Monday, April 10, 2017

Patrick J. Buchanan — Is Trump Joining the War Party?


The original America Firster schools Donald Trump in what "America First" means.

The American Conservative
Is Trump Joining the War Party?
Patrick J. Buchanan

34 comments:

Ryan Harris said...

China is officially denying the widespread reports that they have moved 150,000 troops on to the NK border following Trump/Xi a-lago.
http://dailycaller.com/2017/04/10/dod-media-reports-of-150000-troops-moving-on-the-korean-border-are-pure-fiction/

But Korean government and US and UK papers were reporting. US Military of course has no comment as they steam toward NK with the Carl Vinson.

Peter Pan said...

The Saker should read this piece, it might allay some of his fears. Granted, the antiwar movement in the US is shit.

Still waiting for China to contradict Tillerson's claim on Sunday.

Peter Pan said...

Jim Wright - Throwing Bombs
http://www.stonekettle.com

Matt Franko said...

"Tillerson says Russia should give up "unreliable partner" Assad "

Businessman's metaphor.... the Trump people are not diplomats they are dealmakers....

Looks like the Asia nations get it but not Russia....

Peter Pan said...

They could replace Assad with another stooge, but then more demands might pop up.

China "gets" that Kim Jong Un needs to go...

lastgreek said...

"Tillerson says ..."

I bet he misses the Exxon days when he could just walk into any foreign government official's office and just drop the bribe money on the table :)

Matt Franko said...

The whole Russia thing is exemplary of their inability to do deals...

Russia basically reneges on deals all the time...

Trump goes out on a limb for them during campaign what do they do? Buzz destroyer...

Get a good royalty deal on gas thru Ukraine and gas goes to $13 what do they do? Shut off the gas valve...

Trump hands over the Syria thing to them to handle taking a lot of neocon shit for it what do they do? Bring out the poison gas....

Anybody see a pattern here?

Matt Franko said...

Russia is f-ed up... They need term limits...

Matt Franko said...

Or maybe they are all back on the vodka?

Matt Franko said...

"They could replace Assad with another stooge"

You mean the Russians right?

Matt Franko said...

They replace Assad right now and that could get them out of it...

Matt Franko said...

Or they could just break out the vodka....

Matt Franko said...

Putin exemplifies a neo-Soviet characteristic (same in Venezuela) which does not allow even a minimally successful dealmaking type of approach...

Xi has spent a lot of time in the US when he was in Ag:

bhttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2101652/Xi-Jinping-Chinas-Vice-President-visits-Midwest-farming-family-stayed-exchange-trip.html

It looks like Xi has probably better figured out how to deal effectively with the US he has direct living experience here ... can't say same for Putie Poot...

This whole Trump thing may end up swinging big league towards Asia the Japan guy seems to get it too ... I would not have expected that...

Noah Way said...

Anybody see a pattern here?

Yes. Your consumption of hallucinogens has reached a new level.

Matt Franko said...

Here is Trump's latest tweet:

"North Korea is looking for trouble. If China decides to help, that would be great. If not, we will solve the problem without them! U.S.A."

If Xi can take the lead and judo this thing with NK he will have yuge credibility with Trump, might begin to make that Smithfield Foods deal look like the tip of the iceberg...

Matt Franko said...

Here is another one:

"I explained to the President of China that a trade deal with the U.S. will be far better for them if they solve the North Korean problem!"


Trump reads like a book...

Tom Hickey said...

If I were in SK now, I would be on the next plane out to anywhere outside the fallout range.

Tom Hickey said...

BTW, it was just revealed that apparently NK hacked into the SK defense computers and now has in its possession the SK-US plan for defense in the case of an NK attack on SK.

Matt Franko said...

Tom there are others who believe our presence in SK is to actually prevent them from going all ape shit on NK...

Tom Hickey said...

If Kim decides that the US (and SK as its ally) is actually going to try to remove him, he will likely react with all he has, like a million man army on the border of SK and the conventional firepower to obliterate Seoul in the first minutes.

In an all-out war, China is likely to enter on the side of NK. There is a delicate balance of power in China between the political wing of the CCP, represented by Xi, which takes a soft line wrt to the West, and the PLA, which is very hard line and anti-West. If the PLA believes that the political wing too soft in the face of Western aggression near its borders, it will take power. I don't think Xi could survive in power either aligning with the US or even permitting the US to attack NK with impunity.

These people understand that US policy is global hegemony and that involves de-arming and partitioning Russia and China.

