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© (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017.Trump's Pentagon choice says U.S. needs to be ready to confront Russia
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nostromo
the US is in a position of its own making regarding Russia... when the soviet union collapsed the US attempted to include all the former soviet countries in the NATO bloc thus pushing NATO right to the Russian border... Russia was never going to wear this as their biggest historical fear has been an attack from the western side of Europe - a couple of recent examples being Napoleon and Hitler... if the US had been smart, they would have included Russia in the talks with NATO and maybe included them in some-kind of pact thus allying their legitimate fears. Unfortunately they chose to celebrate the soviet demise by turning it into an ideological victory for "freedom" and rubbing the Russian noses in the dirt rather than seeing it for the historical opportunity it was....
Strangerland
The election of Trump creates a huge divide in the US. This divide can be exploited by other countries. The further the internal divide, the less able the US will be to deal with external issues.
It's crazy how the Cold War essentially ended 30 or so years ago, yet suddenly is popping up again. There was nothing under Clinton, nothing under Bush, nothing under Obama, and suddenly it's a thing again. That's messed up.
Strangerland
You guys on the right try so, so very hard, in vain, but I give you all credit for tenacity and trying so hard. LOL
You keep telling yourself that.
Centrist???? ROFL Trump is THE MOST partisan president EVER in the history of the US! Hands down and without a doubt! You are one funny dude!
Madverts
Bah, who knows what to think anymore. Trump is like a bipolar disorder sufferer on steroids, his team are calling Russia out for the meddling scumbags they are but the Trump himself can't seem to denigrate his Putin overlord....
It kinda makes you really wanna see the video they allegedly have on him.
He's illegitimate. He's already wallowing in scandal. Journals are already asking questions about his future impeachment.
But never forget the power hungry Republican party, like a crack-ho needing juju , embraced the orange haired vulgarian.
Trump is the Republican party. Good luck defending Putin's poodle.
Mike L
Wow, you guys are really going to keep this up for 4 years?
Fake news? Isn't that just news you disagree with?
CrazyJoe
General Mattis called Russia our greatest threat. Therefore Trump is our most immediate threat, because he is a water boy for Putin.
Tokyo-Engr
In spite of the fact I think Trump is unfit for office I think Mattis is an honorable man who is a good choice for this position. Whether a President Trump will listen to him remains to be seen.
My biggest concern with President elect Trump has nothing to do with "racism", "womanizing", etc. My biggest concern is his inability to control himself and how easy it is to bait him.
Mr. Trump will soon discover that being the President of the U.S. is quite different than engaging in real estate transactions.
After being in the U.S. for Christmas and New Year it saddened me to see how polarized the U.S. has become. There seems to no longer be a middle ground. President Obama did nothing to unite the U.S. as it seems to have become more divided during his tenure and I believe President elect Trump will make things worse.
I for one would not be surprised if President elect Trump fails to make it through a 4 year term.
PTownsend
Is Kiev in Russia? I thought Ukraine was a sovereign nation separate from Russia.
@yamashi Because real patriots despise traitors
Traitor is your description; I disagree. There are probably many ways to show patriotism. Russians have long claimed they're different from 'the west'. Thank you and @elephant for sharing your perspectives
Strangerland
At this point, the only thing I care is to see Trump wave goodbye for the final time. Schadenfreude.
Spare me, when have Repubs ever been sympathetic or even diplomatic when it comes to the concerns of democrats on ANY level?!
That would be the Republicans. If they would stop reading that junk we wouldn't be dealing with this nonsense now.
SuperLib
Trump fans are still unwilling to face the Russia issue. They will not even address it. They need to be stronger.
PTownsend
@Mikel Fake news? Isn't that just news you disagree with?
Meaning is in the eye of the beholder. Here's what wikipedia says:
I agree with you that for many it seems to mean 'news you disagree with'. It's a pet expression of binarylanders; they use it to dismiss arguments they either disagree with or are unable to have cogent answers for. It's a dialogue-stopper. Think of the monkey with its hands over its ears.
But 'real fake' news - my personal examples the US faked the moon landing and pizzagate, among many others - is intended to manipulate the simple minded in binaryland. And sadly seems to have been very effective.
SuperLib
Hopefully a strong coalition of Democrats and some Republicans will be able to sideline Trump on the Russia issue. He might be willing to roll over, but not everyone is.
