Houston, We've Got A Problem

[AGBF]

Houston, we've got a problem. Our astronaut doesn't seem to know that Mars is a planet. He thought when he got in the capsule that he was going on one of the rides in Disney World.

Yes, it is almost that bad, It seems that Donald Trump did not know that Russia had invaded-well, when we did it in Cambodia, it was called an incursion-already. Today he assured a news commentator that Vladimir Putin would not invade Ukraine. A rather confusing conversation ensued. (It makes one wonder what he thought he was talking about when he said he would consider giving Russia his blessing about annexing Crimea.) (JoCoJenn, are you certain you feel safer with this man running the military than with Secretary Clinton running it? Doesn't it frighten you that he doesn't know who is at war with whom or where their armies are?)

From "The New York Times".

"In an interview with George Stephanopoulos on the ABC News program “This Week,” Mr. Trump said that if he were president, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia would not send his forces into Ukraine. He then backpedaled when Mr. Stephanopoulos pointed out that Russian troops had been there for nearly two years.

'He’s not going into Ukraine, O.K., just so you understand,' Mr. Trump, the Republican nominee, said when the issue came up.'He’s not going to go into Ukraine, all right? You can mark it down. You can put it down. You can take it anywhere you want.'

'Well, he’s already there, isn’t he?' Mr. Stephanopoulos interrupted.

'O.K., well, he’s there in a certain way,' Mr. Trump replied. 'But I’m not there. You have Obama there. And frankly, that whole part of the world is a mess under Obama with all the strength that you’re talking about and all of the power of NATO and all of this. In the meantime, he’s going away. He take — takes Crimea.'"

AGBF

Link...http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/01/world/europe/ukraine-trump-crimea-politics.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

 

[AGBF]

Would you like to look at who might be pulling the strings-i.e.telling Donald Trump the broad outlines of what he should do (since he's too dim to grasp the details, as manifested by his confusion as to whether Putin had invaded Ukraine yet or not)? If so, read a bit about Paul Manafort's extensive ties with Ukraine and Russia.

For anyone who doesn't already know it, Paul Manafort is the campaign manager Donald Trump brought in when his old one got arrested for assaulting a woman reporter then lying about it until it was found to have been caught on videotape. Remember that?.

Link...http://www.redstate.com/sweetie15/2016/07/30/trumps-ties-russia-may-run-surface-deep/

AGBF

 

[Tekate]

I never thought in my life that I would see the Republican party so tattered, so low. Republicans believe in supply side econ.. they believe in bringing yourself up, they believe in deregulation, they believe (some of them) climate change is not caused many humans, they believe in guns, they believe in war etc.. Now most of what they believe(d) in has gone by the wayside, hijacked by people that they themselves courted but didn't realize how the blob would eat them, while I rarely if ever thought to vote for a republican I did feel that we need both parties to balance out America, I hope this party regains the mantle of "grand ole' party' because it is the party of Lincoln also. Trump is just feeding on the anger of people who lost their jobs, think a muslim is on every block and who think their guns and god are going to be taken away. Hopefully this election is an aberration.

 

[AGBF]

It seems that Donald Trump did not know that Russia had invaded-well, when we did it in Cambodia, it was called an incursion- Ukraine already.

I wanted to add a letter from today's edition of "The New York Times" to bolster my view that Donald Trump should never be Commander-in-Chief of The Armed Forces. We all, now, know he was unaware that Russian troops were in Ukraine. Here's another little problem with his views on NATO. Read on. JoCoJenn, are you reading?

"To the Editor:

Re 'Trump Plays Down U.S. Commitment to NATO and Role Abroad' (front page, July 21):

Donald Trump’s remarks about hedging on our treaty commitment to come to the aid of NATO allies under attack was in the context of a presumed Russian attack on Baltic allies. One of the few allied countries meeting the target of spending 2 percent of gross domestic product on defense is Estonia.

Does this mean that the United States would meet its treaty obligations in defense of Estonia but not Latvia and Lithuania? How exactly would that work?

NATO has an integrated military command structure, always commanded by an American, to which allies, including the United States, subordinate their national forces in crisis. Once again, how is this going to work?

By the way, the launch of any NATO military operation would require a consensus that would include Latvia and Lithuania.

F. CHARLES PARKER IV

Brussels

The writer, a retired United States Army colonel, worked for 16 years on NATO’s international staff, retiring in 2012 as the head of arms control coordination."