Matt Franko said...

Do you think Trump knows any of that?

Peter Pan said...

Best scenario is for China to take out Kim Jong-Un. They could also occupy NK for a transitional period. Either way, casualties will be high.
It appears that China is in agreement that NK must not be allowed to extend the range of their nuclear missiles. They'll do their best to persuade Kim to back down. Much depends on the Great Child Leader's wish to live.

Tom Hickey said...

China Threatens To Bomb North Korea's Nuclear Facilities If It Crosses Beijing's "Bottom Line"China Threatens To Bomb North Korea's Nuclear Facilities If It Crosses Beijing's "Bottom Line" [Note: This article in Global Times was immediately taken down after posting and no longer exists other than in archive.]

But what may be the most notable part of the oped is the mention in the Global Times editorial that North Korea will not be "not allowed to have a government that is hostile against China on the other side of the Yalu River." This implies that if and when the US initiate strikes on NK, the Chinese PLA will likely send out troops "to lay the foundation" for a favorable post-war situation.

In other words, China may be just waiting for Trump to "decapitate" the North Korean regime, to pounce and immediately fill the power vacuum.


China will not allow the US to occupy NK in any event.

Matt Franko said...

Trump doesn't want to occupy either NK OR SK any more....

Wants to take the $$$ currently allocated to SK and use for general US military tech refresh ...

Tom Hickey said...

He could work a deal to give NK to China after Kin removed and withdraw US military from SK.

Jeff65 said...

Matt,

What is on the table for Russia if they play ball? I'm not seeing anything worth giving up allies.

If you are just assuming there is a good offer there, well, not good enough for me. Unless I understand exactly what they're walking away from, then it follows that the US is negotiating in bad faith. History is 100% with me.

Matt Franko said...

Jeff he gets back to even after buzzing the destroyer...

Putin is already sitting one up on Trump...

He probably gets back to keeping Crimea which is something...

also he can keep his Syria position (if he really wants it...) he could pick Assad's replacement...

My fear is Russia is just unable to deal with a person like Trump they have some sort of PTSD from the Soviet era or something, Merkel has it too from growing up in East Germany... those people have some sort of psychological scarring that leaves them not well equipped for successful deal making type of approach which is looking like it is baked into Trump's DNA or something...

Maybe put those nations on ice for 5 years and flip over to Asia, Xi and Abe seem like they are better equipped to work Trump.... they seem to have figured Trump out and can use this to their advantage if they work it right...

Chinese have a lot of merchant class in their history, they have vibrant markets, etc .... idk about Russia... Russia might not be very compatible with a business/deal making person like Trump... just have to hope that the misunderstanding doesnt get out of hand until that Soviet era paychology ages out of Russia maybe...

Tom Hickey said...

Matt, the Russians don't think the US is able to make a deal because it cannot keep its word. This is a very serious issue now. Trump didn't start it, Obama did. But Trump is all over the lot, and the Russians don't see any change in the US being able to make a deal and keep it.

Postkey said...

"Trump hands over the Syria thing to them to handle taking a lot of neocon shit for it what do they do? Bring out the poison gas...."

What sort of 'poison gas'?

Any evidence?

Matt Franko said...

They are attracted to poison...they used it on their own people in Moscowtheatre when terrorists took it, poisoned the Ukraine guy they didn't like, poised the guy in the U.K., They seem like they are not much bothered by using poison...

Matt Franko said...

Otoh Poison is generally frowned upon outside Russia...

Bottom line is they can fix it if they want to...

Matt Franko said...

Xi is leaving Russia in the dust....

Jeff65 said...

Matt Franko: "addicted to poison"

The world is not full of Dr Evils and cartoon villains. This childlike lack of critical thinking is most of the problem.

Postkey said...

Here is some evidence?

“Concrete evidence of the use of sarin gas in Syria’s Idlib attack on April 4 has been found, Health Minister Recep Akdag said Tuesday.
“Sarin gas metabolite, isopropyl methylphosphonic acid, has been detected in blood and urine samples of the Syrian victims Sait Huseyin, Esme al-Hasan, Mohamed Avat and Ahmed al-Salih, who is still getting medical treatment in Hatay,” Akdag told Anadolu Agency.
Akdag said the evidence had been confirmed by the Public Health Institution’s Chemical Warfare Agents Diagnosis and Verification Laboratory.”
http://aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/turkey-says-evidence-of-sarin-gas-in-syria-attack-found/794620