Small Wars Journal

What President Trump’s Foreign Policy Will Look Like

Wed, 11/09/2016 - 1:48pm

What President Trump’s Foreign Policy Will Look Like by David Ignatius, Washington Post

Donald Trump proclaimed “America First” on his way to his head-spinning victory in Tuesday’s presidential election, and the success of that message will rock many foreign capitals where leaders have feared that Trump would alter the basics of U.S. foreign policy.

Making predictions about Trump’s foreign policy is difficult, given his lack of experience. But the most likely bet is that as president he will seek to do what he promised during the campaign in breaking from current U.S. approaches to Russia, the Middle East, Europe and Asia…

A Trump foreign policy, based on his statements, will bring an intense “realist” focus on U.S. national interests and a rejection of costly U.S. engagements abroad. It will likely bring these changes:

A move to improve relations with a combative, assertive Russia…

A joint military effort with Russia and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to defeat the Islamic State…

A new push for European allies to pay more for their own defense…

An attempt to alter the terms of trade in Asia by renegotiating trade pacts and forcing China to revalue its currency…

Read on.

Comments

Outlaw 09

Fri, 01/06/2017 - 6:14am

So exactly just how the Trump FP to handle this.....since Duterte now wants Putin to protect the Philippines....

Sound vaguely similar to the US elections...????

One month before pro-Putin Duterte won presidency of the Philippines, country's voter database was hacked and experts warned of voter fraud

BUT WAIT...Trump des not believe in Russian hacking efforts and is a great friend of Putin's so all will be well.....in the South China Sea areas....

Outlaw 09

Fri, 01/06/2017 - 5:57am

Stop Fake @StopFakingNews
How to find information about a website and its owner
#StopFakeTools

http://www.stopfake.org/en/how-to-find-information-about-a-website-and-… 

The intensive use of fake news sites and internet trolling by a proTrump Macedonian Russian owned company that generated 33% of all proTrump English tweets will be talked about next week in the next US IC report on Russian activities in the past election...

Outlaw 09

Fri, 01/06/2017 - 5:09am

REMEMBER Trump has both repeatedly stated and tweeted that he fully believes Russia did not hack the US and that it was possibly a 400lb kid on his bed hacking.....

US has specifically identified Russian sources who gave WikiLeaks material from internal accounts of DemocraticParty
http://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/312964-us-finds-link-between-ru… 

SO if he lied about Russian hacking and he finds Putin to be a great leader who writes nice letters what can we expect for a Russian FP.....?

Outlaw 09

Fri, 01/06/2017 - 4:50am

AND now we know that the supposedly coming Trump FP is one of total and utter chaos......

AND REMEMBER once these positons are emptied...Trump has not nominated a single Ambassador......so again the US FP is paying the price of an inexperienced and uneducated incoming President "who claims he is the brightest light bulb in the room".....

REMEMBER this is the incoming President who truly believed the entire WH Staff remained in place to become his WH Staff.....

Even on German radio...they are now making fun of Trump and his tweets and are in private conversations saying..."you poor Americans..what an idiot you elected..."..even when the Actor Reagan came in the Germans did not make that many jokes about him...

QUOTE
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald J. Trump’s transition staff has issued a blanket edict requiring politically appointed ambassadors to leave their overseas posts by Inauguration Day, according to several American diplomats familiar with the plan, breaking with decades of precedent by declining to provide even the briefest of grace periods.

The mandate — issued “without exceptions,” according to a terse State Department cable sent on Dec. 23, diplomats who saw it said — threatens to leave the United States without Senate-confirmed envoys for months in critical nations like Germany, Canada and Britain. In the past, administrations of both parties have often granted extensions on a case-by-case basis to allow a handful of ambassadors, particularly those with school-age children, to remain in place for weeks or months.

