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Trump gives U.S. military authority to set Afghan troop levels

M

Makonero

Member
If military leaders determine an increased troop level is necessary, the President will say it was their decision, not his, in an effort to shield himself from public opinion. If, God forbid, Americans are killed in a new surge of troops, President Trump is positioning himself to blame Generals – just like when he said “they lost Ryan,” referring to Navy SEAL Ryan Owens, who was killed during a Trump-approved raid in Yemen.

Later, when President Trump was asked whether he had authorized the dropping of the largest non-nuclear bomb in the U.S. arsenal, he replied, “Uhh, everybody knows exactly what happened.” What likely happened is that Donald Trump didn’t know the outcome of the mission, or what popular opinion was going to be, so he had yet to decide whether to take credit for it.

This is not what a leader does, and it follows a previous Trump decision to remove himself from the responsibility of setting troop levels in Iraq and Syria. Despite what President Trump has claimed, this is not about saving time for the military; it’s about saving face for a president with a notoriously fragile ego and a habit of skipping intelligence briefings.

The president is in charge of the military so that a single individual – accountable to Americans – is responsible for its successes and failures. Yet President Trump hasn’t even spoken with our commanders in Afghanistan or Iraq since taking office. I am not saying the President should micromanage every decision made on the battlefield. But a decision of great magnitude should come from the Commander in Chief. At a minimum, the President should have an overall military plan that his commanders can follow, but President Trump doesn’t seem to even have that.

Because President Obama had an overall strategy, military and civilian leaders under his command could make reactive decisions that advanced the President’s goals. In the military, we call that commander’s intent: When there’s a decision to be made and you don’t have exact guidance at that moment, you at least know overall what your boss wants. There is no commander’s intent right now because the commander-in-chief has no plan and, apparently, no interest in the role.
Click to expand...



Read the rest here
 
H

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
Shit I'm not surprised. Those military leaders would probably tell him all kinds of boring stuff that he doesn't agree with and might even go against his wishes and desires.
 
A

Abinash117

Member
I say doing that was his smartest decision.


I do not want a man running the military who has no clue to what he does. Letting the military do it's own thing is the best option out the other.
 
NOLA_Gaffer

NOLA_Gaffer

Banned
I've definitely getting the feeling that Trump had no idea what he was signing up for when he started this whole presidential thing years back.
 
F

Funyarinpa

Member
Should we be pissed that he's trying to avoid responsibility or should we be happy that he won't be giving any more idiotic commands any more?
 
Z

Ziltoidia 9

Member
giphy.gif
 
M

Muffin1611

Banned
The title is misleading as fuck. He isn't doing that officially, the author infers that he's doing that by not caring at all and letting his generals handling it. Which is true, but come on.
 
S

Seth Enosh

Member
DogDude said:
That's a misleading title
Click to expand...
The title of this thread is misleading.

Trump hasn't relinquished the title and would probably brag he is the "best commander in chief" ever if asked. This is the guy who is smarter than the generals and has a secret plan to defeat ISIS after all.
 
T

Tagyhag

Member
NOLA_Gaffer said:
I've definitely getting the feeling that Trump had no idea what he was signing up for when he started this whole presidential thing years back.
Click to expand...

Well I'm pretty sure most people agree that he didn't actually want to be President. He wanted to get far so his stock would shoot tenfold when he lost.

Hell, he was getting Trump TV ready for when he lost. While everyone else was shocked that he won, so was he. He didn't think Americans would be THAT stupid, and yet here we are.
 
RPGCrazied

RPGCrazied

Member
Damn, I was coming in here thinking he was finally resigning. Why did you do this to me! He is nothing to me.

He is Donald Trump, scam artist and fake billionaire.
 
G

Gattsu25

Banned
Threat title needs an edit.

Title should be:
"HuffPo Opinion: President Trump is Relinquishing Title of Commander in Chief"
 
A

Alex_Mexico

Member
Oh but I'm sure if there's a success he won't pin that medal into his suit now will he?

What a fucking joke your fucking electoral college elected for President.
 
A

Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
DogDude said:
That's a misleading title
Click to expand...
This is what fake news actually looks like.

The underlying story is that he delegated military leaders in Afghanistan the authority to determine how many troops we are using there. This opinion piece believes that constitutes not adding up to Commander In Chief.
 
S

Syf

Banned
He's just going to blame them for his foreign policy disasters now lol

And people will eat it up
 
Wag

Wag

Member
It doesn't work like that.

Regardless of what he says he's doing (or not doing), he's still the "CiC". Anything the generals do they're doing in his name. Ultimately the President is held responsible.
 
B

Balphon

Member
He's certainly delegated a lot of authority to DoD, but he's done that with respect to basically his entire cabinet.

Though it's more troubling in this area. And hypocritical to boot, since according to Trump he knew more than "the Generals" and would have a foolproof plan to wipe ISIS off the face of the Earth 30 days post-inauguration.
 
E

efyu_lemonardo

May I have a cookie?
Tagyhag said:
Well I'm pretty sure most people agree that he didn't actually want to be President. He wanted to get far so his stock would shoot tenfold when he lost.

Hell, he was getting Trump TV ready for when he lost. While everyone else was shocked that he won, so was he. He didn't think Americans would be THAT stupid, and yet here we are.
Click to expand...

So his intention was to lose and use his angry underdog status to cultivate a cult of personality?
 
R

Randolph Freelander

Member
I hope this clown gets a legitimate primary challenge in 2020 so it forces Republicans to come to grips with and talk about how much of an incompetent buffoon Trump really is.

I just don't know if anyone in that party has the guts to do it.
 
D

Dyle

Member
One of the most misleading thread titles of all time. A president relinquishing the title of Commander in Chief would effectively be resigning from their most important duty, this is just Trump shifting the blame for anything that happens onto his generals, which should surprise no one since he has never held himself accountable for anything that could be perceived as negative.

So much for "The Buck Stops Here"
 
Y

yanipheonu

Member
Man, even for clickbait that's an egregiously clickbait title.

Which is a shame because it seem to be a good article otherwise.
 
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