Read the whole thing- Insane, Putin's Puppet, Ignorant or just an *sshole?

‘I Want to Meet With the Taliban’: Tales of Trump’s Head-Scratching Diplomacy-An exclusive excerpt from Mark Esper’s new memoir.
[www.politico.com]

For Instance:
The president disapprovingly asked why we were putting more troops in Poland, asking, “Do we really want a Fort Trump there?” He already agreed to both, Bolton reminded him. The president complained there were too many U.S. troops in Europe and that “NATO is ripping us off.”

and...READ THIS ONE

I pressed Trump on several occasions to approve the $250 million in security assistance that Congress had appropriated for Ukraine, and was joined at times by Bolton and/or Pompeo. None of us could figure out what was driving the president’s resistance. I would try every argument and strategy I could muster. When he complained about corruption in Ukraine, I told him, “I agree,” but pointed out that “they are making progress,” and that “tackling corruption is a priority for [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy.” I said to the president, “Denying him the aid would only undermine Zelenskyy’s efforts to do what you want — clean the place up.” When he questioned, “Why are we even giving them this stuff [security assistance] in the first place,” I ran through a series of arguments that failed time and time again: deterrence of Russian aggression; showing Moscow our commitment to our partners; and aiding a democracy under siege. I then pivoted to the fact that “Congress appropriated the funding, and we don’t really have a choice” to not release it. “It is the law, Mr. President,” I said bluntly. With his arms folded in front of him as he leaned forward into his desk, he was silent. He didn’t seem to care.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/09/2022 11:05AM by Steve G..

Trump then said he wanted to meet with Ghani too, proposing separate meetings in D.C. with him and the Taliban leadership. “So, we can meet with the Taliban but not congressional leadership?” I thought disgustedly.

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I couldn’t believe this was happening. We were actually going to sit down with the Taliban at the president’s historic Maryland retreat, like old friends? There was no way Dunford and I could join him. The Taliban had killed and wounded more than 20,000 U.S. service members in Afghanistan since 2001, and that’s just counting the physical wounds of war. Not only couldn’t I personally do it, it would be terrible for any secretary of Defense or chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to be sipping tea with these terrorists, especially while we still had troops in a combat zone. It would be breaking faith with them, their families and our veterans. It was not lost on many of us, either, that the 18th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks was coming up in a week or so. This idea was terrible in so many ways.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/09/2022 11:04AM by Steve G..

Should have told *45, "Vlad says it's OK; we checked." Truth does not matter; it can be manufactured to suit the needs of the moment.

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=TC

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The president complained there were too many U.S. troops in Europe and that “NATO is ripping us off.”

Wow. Who would benefit from weakening NATO?

Just can't put my finger on it.

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None of us could figure out what was driving the president’s resistance.

Another head-scratcher.

Guess we'll never know!


Hey, on a completely unrelated note; do you think we'll ever find out what Trump & Putin discussed in those meetings where he kicked out the US interpreter?

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Lux Interior

Wow. Who would benefit from weakening NATO?

Just can't put my finger on it.

I'm guessing NATO was Putin's #1 complaint in his private talks with puppet Trump.

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Northern California Coast