Mr. Trump, by contrast, has taken a hard line against leaving any of President Obama’s political appointees in place as he prepares to take office on Jan. 20 with a mission of dismantling many of his predecessor’s signature foreign and domestic policy achievements. “Political” ambassadors, many of them major donors who are nominated by virtue of close ties with the president, almost always leave at the end of his term; ambassadors who are career diplomats often remain in their posts.

A senior Trump transition official said there was no ill will in the move, describing it as a simple matter of ensuring that Mr. Obama’s overseas appointees leave the government on schedule, just as thousands of political aides at the White House and in federal agencies must do.

The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity about internal deliberations, said the ambassadors should not be surprised about being held to a hard end date.

The directive has nonetheless upended the personal lives of many ambassadors, who are scrambling to secure living arrangements and acquire visas allowing them to remain in their countries so their children can remain in school, the diplomats said. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly on the matter.

In Costa Rica, Ambassador Stafford Fitzgerald Haney is hunting for a house or an apartment as his family — which includes four school-age children and his wife, who has been battling breast cancer — struggles to figure out how to avoid a move back to the United States with five months left in the school year, according to the diplomats.

In the Czech Republic, they said, Ambassador Andrew H. Schapiro is seeking housing in Prague as well as lobbying his children’s Chicago-based school to break with policy and accept them back midyear. In Brussels and Geneva, Denise Bauer, the United States ambassador to Belgium, and Pamela Hamamoto, the permanent representative to the United Nations, are both trying to find a way to keep daughters from having to move just months before their high school graduation.

Ronald E. Neumann, the president of the American Academy of Diplomacy, a Washington-based nonprofit association for former ambassadors and senior diplomats, said it was reasonable to expect ambassadors to return at the end of a term, given that they are direct representatives of the president with broad grants of authority. But he could not recall an occasion on which such a strict timeline had been applied.

“When you have people out there whose only reason for being an ambassador is their political connection to the outgoing president of a different party, it’s pretty logical to say they should leave,” said Mr. Neumann, a career Foreign Service officer who held ambassadorships in Algeria, Bahrain and Afghanistan. “But I don’t recollect there was ever a guillotine in January where it was just, ‘Everybody out of the pool immediately.’”

W. Robert Pearson, a former ambassador to Turkey and a scholar at the Middle East Institute in Washington, said the rule was “quite extraordinary,” adding that it could undermine American interests and signal a hasty change in direction that exacerbates jitters among allies about their relationships with the new administration.

With the world already primed to be worrying about such an abrupt change, “this is just a very concrete signal that it is going to happen,” Mr. Pearson said.

At a White House farewell reception that Mr. Obama held on Wednesday night for noncareer ambassadors, many of them commiserated, attendees said, comparing notes about how to handle the situation.

Some expressed dismay that Mr. Trump, whose wife, Melania, has chosen to stay in New York to avoid moving the couple’s 10-year-old son, Barron, to a new school midyear, would not ensure that such allowances were made for American ambassadors.

They are weighing a direct appeal to Rex W. Tillerson, Mr. Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, or other top transition officials to reconsider the policy.

Derek Shearer, a professor of diplomacy at Occidental College who is a former United States ambassador to Finland, said it was difficult to see a rationale for the decision. “It feels like there’s an element just of spite and payback in it,” he said. “I don’t see a higher policy motive.”

The State Department informed all politically appointed ambassadors in a letter the day after the election that they were to submit letters of resignation effective Jan. 20. It instructed those who wanted to seek extensions to submit formal requests explaining their justifications.

Incoming presidents of both parties have often made exceptions to allow ambassadors to wrap up personal affairs and important diplomatic business while their successors were in the confirmation process, which can take months. Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Mr. Obama all granted extensions for a few politically appointed ambassadors.

Former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell offered particularly wide latitude to ambassadors facing family issues, said Marc Grossman, a longtime diplomat and former top State Department official who is vice chairman of the Cohen Group, a Washington consultancy.

