Replies to post #437095 on Tornado Alley (PROG)

[sortagreen]

Remember this one...

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Trump is reportedly 'afraid of' going to a combat zone to visit US troops, but that may soon change

David Choi - Nov 20, 2018, 1:47 AM

* President Donald Trump, in private conversations, expressed concern for his safety in potential trips to Afghanistan or Iraq to visit deployed US service members, a former senior White House official told The Washington Post.

* "He's never been interested in going," the former official said. "He's afraid of those situations. He's afraid people want to kill him."

* Trump recently received criticism for his decision not to visit US troops in a combat zone during his nearly two years as commander in chief.

President Donald Trump, in private conversations, expressed concern for his safety in potential trips to Afghanistan or Iraq to visit deployed US service members, a former senior White House official said in a Washington Post report published Monday.

"He's never been interested in going," the former official said. "He's afraid of those situations. He's afraid people want to kill him."

Trump, who has yet to visit US troops in a combat zone, recently received criticism for not having made such a trip. This may change, however, according to The Post and Trump's own comments. In recent weeks, Trump reportedly floated the idea to his advisers.

"I think you will see that happen," Trump said during an interview with the Fox News host Chris Wallace. "There are things that are being planned. We don't want to talk about it because of security reasons and everything else."

Trump's immediate predecessor, President Barack Obama, visited troops in Iraq as a US senator in 2008. He made another trip to Iraq after becoming president in 2009 and went on to make four trips to Afghanistan.


First lady Barbara Bush spent Thanksgiving with the troops of Operation Desert Shield in Saudi Arabia on November 22, 1990. Presidential Library for George H.W. Bush

Trump has also turned down the idea of visiting deployed troops over fears he could be tied to failed military conflicts, other current and former advisers told The Post. Aides also noted that shortly after taking office, Trump was noticeably affected following an unannounced trip to receive the remains of US Navy SEAL William "Ryan" Owens, who was killed during a raid on a Qaeda compound in Yemen.

Though some of the preparations ahead of a president's visit to a combat zone fall squarely on the shoulders of service members, the move is generally seen as a morale boost for troops, particularly during the holiday season when many are away from their families.

Despite his numerous claims that his support for the military is unparalleled, Trump continues to be at odds with high-profile veterans and their families, notably those who remain critical of his policies.

On Sunday, the former Joint Special Operations commander Adm. William McRaven, who oversaw the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, became the latest veteran to be targeted by the president.

In his Fox News interview, Trump referred to McRaven as "a Hillary Clinton backer and an Obama backer," and he appeared critical of US intelligence.

"Frankly, wouldn't it have been nice if we got Osama bin Laden a lot sooner than that," Trump told Wallace.

McRaven, who was reportedly once on Trump's shortlist for national security adviser, wrote a stunning opinion column in August that rebuked the White House's decision to revoke former CIA Director John Brennan's security clearance.

"Your leadership ... has shown little of these qualities," McRaven wrote, addressing Trump. "Through your actions, you have embarrassed us in the eyes of our children, humiliated us on the world stage and, worst of all, divided us as a nation."

More recently, Trump raised eyebrows after he decided not to attend a memorial service in France that marked the end of World War I. The White House cited inclement weather and logistical difficulties.

Trump continued to draw scrutiny after failing to visit Arlington National Cemetery after Veterans Day, a tradition observed by his predecessors. He later expressed regret in not attending.

"I should have done that," Trump told Wallace.
Other current and former advisers reportedly said Trump also feared being tied to failed military conflicts.

https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-visits-us-troops-deployed-to-combat-zone-2018-11

[blackhawks]

Biden’s Trip to Kyiv is the Ultimate Humiliation for Putin—and Trump

BOLD STATEMENT

Biden joined a great history of American presidents standing up to Russian aggression, and significantly broke from the shameful actions of his predecessor.


David Rothkopf
Updated Feb. 20, 2023 10:00AM ET Published Feb. 20, 2023 8:38AM ET

https://www.thedailybeast.com/bidens-trip-to-kyiv-is-the-ultimate-humiliation-for-putinand-trump?ref=scroll



Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Reuters
Kennedy and then Reagan in Berlin. Now Biden in Kyiv.

Periodically during the past sixty years, American presidents have stood up at the Eastern edge of Europe and looked to Russia to say, “We stand with our allies. Our resolve is unshakeable.”

Kennedy said, “Ich bin ein Berliner.” Reagan said, “Mr. Gorbachev tear down that wall.” Biden, on his surprise President’s Day visit to Kyiv said, “One year later, Kyiv stands. And Ukraine strands. Democracy stands.”

Stirringly, just days ahead of the one year anniversary of Russia’s brutal offensive against Ukraine, Biden walked through the streets of Kyiv, paid his respects to those who had fallen in defense of Ukraine, and said, “Freedom is priceless. It’s worth fighting for, for as long as it takes.”

Biden also movingly invoked the conversation he had with Zelensky last February as Russia’s massive escalation of its nine-year-old war of unprovoked aggression against Ukraine. He recalled with Zelensky at his side, “You said you didn’t know when we’d be able to speak again. That dark night…the world was literally bracing for the fall of Kyiv…perhaps even the end of Ukraine.”