PTownsend
There are lots of stories about what happened when McCain was a POW. There are conflicting accounts. Whether what you said is 1. true, 2. partially true, 3. apocryphal, or 4. fake news can never be known for sure. My sense it it falls somewhere between 2. and 4.
I'm not a fan of McCain's at all. I do not support his political beliefs. It's too bad we'll never know the truth about what actually happened while he was imprisoned.
I know Russia and Trump want to disparage him personally. Why do you think that is? Do you, the Russians or Trump have PROOF he did what you claimed?
Alistair Carnell
"The good old days in the 80's, being obligated to watch to "The Day After" are back."
I would watch the BBC's 'Threads' much more gritty realism :)
Moonraker
Just to show it is not just Trump who can make moronic statements. With people like this saying things like this what hope is there for a peaceful future. Putin might not be everything Trump seems to believe but a country vying with Australia and Spain in the GNP stakes doesn't need to be taking on the US. I think McCain more proves that it is always the US that needs an enemy and is still trying to get over the demise of the USSR as its only viable one despite all the attempts to create new ones. And, yes, nostromo is right, and it was obvious at the time, that the US just wanted to rub Russia's nose in it from 1990 onwards. The US has helped create the present Russia and Putin.
GaikokuJim
Cold War II. The good old days in the 80's, being obligated to watch to "The Day After" are back.
viking68
Irrational exuberance
The market was slowly getting back on track before the election. You blamed Obama for the fallout of the Lehman shock. Now you are giving Trump credit for the economy that Obama turned around.
The real economic results of his presidency will be felt in two or three years when the tax breaks kick and drain the treasury further. It will be like Bush's tax breaks (reducing the dividend tax rate) that benefited the rich and put the country into a deficit, which was then followed by an economic crash.
Back to the 50's and in the hands of the White wingers.
The word of the year "Post-Truth" fits with the support Trump receives.. I preferred "Truthiness" though.
Thunderbird2
Time to dig out "Fail Safe", "Dr Strangelove" and other Cold War nuclear thrillers of the 60s.
SuperLib
Day 3 of Trump supporters ban on talking about the Russian hacking begins.
nishikat
But it's going that way since there will be no wall
nishikat
Not the wall that Mexico is going to pay. Also, there will be more public healthcare which will pay for all those illegals. Trump is burning the taxpayer. And no arrest for Hillary. And no Muslim registry. And I bet Reagan amnesty x2
SenseNotSoCommon
The old Good Cop, Bad Cop routine. Tired and unoriginal.
nishikat
Trump broke lots of promises like the Wall, Hillary's arrest and the Muslim ban. Looks like none of that will happen.
nishikat
No, not going to happen. Been there done that. And now it has been announced that there will be no deportation police. So far Trump has broken promises on:
(1)the 2,000 mile x 50 foot solid concrete wall (2)Getting Hillary arrested (3)Deportation force to deport all 30M illegals that Trump claims there are (and watch, Trump might sign greencard amnesty like Reagan did) (4)Muslim ban
Among all his other broken promises
bruinfan
The Iraq War? That was a d@mnable evil. Judgement will come in time.
nishikat
They will either reroute or use BitCoin and US taxpayers are still on the hook.
Trump said he would have Hillary arrested and he broke his promise on that.
nishikat
You think the US doesn't know about that?
Of course and they can't do anything about it. US taxpayers are still stuck with the bill. Bitcoin transfers cannot be interfere with by any government.
No, it's not and it means many more promises broken like the wall. Also, Trump will sign greencard amnesty.
bruinfan
Everyone, you may want to archive this discussion for a year from now. We will see how right or wrong some of the posters will be!
PTownsend
I don't know what McCain's reasoning is.
Re why hack to favor Trump, I'm sure there are many plausible explanations. One (and if you don't trust me, then I suggest you check your media, perhaps a Nashi Internet site, TASS, whichever) and look up how Putin felt slighted by Bill Clinton when he was president. I don't know how true this is but I've long read Putin holds grudges. Another possible explanation is when Hillary was Secretary of State she opposed Putin. As you know, Washington has not always been kind to, nor in my opinion honest with, Putin.
Why do you think Russia (more appropriately someone in Russia) did it?