“This was something that was important to Secretary Powell because of his own experience living and serving all over the world, so when people asked him, ‘Could I stay another couple of weeks, couple of months; my kids are finishing school,’ he was very accommodating,” Mr. Grossman said, adding that his flexibility was an “exception” to the general practice. “He was trying to, I think, send a message that family was important.”

Outlaw 09

Fri, 01/06/2017 - 1:10am

When a supposedly excellent intel officer goes rouge because he was fired for cause meaning he basically failed in his last job and now wants to take his anger out on the intel services...we have a serious problem....REMEMBER Flynn also spent time in Moscow and praised often Russia and Putin and did not register as a foreign agent for his consulting in Turkey.....

QUOTE
Former CIA director R. James Woolsey Jr., a veteran of four presidential administrations and one of the nation’s leading intelligence experts, resigned Thursday from President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team because of growing tensions over Trump’s vision for intelligence agencies.

Woolsey’s resignation as a Trump senior adviser comes amid frustrations over the incoming administration’s national security plans and Trump’s public comments undermining the intelligence community.
“Effective immediately, Ambassador Woolsey is no longer a Senior Advisor to President-Elect Trump or the Transition.

He wishes the President-Elect and his Administration great success in their time in office,” Jonathan Franks, a spokesman for Woolsey, said in a statement.

Woolsey suggested in a pair of cable television interviews Thursday evening that he was only an informal adviser to Trump, with duties that included speaking to the journalists about Trump and his national security policies.

Woolsey said on CNN that he did not want to “fly under false colors” any longer. “I’ve been an adviser and felt that I was making a contribution….. But I’m not really functioning as an adviser anymore. When I’m on the [television] screen, everybody announces that I’m a former CIA director and that I’m a Trump adviser and I’m really not anymore.”

People close to Woolsey said that he had been excluded in recent weeks from discussions on intelligence matters with Trump and retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, the incoming White House national security adviser.
They said that Woolsey had grown increasingly uncomfortable lending his name and credibility to the transition team without being consulted.

Woolsey was taken aback by this week’s reports that Trump is considering revamping the country’s intelligence framework, said these people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk candidly.

“Jim is very uncomfortable being considered an adviser in an area where one might consider him an expert when he is not involved in the discussions,” one person close to Woolsey said. “To be called ‘senior adviser’ and your opinion is not sought is something he cannot handle.”

Trump transition officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Woolsey’s resignation.

Woolsey has been a key player in the national security firmament since the late 1970s, when he served as undersecretary of the Navy in the Jimmy Carter administration. He has held other roles under former presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, culminating with the post as director of the CIA between 1993 and 1995.

The person close to Woolsey described him as having chafed at Trump’s loose style on Twitter. They described Woolsey as a “very principled” diplomat who takes care to communicate the right message with just the right words. “This is a guy [for whom] commas, periods, etc., all have special meaning,” this person said.

Woolsey joined the Trump campaign last September, issuing a statement commending Trump’s plans to grow and modernize the military.
UNQUOTE

Outlaw 09

Fri, 01/06/2017 - 1:01am

Perfect example of Trump's FP hard at work...who would have thought we now have FP driven by Twitter.....

Japan defends Toyota after Trump broadside over Mexican plant
http://reut.rs/2hWVe3e

Trump is risking a serious trade war with the world over his ideas...which in the end means the common US worker will be paying more and will in the end lose that trade war....

Outlaw 09

Fri, 01/06/2017 - 12:59am

If the shoe fits it...wear it proudly....Russia has been caught lying so many times since their military annexation of Crimea........EVEN Putin himself admitted Russian troops are in eastern Ukraine even after Putin numerous statements saying the opposite....

Russia's response to accusations of #cyber attack on the #DNC: we are "sick & tired" of being blamed for everything

https://russian.rt.com/inotv/2017-01-06/CNN-na-obvineniya-v-kiberatakah 

Outlaw 09

Fri, 01/06/2017 - 12:54am

In reply to by Outlaw 09

@realDonaldTrump And didn't you promise the world information that you knew (that, conveniently, no one else knew) about the hacking "Tuesday or Wednesday?"

