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Maybe this is why they're lying

  

Category:  News & Politics

Via:  john-russell  •  3 days ago  •  16 comments

Maybe this is why they're lying
There’s no way, no how the country’s highest-ranking military officer would stand by while the other members of the “principals committee” guessed what the commander-in-chief wanted. There’s no way, no how he would have been satisfied with an interpretation of an order by a mere adviser. More likely, he would have told Stephen Miller what his predecessor, Mark Milley, once told him: “Shut the fuck up, Stephen.”

S E E D E D   C O N T E N T


Signalgate is a story about the country’s highest-ranking national security officials gathering on a hackable message platform to discuss top-secret plans for military airstrikes on the Houthis, and about one of them “accidentally” including a leading foreign-affairs journalist.

The story has many angles to it, but this one’s getting lost: It looks like the commander-in-chief was awol. Maybe that’s why they’re lying.

The US secretary of defense, the US secretary of state, the vice president of the United States, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, the director of national intelligence –   all of them , some of them   under oath , have said that there’s no way, no how any of that information contained in that group chat was classified.

DNI Tulsi Gabbard, under oath, told a Senate panel Tuesday: “there was no classified material that was shared in that Signal group.”

CIA Director John Ratcliffe, also under oath, told the same Senate panel: “my communications in the Signal message group were entirely permissible and lawful and did not include classified information.”

The president said: “it wasn’t classified information.”

Pete Hegseth was more direct: “Nobody was texting war plans.”

Surprise! Per CNN:

“The information Defense Secretary   Pete Hegseth   disclosed in the Signal chat of top   Trump   national security officials was highly classified at the time he wrote it, especially because the operation had not even started yet, according to a US defense official familiar with the operation and another source who was briefed on it afterward.

“The updates Hegseth was giving in the   Signal chat   were the kind of real-time play-by-play that a commander would be giving to the president in a highly classified setting as the operation unfolded.

“These are operational plans that are highly classified in order to protect the service members,” the defense official said.

A third source familiar with the matter said they saw documents sent within the Pentagon about the operation, which were marked classified and included the same information Hegseth disclosed in the chat about specific weapons platforms and timing.

“It was classified when it was shared below the principal level.”

They were lying. They knew they were lying.

And now everyone else knows they were lying.

The question is why.

There are many ways to speculate, of course. I’m choosing this one today:   The commander-in-chief wasn’t involved . Indeed, the country’s highest-ranking national security officers guessed what he wanted, planned for something dramatic, then filled him in after the fact.

I don’t know what other conclusion to draw from screenshots of the chat featured in Jeffrey Goldberg’s follow-up piece in   The Atlantic .

There’s a conspicuously open question in the air.

At one point, JD Vance worries whether Trump understands that attacking the Houthis would benefit Europe. Trump wants to “send a message,” Vance says, but he’s “not sure the president is aware how inconsistent this is with his message on Europe right now.” Then he says to Hegseth: “ if you think we should do it,   let’s go. I just hate bailing Europe out again. Let’s just make sure our messaging is tight here.”

Hegseth replies: “I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. It’s PATHETIC. But [National Security Adviser] Mike [Waltz] is correct, we are the only ones on the planet (on our side of the ledger) who can do this. Nobody else even close. Question is timing. I feel like now is as good a time as any, given POTUS directive to reopen shipping lanes.   I think we should go; but POTUS still retains 24 hours of decision space .”

Then Stephen Miller, that White House putz, enters the chat to end all questioning. He says: “ As I heard it, the president was clear : green light, but we soon make it clear to Egypt and Europe what we expect in return. We also need to figure out how to enforce such a requirement.”

To recap:

  • Vance doubts that Trump knows what he wants or why, except for some vague notion about sending a message to someone.
  • Vance asks Hegseth if he thinks the military operation should move forward and if do, Vance gives it his blessing.
  • Hegseth says yes, no one else can do it, and if they guess wrong, there’s always Trump’s “24 hours of decision space.”
  • Both are somehow satisfied that they guessed correctly when that White House putz brings word, not in the form of a direct order, however, but an interpretation of one: “As I heard it.”

It’s here that we should recall the absence of a figure who’d normally be involved in war-planning. In the chat, Acting Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Christopher Grady, is nowhere to be found.

I think I know why.

There’s no way, no how the country’s highest-ranking military officer would stand by while the other members of the “principals committee”   guessed   what the commander-in-chief wanted. There’s no way, no how he would have been satisfied with an   interpretation   of an order by   a mere adviser . More likely, he would have told Stephen Miller what his predecessor, Mark Milley, once told him: “ Shut the fuck up, Stephen .”

In additional to objecting to the fact that they were planning airstrikes on unsecured channels that the Russians might be spying on, Admiral Grady would probably have demanded more exacting standards from the others in the group chat, especially an unambiguously clear order to proceed from the president, and with that, he spoiled all the fun.

So he wasn’t included.

They were lying. They knew they were lying. And now everyone knows. All that’s missing is an admission of guilt, which the press corps can be counted on to pursue. And every time reporters ask about classified information, they’re going to lie again, with new and more sensational lies, distracting us from the most consequential angle of this story.

