Donald trump. what is your take on him?

[tands]

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[JohnRoberts]

For anyone paying attention, the west has been making progress against ISIS in recent months, while arguably not fast enough.

ISIS is already scattering. I think they just arrested the ISIS car bomb makers (brothers) in Turkey who were operating out of Mosul university (Isis war college), before Iraqi forces took it back recently.

The end game for this will get nasty.

We shouldn't be too shocked about President Trump fulfilling campaign promises, while we can always hope he moderates more of them.  He has already backed off several and deferred to his top advisers who generally have superior experience to him dealing with such subjects.

The ISIS end game will be rougher in Europe where they already have ISIS soldiers in place. In the US the threat is mostly home grown which will be difficult enough. Comey reported months ago that the FBI had open investigations of terrorist activity in all 50 states.

This will not be easy but I am optimistic a more concerted effort is needed to finish this in our lifetime, rather than just tolerating a perpetual conflict (JV team?). Cooperation with Putin who has some common interest controlling radical islam seems sensible. Speaking of Putin he is reportedly opening political discussions with the Taliban in Afghanistan which is not good for the stability of the fledgling Afghan government. I always though squashing the Taliban (no matter how offensive they are) was mission creep from stopping Alqaeda from having safe harbor there to train and launch attacks from. The Taliban's sin was allowing Al qaeda to live among them. 

Lots of evidence of former bad policy decisions smoldering all around the region.  :'(

JR

PS:  I have recently exchanged multiple emails with a fan of one of my (very) old phono preamp designs who currently lives in Fiji (he is a Brit ex-pat broadcast engineer who learned about it while working at the Beeb) but is leaving Fiji. He reports that the Chinese have moved in on small countries in the south pacific to exploit their raw materials with opportunistic trade deals that replace the US influence that has been in decline for years.  I was aware in general of such things but this was the only first-hand (albeit anecdotal ) report of worsening conditions for small countries in the region I have heard. This guy is moving to NZ for better work conditions and to escape shoddy Chinese broadcast equipment (his wife is from NZ so that helps).

 

[tands]

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[tands]

"President Donald Trump had a "positive call" with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday, during which the two promised to cooperate on destroying ISIS in Syrian and repair U.S. and Russian relations.

The discussion was part of a diplomatic effort to connect over the phone with foreign leaders from countries including Japan, Germany, France and Australia.

"The positive call was a significant start to improving the relationship between the United States and Russia that is in need of repair," the White House said in a readout of the conversation. "Both President Trump and President Putin are hopeful that after today's call the two sides can move quickly to tackle terrorism and other important issues of mutual concern."

A statement from the Kremlin's office went even further to solidify the ties between the two, saying that the leaders "agreed to maintain regular personal contacts."

The Kremlin's statement said that the two spoke about the "Ukraine Crisis" and repairing economic relationships, suggesting that Trump said he would be open to lifting sanctions against Russia.

"The sides stressed the importance of rebuilding mutually beneficial trade and economic ties between the two countries’ business communities, which could give an additional impetus to progressive and sustainable development of bilateral relations," the Kremlin's office said in a statement. "

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/trump-putin-middle-east-russia-relations-234316

 

[abbey road d enfer]

"President Donald Trump had a "positive call" with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday, during which the two promised to cooperate on destroying ISIS in Syrian and repair U.S. and Russian relations.

Typical of alliances made under the belief that "the enemies of my enemies are my friends".
Beys are open on how long it will take before the dick contest starts.

 

[mattiasNYC]

But you will have to have some special checks in place when you come to the end-game with IS this coming year.

There appears to be no end to the amount of leeway and credit you will give this administration. Even after considering all the campaign rhetoric. There's simply no reason to believe this is where it ends, that the end game is getting rid of ISIS, and that after that this administration is done.

 

[mattiasNYC]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38787241

"The director of national intelligence and the joint chiefs will attend when discussions pertain to their areas.