 

[AGBF]

"Former Nuke Weapons Officer Goes Off: Trump Is 'So Damn Dangerous'"

Conservative national security hawk and former Jeb Bush adviser John Noonan used a Wednesday tweetstorm to sound off on his concerns about a report that Donald Trump had repeatedly asked an unnamed adviser why the United States could not use nuclear weapons.

'Buckle the hell up,' Noonan tweeted. 'Nuclear deterrence is about balance. Trump is an elephant jumping up and down on one side of the scale. So damn dangerous.'

Before moving to the Foreign Policy Initiative and advising Mitt Romney and Jeb Bush during their campaigns, Noonan served as a Minuteman III nuclear launch officer in the U.S. Air Force.

In a Wednesday morning interview with retired Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden, MSNBC host Joe Scarborough claimed that Trump allegedly asked why the U.S. could not use nuclear weapons several times during a briefing with an unnamed foreign policy expert.

Top Trump aide Paul Manafort later denied that any such security briefings have been made, saying that it 'just didn't happen.'

Here's what Noonan had to say, from the perspective of a former nuclear weapons officer:

(click on linked article to see actual tweets)

Link...http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/john-noonan-trump-nuclear-weapons-twitter

AGBF

 

[AGBF]

I have been using this thread as a repository for the statements of experts about Donald Trump's massive ineptitude in grasping foreign policy and the extremely low esteem in which he is held by military and security experts. It is, in essence, an arsenal of data to display when conservatives declare that they trust Donald Trump to be their Commander-in-Chief.

Today I am adding to it a link to an Op-ed piece in "The New York Times" by Michael J.Morrell, who was acting director of the CIA from 2010 to 2013.

Here is how his piece begins:

"During a 33-year career at the Central Intelligence Agency, I served presidents of both parties — three Republicans and three Democrats. I was at President George W. Bush’s side when we were attacked on Sept. 11; as deputy director of the agency, I was with President Obama when we killed Osama bin Laden in 2011.

I am neither a registered Democrat nor a registered Republican. In my 40 years of voting, I have pulled the lever for candidates of both parties. As a government official, I have always been silent about my preference for president.

No longer. On Nov. 8, I will vote for Hillary Clinton. Between now and then, I will do everything I can to ensure that she is elected as our 45th president.

Two strongly held beliefs have brought me to this decision. First, Mrs. Clinton is highly qualified to be commander in chief. I trust she will deliver on the most important duty of a president — keeping our nation safe. Second, Donald J. Trump is not only unqualified for the job, but he may well pose a threat to our national security."

Link...http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/05/opinion/campaign-stops/i-ran-the-cia-now-im-endorsing-hillary-clinton.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-right-region&region=opinion-c-col-right-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-right-region&_r=0

AGBF

 

[Tekate]

I have been using this thread as a repository for the statements of experts about Donald Trump's massive ineptitude in grasping foreign policy and the extremely low esteem in which he is held by military and security experts. It is, in essence, an arsenal of data to display when conservatives declare that they trust Donald Trump to be their Commander-in-Chief.

Today I am adding to it a link to an Op-ed piece in "The New York Times" by Michael J.Morrell, who was acting director of the CIA from 2010 to 2013.

Here is how his piece begins:

"During a 33-year career at the Central Intelligence Agency, I served presidents of both parties — three Republicans and three Democrats. I was at President George W. Bush’s side when we were attacked on Sept. 11; as deputy director of the agency, I was with President Obama when we killed Osama bin Laden in 2011.

I am neither a registered Democrat nor a registered Republican. In my 40 years of voting, I have pulled the lever for candidates of both parties. As a government official, I have always been silent about my preference for president.

.....
Link...http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/05/opinion/campaign-stops/i-ran-the-cia-now-im-endorsing-hillary-clinton.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-right-region&region=opinion-c-col-right-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-right-region&_r=0

AGBF

Conservative's don't read the times, they think it's full of libs and portray the donald in a mean light... that said, this was a great op-ed.. I have a friend in Colorado that is panic stricken about the donald winning, he lives near a nuclear power plant and he thinks perhaps the donald will start a big bad war.. I reassured him trumpster was too dumb.

 

[AGBF]

I have a friend in Colorado that is panic stricken about the donald winning, he lives near a nuclear power plant and he thinks perhaps the donald will start a big bad war.. I reassured him trumpster was too dumb.

Too dumb to win the election or to start a war? George W. Bush did both and I would bet that he is dumber (albeit saner) than Donald Trump. So I do not feel reassured.

Deb