ThePBot
Projection.
lostrune2
Trump's nominee for Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on his confirmation hearing:
So if one's against China's maritime takeovers, that one's gonna be against Russia's Crimea takeover. That's the Trump change.
nishikat
But conservatives don't like public healthcare since it encourages freeloading with foodstamps and all that. And the US cannot afford to pay healthcare for all those illegal Mexicans since there will be no deportation police (another broken promise). Also, it will put private insurers out of business. Who is going to pay healthcare for the 30M illegals Trump claims to be since there will be no deportation police. Looks like Trump is setting up Reagans amnesty again.
For the FBI. They looked into it and found no criminality. Clinton is not getting busted. If I were Clinton I would be making fun of Trump right now (ha ha ha, come and get me Orange Man. You can't touch me with your big bad FBI. Burn on you sucker). I would be taunting trump until the cows come home if I were Clinton. It would be so fun to make him mad. No arrest of Clinton- one of many Trump broken promises.
Mexico will not pay and Trump broke his promise on that. If there are high tariffs then all those cheap products will then be made in another country. He already broke the promise of a 2000 mile by 50 foot wall. Burn on US taxpayers.
No amnesty, never will happen
No, it could happen. Happened under Reagan and congress never promised to build Trump's version of a wall. It's 100% Reagan's fault.
nishikat
That will not happen. It's Trump's false promise. And if Mexican products get expensive from tariffs Americans will just buy more form other cheap labor countries.
It will keep going up. Especially with more public healthcare under Trump.
Happened under Reagan. Trump says no deportation force. Where else will those 10s of millions of illegals go.
And no Hillary arrest or Muslim ban either.
nishikat
Trump is breaking that promise now. And with no deportation police like Trump promised all those 10s of millions of illegals are staying in the US.
But that's ONLY Mexico. But with all the broken promises anyway, he will let Mexicans keep sending wire transfers 100% free- then there will be amnesty. How about the other countries with cheap labor?
Trump is breaking his promise of having Hillary arrested.
Everyone will be outraged with Trump's amnesty.
bass4funk
So did the Democrats when they said, they would seal off our borders. Now he can make good on that promise the Dems didn't.
I don't care, just legalize them, they reimburse us in the form of a penalty and we are good to go.
Which is the biggest problem.
If Hillary were in power, yup, but thank God, she's not. So we don't need to worry about that happening.
Secure the border first and then deal with the other issues.
Who cares? Have you seen her grandkids? They look cute. Hillary has a nice smile, she'll get a great grandma.
Won't happen, remember, Hillary didn't win. Dodged that bullet.
nishikat
No, Reagan signed on to it. It happened on his watch. if he was too senile to understand that a Trump wall cannot be built that is on him.
That's right. 10s of millions of green card amnesty and it will break Reagan's record many many times over.
Trump is breaking this promise and already said tax payers will be scammed for it. Mexico is not going to pay- even if Mexico is ruined economically (which will send even more people over the wall with ladders and ropes).
A crime is a crime. Grandmothers go to jail too. Trump broke his promise by not having her jailed.
But you are the one who says just legalize them so you are hoping for amnesty too. And this will happen under Trump.
And what happened to Trump's promise of banning all Muslims and creating a registry?
bass4funk
And was swindled by the Democrats promising to seal the border.
Trump is not Reagan. I would volunteer to build the wall for free, would you join me?
And they get tagged a monthly penalty fee for breaking the law, I'm good with that, perfect.
That's why Mexico will reimburse us through the imposed tariffs and remittances and extra taxed on fees.
The economy of Mexico is 1/3 of the US, of course they have the money. Number one in silver production, an oil nation. Chi-ching!
A crime is a crime. Grandmothers go to jail too. Trump broke his promise by not having her jailed.
But Hillary won't be around anywhere near the WH or in our hair, let her enjoy the rest of her life with Chelsea and her grandkids, I wish them well, my biggest dream was fulfilled, her not getting in the WH. Kudos!
Please scroll up and read what I wrote, relax dude. Thank you, Nish.
Read my other post. But if he uses Israel's model and with his sons strong ties to Israel, strong extreme vetting is the way to go.
nishikat
And they get tagged a monthly penalty fee for breaking the law
But they will have greencards (after Trump's amnesty). What laws are you talking about?
yamashi
'Senator John McCain, the Republican chairman of the committee, said he “could not be happier” about Mattis’ nomination. He warned sternly against optimism about engaging with Putin.
“Putin wants to be our enemy. He needs us as his enemy. He will never be our partner,” McCain exclaimed.'