Under previous administrations, the director and joint chiefs attended all meetings of the NSC's inner circle, the principals' committee. "

However, Bannon gets a permanent seat. This is the Bannon that ran Breitbart. Are we not supposed to be worried by this?

"Last week, Mr Bannon described the US mainstream media as "the opposition party", saying it should "keep its mouth shut"."

Anyone want to let me know just experience Bannon has on national security issues? No? Just peddling racist filth? Ok, nothing to see here I guess.

Except it reminds me of what W did when he created an inner circle of ideologues that shielded him from reality and allowed intelligence estimates that didn't conform to get filtered out.

But I'm sure the standard response here is "Oh, we've got to give them time and wait and see", and "Oh, I'm sure it'll turn out well, because the campaign was the campaign, and hopefully the excellent choices he made will result in moderate decisions"....

Excuses excuses.... This is heading in a worse direction much faster than I thought.

You guys own this sh!t if you voted for it. This is all yours.

 

[mattiasNYC]

I think it is insufficient to say " It all started with the failed multiculturalism experiment by the liberal democracies", this goes much further back, to the age of British Imperialism and early American Corporate exploitation, in the form of interfering with existing countries and governments in order to exploit their natural resources. So many of the Islamic aggression movements aimed at the western world  are a linear evolution to the occupation then  partition of India and the Middle East and the exploitation of oil.
Until we truly come to terms with the fact that over the course of history we caused most of this crap, we will never go down the long , tough row of actually solving it.

I obviously 100% agree with you, but you're facing an opposition that either says "Oh, but I only  consider the last 15 years", or "Yeah, but nobody's innocent" or whatever. Point being that right as you are what you say will only resonate with those that have already done the thinking and come to your conclusion.

 

[tands]

"Schumer now speaking at Battery Park rally. "Are we gonna win this fight?" Someone yells, "No thanks to you! Stop voting for his nominees!""

https://twitter.com/irin/status/825788273901629442

"A "vote Schumer out" impromptu chant around me as he speaks."

https://twitter.com/irin/status/825788274140643329

 

[Banzai]

This ban will close one door for them, but it won't stop false passport holders and the activation of cells already resident in the US or lone wolf attacks.

Stormy waters ahead!

DaveP

You don't need fake passports when you're a European... or a Saudi.

 

[mattiasNYC]

True.

Gee, I wonder what the stats are on just what amount of these nationalities have committed acts of terrorism on US soil, compared to, say Saudis? Or perhaps Afghans? Pakistanis or maybe those numbnuts up in Boston?

Perhaps we can then try to correlate the lack of ban from nations like the UAE and Saudi Arabia with potential Trump business deals in those nations. I wonder if we find something.

 

[DaveP]

I think it is insufficient to say " It all started with the failed multiculturalism experiment by the liberal democracies", this goes much further back, to the age of British Imperialism and early American Corporate exploitation, in the form of interfering with existing countries and governments in order to exploit their natural resources. So many of the Islamic aggression movements aimed at the western world  are a linear evolution to the occupation then  partition of India and the Middle East and the exploitation of oil.
Until we truly come to terms with the fact that over the course of history we caused most of this crap, we will never go down the long , tough row of actually solving it.

This is a misrepresentation.  If it had not been British imperialism it would have been French, German or Russian, it was a different age with a different morality, you might just as well complain about Roman Imperialism.  Britain united India.  No sooner than India was given independence than they opted for partition along religious lines.

I think what you really mean is that it was the establishment of Israel in 1948 and its immediate recognition by Truman that caused the problems that continue to this day.

Many countries were keen to sell oil to the West as they had no use for it themselves, but they liked having US dollars.  Exploitation of oil is one thing, it should not be used as a euphemism for  exploitation of the people, that was no more the case than globalization is doing now.

