NEWS FROM:
ContrarianCommentary.com
“The Internet Powerhouse”
Andy Martin, J. D.
adjunct professor of law
executive editor
one of America’s most
respected
independent authors/investigators
“Factually Correct, Not Politically Correct”
you can call Andy:
National (866) 706-2639
Cell (917) 664-9329
you can email Andy:
AndyNewHampshire@aol.com
you can write Andy by
faxing (866) 214-3210
Blogs/web sites (partial):
ContrarianCommentary.wordpress.com
ContrarianCommentary.blogspot.com
ContrarianCommentary.typepad.com
To become a regular subscriber to our
emails please send an email to andynewhampshire@aol.com
and place “SUBSCRIBE” in the subject line.
Please feel free to forward and/or post this email,
with proper attribution
Please sign up for our enhanced Twitter
feed with enhanced, original coverage
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Trump
Takes Command: War Changes Everything
Andy
Martin arrived in Florida to cover the U. S. /China Summit, which is suddenly irrelevant
Andy
says the CBS Television Network was quick to realize Trump’s status had changed
Andy
says Trump must now show wisdom and cunning to retain his broad based public
support
(Near the Winter
White House, Palm
Beach, Florida) (April 7, 2017)
Dear American:
One of my favorite Broadway tunes is “Love Changes
Everything.” War also changes everything.
When my team landed in Palm Beach,
Florida Tuesday morning we were here to
observe the U.S./China summit later in the week. I was working on an analytical
piece which would juxtapose the conflict between the “globalist” and
“nationalist” advocates in our American conversation. Wednesday, the local
society newspaper, the Palm Beach Daily News, featured a story on SEAL
supporters meeting at Mar-A-Lago for a SEAL demonstration and fundraising
benefit (please see link #1 below). Thursday night I shared a leisurely dinner
with family and friends. An MSNBC crew interviewing Republican/Trump operative
Roger Stone walked by on the sidewalk. There was a gentle sea breeze.
Later, when Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly program was interrupted
by a bulletin, I said, “This feels eerie. I think we are going to war.” Before the
thought had left my mouth, the Syria
attack was announced. Later Thursday night I sampled (watched) the late night
shows. The Late Show had its usual searing portrayal of President Trump; but
now the program carried a disclaimer: “Tonight’s show was recorded before the Syria
attack.”
War changes everything.
Everything I planned to write would have to wait, maybe for
the weekend.
Donald Trump has taken command.
Where to begin?
Trump has assembled one of the most powerful and experienced
national security teams in recent history, marbled with retired generals and
global leaders. America,
and the world, are in good hands. Trump is not an experienced national and
international leader, and certainly no wartime president. But he will have to
become one. He has the team to succeed.
1. The Chinese are angry and paranoid. Planning a major
summit takes time. Some Chinese will believe that Trump orchestrated the
bombing of Syria
to send a message to China
and North Korea,
in effect to humiliate China.
They would be mistaken, although the Chinese leader will take notice that
Donald Trump (surprise!) is no Barack Obama. But the U.
S. /China
summit has been reduced to a nothingburger. Maybe next time.
2. Trump has energized the anti-ISIS coalition “bigly.” I do
not want to start an argument about what Barack Obama did but in practical
terms, he started ISIS. Obama’s premature withdrawal
from Iraq,
based on George Bush’s incompetent agreement to withdraw on a prearranged schedule,
allowed Iran to
take effective control of Iraq.
The result: Sunnis fled to the “safety” of ISIS and a
new round of war began before the old one had ended.
3. Beneath the surface, Trump did “inherit a mess” in the Middle
East. Obama had staved off dealing with Middle East
problems and planned to dump the situation in the hands of his successor,
Hillary Clinton. Surprise, again. Trump succeeded Obama.
4. Last week Trump’s representatives added to the mess in Syria
by essentially surrendering that nation to the Assad regime. I do not believe the
command-and-control apparatus in Damascus
is so sophisticated that this week’s poison gas attack was triggered by the
Trump Administration’s casual remarks about leaving Assad in place. But Assad
has been committing mayhem on his own people for years. His number finally came
up when he least expected. Surprise again.
5. Although Trump has spent much of his life as a bully, and
not a very pleasant one, he also has a soft and decent side that is not often
exposed to public view. I believe he was sincerely moved by the slaughter of
small children being murdered in their sleep by Assad’s poison gas. Trump’s
critics like to insult him for watching their own cable TV programs! But the
Syrian slaughter could not be avoided this week. A moment in history arose
spontaneously out of the ether. Yes, there have/had been earlier poison gas
attacks. But this one clicked. Trump was meeting in the White House with Middle
East leaders. How would he respond? Trump immediately grasped the
significance of the challenge he faced.
6. We know the missile attacks on Syria
were not planned Thursday. The background work of targeting and analysis began
yesterday.
7. Trump’s attack has
received support from every political viewpoint. He has Nick Kristof of the New
York Times backing air strikes against Assad’s air force. CBS makes a fortune
broadcasting caustic comedy every night as Steven Colbert ridicules Trump.
