportedly entered Deir Ez Zor. Developing. If true it's the last stronghold ISIL has. It takes out all of the infrastructure for supply command and communication. They're just a rabble after this.
There were persistent reports that ISIS fighters had been flown out of Iraq and Syria by US helicopters to other theaters...
If that's the case, then I hope Russia shoots our helicopters out of the sky, because WE are in the wrong (if those reports are true). ISIS deserves nothing more than an open trench and a flurry of .223 slugs.
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