DaveP

 

[micaddict]

This is a misrepresentation.  If it had not been British imperialism it would have been French, German or Russian, it was a different age with a different morality, you might just as well complain about Roman Imperialism.  Britain united India.  No sooner than India was given independence than they opted for partition along religious lines.

I'm perplexed yet again.

And weren't you in Africa for years?

 

[micaddict]

I wonder if Trump is reading my mind..?

I think he is, John.

 

[DaveP]

I'm perplexed yet again.

And weren't you in Africa for years?

Yes I was and I saw how badly the Belgians had treated the Africans while they were there.

And I have spoken to Nigerians who told me about the benefits that the British brought to Nigeria (He was talking about the Underground/Metro in this case),  I want some balance in the arguments, that's all.

I get annoyed when people try to revise history in modern terms,  the attitude of peoples and countries changes over time.

The British abolished slavery in  1834, but it took a civil war and another 31 years for the US to do so.

This is the Democratic National Convention (Klanbake) in New York in 1924.  (This actually happened, not fake news)



DaveP

 

[hodad]

Dave, those folks from the 1924 DNC are essentially the same folks behind the current white house regime.  I don't know why that's so hard for some people to see.  The current crew are probably less populist in many regards, but just as vile and dangerous.

 

[madswitcher]

This is a misrepresentation.  If it had not been British imperialism it would have been French, German or Russian, it was a different age with a different morality, you might just as well complain about Roman Imperialism.  Britain united India.  No sooner than India was given independence than they opted for partition along religious lines.

DaveP

Agree on this.  It is a false misrepresentation and argument (but frequent mis-used discussion tool) to judge one historical frame of reference in time and space by comparing to your parochial own.

Mike

 

[nielsk]

Attempting to blame the disastrous partition of India on Indians is absurd.
Along with millions of deaths, partition resulted in the creation of the prime nexus of Islamic terrorism.
While I am sure every imperialistic regime has taken great comfort in the "good" they have brought to their colonies (and to be fair, some of the infrastructure they built for their own purposes remains at least partially useful to the native population), if the western world continues to ignore that much of the problems in the world today are of their own creation  it will do nothing to actually solve them.
Self defense will always be important, but until we herald the end of the petroleum age and cease the exportation of others resources we only continue the need to defend ourselves from threats of our own creation.

 

[micaddict]

Yes I was and I saw how badly the Belgians had treated the Africans while they were there.

Yes, that's what colonialists (and imperialists) do. They were not there to unite. Divide and conquer is more like it. Taking  and ruling  large parts of land, no matter what cultures are already there. Those cultures did not like to be joined under one foreign flag. And the colonialists had actually less to fear when the the native cultures did not unite. Best was to favor the minority. And put some natives in (relatively) high places. Then when the ruler leaves, all hell is bound to break loose sooner or later. The seeds for the mass slaughter of Tutsi by Hutu were planted long before the genocide happened.
But do you really believe the British were any better than other colonialists?  Well, in any case they were among the most succesful ...

And I have spoken to Nigerians who told me about the benefits that the British brought to Nigeria (He was talking about the Underground/Metro in this case),

How many have you spoken to? Nigeria is incredibly rich on paper (oil). But did it really benefit the people? When classic colonialism and imperialism ended, the neo variants took over (and even if they didn't, the arrears of the formerly suppressed are virtually impossible to undo). BP and Shell come to mind in this case. Yes, some collaborating Nigerians got rich, too. Nothing new there. And oh, the land got polluted, because Nigerians like to steal oil ...

BTW the US always condemned colonialism, but that's a bit hypocritical IMO. You may agree on that one. Similar thing (new clothes) when it comes to  nobility. And the biggest joke is that Trump will fight the elite. He's the son of a millionaire. He never knew poverty or even normalcy for that matter. He is the elite. Regardless of the game called politics.

 

[abbey road d enfer]

BTW the US always condemned colonialism,

And yet, they're colonizing UK... Funny historical twist.