Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Andrew J. Bacevich — Memo for McMaster


Powerful.

The American Conservative
Memo for McMaster
Andrew J. Bacevich | Professor of International Relations and History at Boston University

7 comments:

Peter Pan said...

Here’s a simple question: does the U.S. attack on a Syrian air base last week signify a change in basic policy? Based on the musings offered by you and other senior administration officials since, the answer is yes and no and maybe.

What if McMaster gave a straight answer: yes.
That would be more dangerous than the uncertainty posed by 'maybe'.

Noah Way said...

Hard to have consistent talking points - or my talking points at all - when the entire administration is divided and nobody is at the helm.

Matt Franko said...

What his guy proposes is "govt as military" which is just as misguided as Trump's "govt as firm"...

Tom Hickey said...

What if McMaster gave a straight answer: yes.
That would be more dangerous than the uncertainty posed by 'maybe'.


McMaster's is only one voice. The issue is that different officials are saying different things, often contradictory, and Trump himself is not consistent. The result is mumbo-jumbo policy.

Tom Hickey said...

What his guy proposes is "govt as military" which is just as misguided as Trump's "govt as firm"...

I suspect he is subtly telling McMaster to resign before he blows up his credibility and reputation like Colin Powell. I would tell him that point blank.

Peter Pan said...

Your job is to serve as the enforcer. No freelancing allowed. Anyone straying from that script regardless of rank or position, you hammer. From what I hear, you already know how to do that. Making nice has never been your thing anyway.

Impose a sense of order. Without order, there can be no policy. It’s that simple.


Is he 'just one voice' or the guy with the hammer?

Tom Hickey said...

Is he 'just one voice' or the guy with the hammer?

McMaster is going to tell Jared what to say and do? Ha ha. That's like telling Trump himself what to say and do.

If McMaster has that ability, he is the real president.