The president is awol.


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JohnRussell
Professor Principal
1  seeder  JohnRussell    3 days ago

No one who is not MAGA was getting in on that chat. 

 
 
 
Sparty On
Professor Expert
1.1  Sparty On  replied to  JohnRussell @1    3 days ago

Ridiculous.    

Why would anyone who was not part of, or not friendly to, the Trump admin be included in that chat?

 
 
 
George
Senior Expert
2  George    3 days ago

Signal gate? the lack of originality by the left is only exceeded by their ability to be gas lite by the media. They should start impeaching trump now......oh wait they have to win an election first and their popularity would have to rise above anal warts, and nobody sees that happening in the near future.

 
 
 
Jeremy Retired in NC
Professor Expert
2.1  Jeremy Retired in NC  replied to  George @2    3 days ago
Signal gate?

It's actually funny as hell.

They should start impeaching trump now.

What would they impeach him for?  So many investigations and all lacking evidence of a damn thing. 

 
 
 
Right Down the Center
PhD Guide
2.1.1  Right Down the Center  replied to  Jeremy Retired in NC @2.1    3 days ago
What would they impeach him for?  So many investigations and all lacking evidence of a damn thing. 

They need a valid reason?  That must have changed.

 
 
 
Jeremy Retired in NC
Professor Expert
2.1.2  Jeremy Retired in NC  replied to  Right Down the Center @2.1.1    3 days ago
They need a valid reason?

Good point.  The last 2 were of no actual wrong doing outside of refusing to capitulate to the democrats.

 
 
 
Right Down the Center
PhD Guide
2.2  Right Down the Center  replied to  George @2    3 days ago
Signal gate? the lack of originality by the left is only exceeded by their ability to be gas lite by the media.

This article shows a desperate attempt to keep the story alive.  Give it a catchy name and people might still be interested.  I am still waiting for the "worse than Watergate " claim.  It will probably come out as interest continues to shrink

 
 
 
George
Senior Expert
3  George    3 days ago
The president is awol.

Is this author having a acid flashback to the last 2 Biden years? that is the only explanation for such a stupid observation.

 
 
 
Sparty On
Professor Expert
3.1  Sparty On  replied to  George @3    3 days ago

I know.    As I’ve said here many times.    I believe TDS has rotted otherwise satisfactory brains to the point of complete malfunction.

 
 
 
Jeremy Retired in NC
Professor Expert
4  Jeremy Retired in NC    3 days ago
Signalgate is a story

And a comedic fictional one at that.

top-secret plans

jrSmiley_88_smiley_image.gif

 
 
 
Nerm_L
Professor Expert
5  Nerm_L    3 days ago

So, now the military and intelligence bureaucracy has more authority over classification of material than does the President?  A much lower ranking desk jockey has more authority over what is and is not classified than does the Sec. Defense?  That political expediency will definitely come back to bite people on the ass,  

The absence of people typically included in war planning shows that what was discussed wasn't war plans.  In fact, the people on the group discussion were not doing any planning.  All the planning had been put to bed.  The group was monitored execution of the plans; most likely to have adequate info to for political cover in the event of a military screw up.  And the military does seem to screw up more often than not when these 'special operations' are undertaken.

The only thing that raises concern is Jeffery Goldberg being privy to the discussion.  And that would only endanger troops if Goldberg shared the information with adversaries and enemies of the United States.  So, much of the uproar over the event seems to be driven by general distrust of news reporters, journalists, and main stream media.  Only Jeffery Goldberg could leak what was communicated in such a public manner.  And true to form, that's exactly what Goldberg has done.  Goldberg, himself, has demonstrated that he is the risk to security.  Claiming that Goldberg only did what any reporter would have done demonstrates that news media cannot be trusted with sensitive information.  

 
 
 
Jeremy Retired in NC
Professor Expert
5.1  Jeremy Retired in NC  replied to  Nerm_L @5    3 days ago
And the military does seem to screw up more often than not when these 'special operations' are undertaken

99.99999999% of plans are thrown out the window once an operation begins.  One thing the US military is very good at is planning, creating and operating in chaos.  

The only thing that raises concern is Jeffery Goldberg being privy to the discussion.

How and why did he have access to the app?  That is one thing the left WILL NOT come close to discussing.  They will dodge those questions every time.

 
 
 
George
Senior Expert
7  George    3 days ago

Here is a question for you. The left has been screaming highly classified for days now, where is the FBI Swat team in full riot gear raiding Goldbergs house with CNN in tow at 5 in the morning? isn't that how we retrieve classified material now? or is that only for political targets? 

 
 
 
Sparty On
Professor Expert
7.1  Sparty On  replied to  George @7    3 days ago

Bazinga

 
 
 
Sparty On
Professor Expert
8  Sparty On    3 days ago

Afghanistan pull out disaster.    Where were our friends on the left for that one?    

Turning misdemeanors into felonies.

Woot!

 
 
 
Gazoo
Junior Silent
8.1  Gazoo  replied to  Sparty On @8    3 days ago

Afghanistan pull out disaster.    Where were our friends on the left for that one?”

They were blaming trump.

 
 

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