Trump's latest betrayal of America sends a clear message to foreign adversaries
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
What foreign nations are seeing right now is bigger than the breach of the Capitol. Anjali Nair / MSNBC; Getty Images
In the aftermath of the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, there will be resignations, hearings and inquiries at the Capitol Police department, the respective House and Senate sergeant-at-arms offices and other law enforcement or military entities.
But let’s be clear: What happened to our democracy that day was not an intelligence failure; it was a failure to act upon available intelligence.
We all saw this coming. Anyone who spends any time assessing the social media threads of violent domestic extremists knew that the Proud Boys, violent militia groups, QAnon quacks and others more loyal to the president than to our nation were planning travel logistics, talking about “overwhelming the Capitol Police” and attaching the hashtag #StormCongress to their planning posts.
While we ponder the vulnerability that followed from a failure to act on clear warning signs, there’s an even more serious concern to consider: Our adversaries are pondering the same thing — on a far grander scale.
This certainly isn’t the first time our nation’s leadership failed to act on clearly articulated intelligence pointing to security vulnerabilities. Ever since the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, there has been debate as to how and why our country was caught unaware and who knew what, and when, regarding Japanese plans to attack. But the U.S. wasn’t caught unaware.
The warning signs and intelligence were there — they were just ignored. In 1925, Gen. Billy Mitchell published a report warning of an attack like that on Pearl Harbor. Two war exercises involving simulated air attacks on Pearl Harbor in the 1930s were assessed as devastating and successful.
In the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks, we learned of the failures to act upon the signals that were sent for months prior to that tragedy. FBI field offices told FBI headquarters of suspicious men from abroad taking flying lessons. Other U.S. intelligence agencies intercepted “chatter” clearly indicating an impending large-scale Al Qaeda attack. Then-CIA Director George Tenet explained in subsequent testimony that in the summer just before the attacks, “The system was blinking red.
Our system is “blinking red” again. While our current president and his cadre of acting and interim henchmen at the top of the departments of Justice, Defense and Homeland Security may not see it or care about it, adversaries like Russia, Iran, North Korea and China surely do.( Cont'd in article )
Tags
Who is online
67 visitors
What those nations are seeing is bigger than the breach of any building. What happened at the Capitol is a sign of a much larger vulnerability.
Those who want to do us harm see an absence of leadership, an isolated president, resigning Cabinet members and administration officials, no clear law enforcement command presence and a deranged population capable of a coup attempt.
They see an America more vulnerable than it’s been in modern history. And no one should be surprised if they act on their available intelligence. In fact, those countries have been repeatedly testing our vulnerabilities.
Russia, as it did in 2016, again attempted to interfere in the 2020 election, and but for a valiant effort by U.S. Cyber Command, Iran and Russia would have succeeded in attacking our election.
In past months, we’ve experienced the most widespread cyber intrusion in U.S. history. That attack, squarely attributed to the Russian intelligence service, compromised the most sensitive agencies in our government — and there’s no indication that it’s over
North Korea continues to build its nuclear and missile programs unabated.
China watched the near-total inability of our federal government to effectively respond to a deadly virus originating in Wuhan and learned precisely how vulnerable we are when faced with a global threat.x
If those adversaries are inclined to undermine us with a debilitating cyberattack on our infrastructure, a deadly terror assault against U.S. interests or the provocation of a military incident, they will do it while they perceive no one is in charge — and their perception may be correct.
Yet another reason to get that idiot out of the Oval Office IMMEDIATELY.
I don't think that's possible.
Well, unless he can get McConnel to agree to rush Impeachment theough the Senate before Inauguration day--or get Pence and his cabinet to remove him via the 25th Amendment.
There are some dangers to him being in office 'till he finishes his term-- so that's a risk. But OTOH< I am now hoping he finsihes his term-- stays in office until Biden is in office!
Why?
The entire world views us as a country full of division, illness, and poverty and violence. Every bit of it can be linked to Donald Trump, his family, his criminal associates, and other political figures who have sought to increase their own personal and/or public value by keeping him in office.
Mike Pence needs to do the right thing and utilize the power that the 25th Amendment gives him to remove Trump from office immediately. Look at the damage Trump has accomplished since the election. Who knows what he will be able to accomplish in the next 10 days.
Let's be lucid.
Unless "alternative reality" politics can somehow be brought under control, America as we have known it is doomed. The Rs will always practice "one man, one vote, one time". The Dems must keep near-permanent control of all of the federal government... and that ain't likely!
Putin may find some ego boost in stirring the pot (as he has apparently been doing for some time) but Xi, always playing the long game, probably has better uses for his resources.
It most certainly does. It sends the message that Trump will not protect the nation unless it is in his personal best interests to do so. If it doesn't effect him personally he couldn't give less of a shit what other countries do to us.