Of course, the symbolism of the American president standing alongside Zelensky, walking through the Ukrainian capital even as air raid sirens sounded, carried many other messages as well.

To those fighting for Ukraine, it was a vitally important message of solidarity that came with further commitments from Biden of military support for Ukraine.

To Vladimir Putin, it was Biden’s way of saying, “I am here in Kyiv and you are not. You not only did not take Kyiv in days as some predicted, but your attack was rebuffed. Your army suffered a humiliating defeat from which it has not recovered.”


Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and U.S. President Joe Biden walk inside the Mariinskyi Palace, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine February 20, 2023.

Wow, look at that incline. The Trump of a few years ago would have insisted that the stairs be ramped and that a very burly American general hook his arm for the slooow descent. Not that Trump would have deigned to be there with someone that he'd attempted to blackmail. Anyway, without the ramp Orange Mussolini would be in a heap on the first landing, after falling ass over teakettle, coughing up KFC all the way down.

Biden emphasized this point in the official White House statement about the trip saying, “Putin thought Ukraine was weak and the West was divided. He thought he could outlast us. But he was dead wrong.” Importantly, it was a comment that was underscored in recent days by the significant Congressional delegation that attended the Munich Security Conference to make it very clear, support for Ukraine continues strong in the U.S. and it is bipartisan.

The official White House statement also underscored that Biden’s surprise visit to Ukraine was part of a larger mission, one of solidarity and leadership among America’s European allies. Biden, in the statement said, “I also look forward to traveling on to Poland to meet President Duda and the leaders of our Eastern Flank Allies, as well as deliver remarks on how the United States will continue to rally the world to support the people of Ukraine and the core values of human rights and dignity in the UN Charter that unites us worldwide.”

The reference to the UN Charter as well as Biden’s visit also had the effect of supporting statements made by Secretary of State Blinken in the wake of conversations with his Chinese counterpart on the edges of the Munich conference. Blinken stated that China was “considering providing lethal support” to Russia to aid in its invasion of Ukraine and warned that such action would have serious consequences.

Biden’s trip sent an important reminder to Beijing just how high a priority Ukraine is for the U.S. and the West and presenting the war in the context of Russia’s violations of international law will emphasize to the Chinese that directly supporting Russia’s attack and serial war crimes would make China an accessory to those crimes. The sanctions China would endure and the rift such a step would incur with the international community would be devastating for China, particularly given the fragility of its economy at the moment.

If there was yet another audience for Biden’s trip, it was naturally, the American people. Biden, in going to Kyiv, offered the clearest possible reminder of his stance against Russian aggression from the first moments of his presidency. It illustrated that he did not hesitate to support Ukraine when it was imperiled and that his leadership among our allies worldwide has been one of the signature triumphs of his first term in office.

NATO, recently adrift and doubted by other U.S. political leaders, was stronger than ever, on the verge of expanding. America’s international leadership, recently in doubt, was once again beyond doubting.

In sending this message, Biden pointedly evoked without mentioning his name yet another American president in a visit to the Eastern edges of Europe: Donald Trump during his 2018 Helsinki meeting with President Vladimir Putin. Biden went to Europe to send Putin a message of American and allied strength. Trump went to grovel before Putin. Biden stood up for American values and our allies. Trump said he trusted Putin more than America’s own intelligence and law enforcement services. Biden embodied America’s strength. Trump illustrated and represented our greatest weakness.

A year after Trump embarrassed the country in Helsinki, he compounded the offense by withholding aid from Ukraine in an attempt to extort Zelensky into doing political dirty work against Biden to help Trump’s reelection efforts.

It was an illegal act that ultimately led to Trump’s first impeachment. At the same time and throughout the following year according to reports from Trump’s own top advisors, he was actively advocating to withdraw American troops from Europe.

There is no doubt that had Trump been re-elected, today we would be witnessing an American president standing alongside his Russian counterpart not Zelensky, marking the weakening of the West, not its enduring strength. Perhaps that prospect, the sense that America was weak and divided and did not care about Ukraine, would not lead the fight to preserve democracy, encouraged Putin to undertake his ill-fated, hugely costly, profoundly ill-considered invasion last February. It seems likely it had an effect leading to that disastrous miscalculation.


Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and U.S. President Joe Biden walk outside the Mariinskyi Palace, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine February 20, 2023.

We cannot know. But what we know today is that thanks to the resolve of Biden and the West and the inspiring courage and resilience of the people of Ukraine and that country stands strong, Russia’s army has been weakened, depleted and revealed to be profoundly dysfunctional.

We also cannot know what challenges the next phases of this war are likely to present. But thanks to Biden’s visit today, it is crystal clear that Ukraine will not be facing them alone and that Ukraine’s enemies and their current and potential allies should never again underestimate the resolve of the United States and NATO to do what they have been doing for decades, since Kennedy’s trip and Reagan’s, to defend with whatever it takes our values, our democracies and the security provided by an international order based on the rule of law.

[hookrider]

zab: At 80 years, that took Balls!!!!!!!