Thursday night CBS added a disclaimer to the Colbert show that the program had
been taped before the attack on Syria.
War changes everything. Trump is a new man. And Friday will find us in a new
world.
8. My regular readers know that I first met Trump in the late
1970’s and our paths have crossed in every subsequent decade. I know Trump
inside and outside. Trump is not a deep thinker, but he has a deep sense of
history and the flow of history. In conjunction with his national security team
Trump grasped that decisive action was necessary, and Trump took command.
9. Sadly, my life has been defined by war and warfare. I can
quickly count to four generations of my family that have fought in the Middle
East in the last 100 years. As a college student and later a
private security operator I was trained to be a Cold Warrior (http://www.andymartin.com/cert.htm).
I saw the horrors of Viet-Nam, Cambodia
and Laos. In
2003 I lived in Baghdad after the U.
S. invasion. Last summer I was in the
Eastern Panhandle of Jordan, variously surrounded by Jordanian Special Forces
and regular army troops, CIA operatives, British SAS, U. S. Special Forces,
Russians, Syrians, rebels, refugees, ISIS and anyone else that operates in that
intersection of Syrian, Jordanian and Iraqi borders.
10. But I am confident we are not at risk of a broader war
right now. Military men are the most anti-war people you will ever meet. They
have seen the horrors, the mangled bodies, the victimized civilians. There will
be men and women on the ground, again, as there are already U. S. troops in Syria
and Iraq. But
there will be no mass mobilization and no massive land army in the desert.
Donald Trump will not repeat the mistakes of George w. Bush. Trump has a far
superior team of advisers than Bush. Bush was advised by ideologues. Trump has
chosen a “team of technocrats,” technocrats of war.
11. Trump has been excoriated for his response to the Syrian
refugee crisis. But that crisis was created by Assad, not Trump. Trump will not
budge on admitting Syrian refugees to the United
States. But because the refugee crisis is
destabilizing both the United States
and Europe, Trump will take decisive action to end the
source of the problem, Assad’s regime for the Shiites and ISIS’
redoubt for the Sunnis. Men, and women, here and abroad, follow power. Trump’s
team will deliver power to the battlefield. Even reluctant nations will follow.
12. On the other side of the world, if you have a tendency
to paranoia you can almost believe Trump orchestrated the Syria
attack to intimidate and humiliate the president of China
while the Chinese leader was visiting Mar-A-Lago. His entourage was and will
continue to be intimidated. Korea
was the “forgotten war.” For almost seventy years a mess has existed as Korea
remained separated. As long as the North Korean dictators were a nuisance they could
be tolerated; the risk of dealing with a nuisance was far less than the risk of
restarting a war. But with Korea
developing nuclear weapons and ICBMs the regime can no longer be ignored or
tolerated. Trump and Tillotson have said the time for negotiations is “over.”
Trump also said if China
won’t restrain North Korea,
he will.
13. The U. S.
/China summit,
which was to have been a subdued meeting, has both been eclipsed by the attack
in Syria and
also become the last opportunity China
has to tame the North Korean tiger. Trump does not have to threaten China;
the cruise missiles flying of the decks of our navy’s destroyers send an
unmistakable message.
I will still write later about the “war” between the
“globalist” and “nationalist” factions in the Trump Administration.
But today we are all globalists. Or, if you prefer,
nationalist globalists. The accidental president has become the reluctant
leader of an unstable world. History is beckoning. Where history will lead us
we will have to wait and see.
Best wishes from the Palm Beach
summit,
Andy
LINKS TO THIS STORY (cut and paste the entire link below and not
just the underlined portion):
[1]
http://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/lifestyles/society/navy-seals-tribute-event-mar-lago-draws-600-plus/nsaIhoyBKx61oCLaRpTsBN/
ANDY MARTIN - A BRIEF BIO:
Andy Martin is a
legendary New Hampshire, New York and Chicago muckraker, author, Internet columnist,
talk television pioneer, radio talk show host, broadcaster and media critic. With
forty-nine years of background in radio and television and with five decades of
investigative and analytical experience in Washington, the USA and around the world, Andy provides
insight on politics, foreign policy, intelligence and military matters. For a
full bio, go to: www.AndyMartin.com;
also see www.BoycottABC.com/executive_director.htm
He holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of
Illinois College of Law and is a former adjunct professor of law at the City
University of New York (LaGuardia CC, Bronx CC).
Andy’s family
immigrated to Manchester, New
Hampshire 100 years ago; today his home overlooks the Merrimack River and he lives around the corner from where
he played as a small boy. He is New Hampshire’s leading corruption fighter and
Republican Party reformer.
UPDATES:
[NOTE: We try to correct any typographical errors in our stories; find the latest
version on our blogs.]
----------
© Copyright by
Andy Martin 2017 – All Rights Reserved
Labels: Andy Martin, China, contrariancommntary.blogspot.com, Donald Trump, North Korea, sarin attack, Syria, www.contrariancommentary.com, www.ContrarianCommentary.wordpress.com