Outlaw 09

Fri, 01/06/2017 - 12:52am

I have repeatedly pointed to the Russian non linear warfare mixture of cyber and information warfare being the corner stones of a potential success...

THEN below posted are the key comments of a GDR Stassi COL in 1992 concerning his "active measures" conducted against the West....

NOW two very serious questions are we in fact truly in a "war" the first war of the 21st century not fought on the battlefield but for the hearts and minds?

Secondly, do we seriously now have a President elect who is potentially compromised by the Russian Intelligence Services and is also at the same time so uneducated about the intelligence world and non linear warfare.

This mixture is extremely dangerous as it shows a future President unwilling to learn and grow and a person with serious physiological problems...

QUOTE
Given the president-elect’s skepticism about the intelligence community — particularly its conclusions about Russia — the Trump Tower briefing has taken on the tenor of a showdown between the president-elect and the intelligence agencies he has disparaged.

“The Russians felt pretty good about what happened on Nov. 8 and they also felt pretty good about what they did,” a senior U.S. official said.
U.S. officials declined to say whether the intercepted communications were cited in the classified version of the report commissioned by Obama, and they emphasized that while the messages were seen as strong indicators of Moscow’s intent and clear preference for Trump, they were not regarded as conclusive evidence of Russian intelligence agencies’ efforts to achieve that outcome.

“There are a variety of different exhibits that make the case, different factors that have provided the intelligence community with high confidence” that Russia sought in part to help elect Trump, said a second senior U.S. official who has reviewed intelligence findings on Russia’s cyber operations.

Officials emphasized that “signals intelligence,” as such communication is known, is treated by analysts with caution because statements can be taken out of context and sophisticated adversaries including the Kremlin are adept at spreading disinformation.

U.S. officials who have reviewed the new report said it goes far beyond the brief public statement that Clapper and Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson issued in October, accusing Russia of having “directed” cyber operations to disrupt the U.S. election, and concluding, in a reference to Russian President Vladi­mir Putin, that “only Russia’s senior-most officials could have authorized these activities.”

The new report incorporates material from previous assessments and assembles in a single document details of cyber operations dating back to 2008. Still, U.S. officials said there are no major new bombshell disclosures even in the classified report. A shorter, declassified version is expected to be released to the public early next week.

Russia’s alleged role in the 2016 election and the question of how the United States should respond have become bitterly polarizing issues in Washington, sowing discord among Republicans on Capitol Hill, complicating the transition between the Obama and Trump administrations, and exacerbating an increasingly toxic relationship between the president-elect and U.S. spy services.

Senior lawmakers have called for a full investigation of the Russian hacking. Appearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday, Clapper said that Moscow’s cyber assault on the election went beyond interference and into “activism.”

At Thursday’s hearing, Clapper said that U.S. spy agencies “stand actually more resolutely” behind conclusions they reached last year on Russia’s determination to undermine the U.S. election. He also appeared to take aim at Trump’s social media sniping at U.S. intelligence services, saying that “there’s a difference between skepticism and disparagement.”

Obama last week announced a series of measures designed to punish Russia, actions he characterized as “a necessary and appropriate response to efforts to harm U.S. interests.” Obama moved to impose economic sanctions on Russian intelligence agencies, expelled dozens of alleged Russian intelligence operatives from the United States, and shuttered two compounds that for decades had purportedly served as retreats for Russian diplomats but were described by the administration as locations for espionage activities.

Meanwhile, Trump continued his string of Twitter attacks, accusing U.S. intelligence agencies — with the word “intelligence” set off in quotation marks — of delaying a planned briefing on Russia and the election, a charge that U.S. officials disputed. He also appeared to side with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has denied that his organization got the hacked emails from Russia, over U.S. spy agencies, which think that WikiLeaks got the material through middlemen with ties to the Kremlin.