McCain's complex of inferiority has no limits. He betrayed his fellow servicemen in Vietnam and became an informer for Vietnamese and Soviet military instructors. Now this 'Communist Song Bird' is trying to look out as a real patriot of the USA.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBDbXmJq6l8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UQKp0kwIf8
yamashi
@Madverts "Bah, who knows what to think anymore. Trump is like a bipolar disorder sufferer on steroids, his team are calling Russia out for the meddling scumbags they are but the Trump himself can't seem to denigrate his Putin overlord....
It kinda makes you really wanna see the video they allegedly have on him.
He's illegitimate. He's already wallowing in scandal. Journals are already asking questions about his future impeachment."
Instead of joining those silly rallies and protets jut try to get a decent job. Period.
bass4funk
Not if you make them competitive. That's why the public option is great idea.
Oh, well...
If he did that, his presidency would be over the next day. That won't happen. You know the old saying, screw me once, shame on you, screw me twice, shame on me.
Lol, Yeah, you would, but you can't LMAO
But here is the best thing about all of this, he broke his promise, we'll go with your argument, but the best thing about all of this is, Trump will still be president and Hillary NEVER will be, her ship sailed, time to buy a bunch of toys and plan ritzy vacations for the kids!
I'm just happy next Saturday, the only pace the Clintons will be is in the front or seats somewhere in the crowd.
Sure they will or just block them from wiring money back to Mexico and if they do impose taxes or remittances fees and increase tariffs and there you go OR just NOT do business with Mexico, pretty much there is no way around it.
bass4funk
Sure it will.
Nish, they have to send money back, they have to OR will they employ carrier pigeons to fly the money? That money will be taxed in the form of tariffs so many ways to get the money back.
Yes, that is true (sadly) We have to cut more government programs to offset the cost.
With the promise the Democrats would seal the border. That evidently didn't happen. Trump was outraged by that, I remember, no going to happen again.
Of course most people are aware of that, you can't kick them out, so you legalize them, give them ID's, make them pay a penalty and then they can stay.
Hillary is just a friendly grandma now and good for her. Take the kids to Vienna, wonderful place. Vetting will be like in Israel, his son in law will see to that it gets implemented soon enough. I like Jared Kushner, wants EXTREME vetting too.
bass4funk
She said on CNN the other day, she wouldn't.
Oh, that should be interesting....The Obama's trying to get into the WH again. lol
bass4funk
That's why Mexico will reimburse us through the imposed tariffs and remittances and extra taxed on fees.
Blacklabel
There is no reason to have initial optimism until the new relationship between USA and Russia can be determined. I see no reason to not be friendly with Russia and work together on common goals and negotiate a suitable compromise where opinions differ.
Blacklabel
No reason to not have
bass4funk
http://edition.cnn.com/2017/01/12/politics/doj-watchdog-launches-probe-into-handling-of-clinton-email-investigation/index.html
Not entirely. Looks like the gears are slowly turning
turbotsat
Reset your clock!
We keep hearing 'OMG the US Intelligence Community 17 agencies FBI CIA ... confirmed this intel.'
Then we heard that the DNC didn't even let the FBI look at their servers. If the domestic intel agency (FBI) wasn't permitted, do you think the foreign intelligence agency (CIA) was permitted?
I forget if any Hillary supporters at all addressed the post indicating the Russian hacking meme was bogus as the FBI's information came from a Google-funded security firm rather than direct access to the servers, other than possibly Strangerland who (if that's the SL post I'm thinking of) said something like "Hmm, this is interesting if true."
Now we learn that Ukraine tried to influence the election, and that Crowdstrike, the same security firm who was permitted to view the servers and who is providing the basis for the Dems 'Russian Hacking' campaign, is linked to a pro-Hillary pro-Ukraine anti-Russia think tank:
http://observer.com/2017/01/ukraine-hillary-clinton-donald-trump-election/
bass4funk
Exactly, spot on!
bass4funk
Soon though, good things about to happen, finally.
bass4funk
But the tariffs will and remittances will help with the reimbursement. So much business with Mexico, easy to do and painless without the Cartel mess.
Oh, well....
Obama did that 20 times over. $19 Trillion and rising, Thanks, Barack!
Hillary will be with the grandkids smiling and better for her, cute grandma, stronger military, extreme vetting and No amnesty, I don't want Trump to be impeached! Don't jinx it.
turbotsat
Apparently some people are trying to get her to run for mayor of NYC.
She might take another tilt at the White House in 2020.
turbotsat
Who'd believe her? In three years if she feels fit enough she might change her mind and declare again.
