There was no shortage of prominent US generals on the airwaves today unpacking Trump's rant warning North Korea of "fire and fury" that would fall on Pyongyang's head if Kim jong Un made any further threats against America.
Those senior military officers all said the same thing. Whoever is advising Trump, putting apocalyptic images in his mind, it's decidedly not the man/baby president's in-house generals, Mattis, McMaster or Kelly. Retired four star general, Barry McCaffrey, ventured a guess that the message must have been planted in Trump's mind by Steve Bannon.
If Steve Bannon has become Trump's Secretary of War, that surely sets the cat among the pigeons for America's national security/intelligence agencies and its military establishment alike. It gives rise to a new and disturbing dynamic of a president run amok versus a corps of security and military leaders sworn to defend their country "against all threats, foreign and domestic."
[Photo, The Guardian. An effigy of Trump the Crusader was burned today during a religious festival in Spain]
5 comments:
Pfft! That corps of security and military leaders has always done a great job of encouraging or at least supporting US military adventures, see e.g. Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, etc.
It's a bit much to hear the retired generals tut-tutting because Trump used the phrase "fire and fury" instead of the more usual formula "all options are on tbe table."
Cap
US options in N Korea are limited, and Kim knows it. Unlike Saddam, Kim has nukes and he didn't hesitate to call Trump's bluff by threatening Guam. Now Trump looks like a "paper tiger." And this is the man who twittered on about how Obama's red line made America look weak.
Cap
Perhaps his advise came from here?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2017/08/08/god-has-given-trump-authority-to-take-out-kim-jong-un-evangelical-adviser-says/?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_trump-pastor-115am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.db4661030093
Fire and fury or fire and brimstone?
The last religious world leaders to upset things were Blair and Bush and we are still suffering their decisions.
TB
Sorry, Cap, you're wrong. "Fire and fury" isn't some throwaway line in nuclear politics. See Wilkerson's commentary in the previous post. Perhaps that will help you understand.
Fortunately, TrailBlazer, Trump is not the religious type. A guy who describes himself to others as the "most important man in the world" doesn't waste much time contemplating superior beings. Besides if word got out that he's hearing voices instructing him in the use of America's nuclear arsenal I think he'd have an aneurysm in short order.
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