Didn't her campaign say they wouldn't challenge the election, before they joined Jill Stein in challenging the election?
bass4funk
You think the US doesn't know about that? Property, state and local taxes, consumption taxes, there are a slew of things they can do, don't worry. Lucky Luciano once said, the scariest mafia in the world is the US government. So if the mafia fears the government, we have nothing to worry about when they want that money, they will get it. Ask Al Capone or Luciano.
That's ok, I don't have to see her pantsuits anymore, Yippee!
Could be, let's hope it doesn't come to that. The last thing anyone needs is an Obama dynasty.
Sure did.
elephant200
Blame Putin of what? Blame him bombing the ISIS in Syria? Blame him supporting Bashir Assad? Blame him wage war against the thugs in Kiev? The one who is the enemy of the human race is not Putin BUT you: John McCain! You are never a war hero, NEVER!
bass4funk
No, not going to happen. Been there done that.
You're not Trump or even Obama.
As long as long as that wall goes up, we're good.
No amnesty, never will happen, conservative judges (thank God) Repeal on Obamacare underway with the public option, investigation reopen on Hillary and this time Comey (double your pleasure) and with the surveillance and modern technology a secure wall will be built.
In a week after he's sworn in, life will finally get back on track. Tequila shot time!
yamashi
@PTownsend"I know Russia and Trump want to disparage him personally."
Because real patriots despise traitors and never allow them to get power in politics. Otherwise it may cause catastrophic consequences.
turbotsat
What do you mean "nothing under Obama"? Is this something the media are touting? Like the "no scandals under Obama" thing?
One, Obama's still President.
Two, his and HRC's attempt at a "Russian Reset" failed a long time ago.
We've already got media and Valerie Jarrett declaring the Obama era scandal-free. I guess this no-Cold-War-under-Obama is another attempt at whitewashing his administration.
I guess never-Trumpers are preparing their ammo and jumped the gun by a few days. Don't worry, there are 7 days, 4 hours, 38 minutes, and 26 seconds until Obama's presidency ends. You'll have lots of fun throwing tomatoes after the 20th.
bass4funk
You guys on the right try so, so very hard,
And reaping the fruits of our labor. The 20th is around the corner.
Credit should go to Conway for staging an affective precision run campaign.
The Dow is about to hit 20.000 luck ain't got nothing to do with it, been going up since Trump was elected, confidence growing in the market, things are slowly getting on track.
Trump was a Democrat for most of his life, so.....
Thank God! Right now, that's what we need to get the country back on track! Kudos!
bass4funk
That divide started before Trump came into office, to be fair, the Dems never gave Bush a chance from the beginning and tried to contest his presidency and then there was the war that the Dems hated so much and created a huge rift. Then Obama came with his hope and change spiel and further with his progressive far left politics further divided the country and now the Dems are at it again. Now the GOP had a lot of internal problems as well to be fair, but neither side trusted one another and now that divide with the recent election has both sides hating each other like never before.
I agree, so the best thing the Democrats can do is not to impede on the transition process of the president elect, especially in the beginning of his administration. We are all in this together and the divide needs to stop even Joe Biden had to tell Dems to cool their heels and move forward.
It is, but there are many reason for that, not all involving the US. A lot had to do with the other international players acting in very unpredictable ways.
bass4funk
That's gonna be a loooong 8 years, homie!
Before Obama started on the dark path of imposing his radical leftist progressive agenda.
Naw, they're too busy trying to fix the country.
Hmmm...as I recall the Clinton News Network was the one that ran with the bogus Trump story of him in a hotel with Russian women engaging in...well, let's say interesting acts. But I keep forgetting, Hollywood, gossip, rumors, protests, moaning and groaning are all just a typical part of the liberals thought and functioning process. Lol
Why? It's been debunked, everyone's moved on, there was no validity to it, so what else do you guys want? One more week!! Oh, the horror! The left is coming so far unhinged now you have "Rosie O'Donnell" calling for "martial law?!" Are you kidding me?! God, please help these people! You just can't make this stuff up!
bass4funk
Wait a minute, I'm a bit confused....first you guys thought that Trump's picks are all in sync with Trump and now Mattis passed the liberal smell test, he's good to go and now it's not enough to disagree, we have to declare Trump a stooge for Russia? Joe, do you have proof of this or is this another liberal knee-jerk Oliver Stone conspiracy theory?