Trump appeared to retreat on Thursday, accusing the “dishonest media” of misrepresenting his comments about Assange. “The media lies to make it look like I am against ‘Intelligence,’ ” he said, “when in fact I am a big fan!”

U.S. officials said the captured messages, whose existence has not previously been disclosed, added to the confidence level at the CIA and other agencies that Putin’s goals went beyond seeking to undermine confidence in America’s election machinery and ultimately were aimed at tilting a fiercely contested presidential race toward a candidate seen as more in-line with Moscow’s foreign policy goals.

Even so, the messages also revealed that top officials in Russia anticipated that Clinton would win and did not expect their effort to achieve its goal.

Russian officials “were as surprised as the rest of the world,” said the second U.S. official who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters.

“In this case, you do learn things after the fact based on how they feel about it,” the first official said, adding that the intercepts added to the intelligence community’s “shifting level of confidence.”

The intercepts also echoed some public comments in Moscow. “Trump understood the mood of the people and kept going until the end, when nobody believed in him,” Putin said at a news conference last month, adding with a wry smile, “except for you and me.”

U.S. intelligence officials believe that Putin has for years held a personal grudge against Clinton, whom he accused of fomenting demonstrations in Moscow in 2011 and 2012 that embarrassed Putin and rattled the former KGB operative’s confidence in his grip on power.
Russia’s elite spy services have for years used cyberespionage capabilities to gather information on U.S. policymakers and political candidates — as the United States does on Russia.

But Moscow’s decision to dump thousands of stolen emails into public view on WikiLeaks was seen as a provocative departure from the traditional lanes of espionage, U.S. officials said.

Clapper on Thursday said there is a difference between “an act of espionage, which we conduct, as well, and other nations do, versus an attack.”

U.S. officials said that Russia’s goals appear to have shifted over time. Moscow’s initial hacking operations targeted almost every major candidate, including Trump’s GOP rivals, as part of a fairly typical clandestine collection program.

Russia’s initial objective may have been merely to meddle and undermine the legitimacy of an assumed Clinton victory. But as Trump captured the GOP nomination and showed that he could remain competitive with Clinton, Russia’s aims became more ambitious, officials said.

The final months of the race saw a steady stream of leaked emails that damaged Clinton’s candidacy, without any corresponding release to embarrass Trump.

Russia also used social media and “fake news” platforms as an “accelerant” to try to boost Trump and undermine Clinton, the second official said.
UNQUOTE

Outlaw 09

Thu, 01/05/2017 - 1:01pm

ODNI Clapper confirms US govt will release more details of Russian hacking "early next week.

Outlaw 09

Thu, 01/05/2017 - 12:58pm

Donald Trump Plans Revamp of Top U.S. Spy Agency

http://www.wsj.com/articles/lawmakers-officials-frown-on-donald-trumps-…

President-elect works on restructuring Office of the Director of National Intelligence, tweets again his doubts that Russia hacked Democrats

QUOTE
WASHINGTON—President-elect Donald Trump, a harsh critic of U.S. intelligence agencies, is working with top advisers on a plan that would restructure and pare back the nation’s top spy agency, people familiar with the planning said.

The move is prompted by his belief that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence has become bloated and politicized, these people said.

The planning comes as Mr. Trump has leveled a series of social-media attacks in recent months and the past few days against U.S. intelligence agencies, dismissing and mocking their assessment that Russia stole emails from Democratic groups and individuals and then provided them to WikiLeaks for publication in an effort to help Mr. Trump win the White House.

One of the people familiar with Mr. Trump’s planning said advisers also are working on a plan to restructure the Central Intelligence Agency, cutting back on staffing at its Virginia headquarters and pushing more people out into field posts around the world. The CIA declined to comment.

“The view from the Trump team is the intelligence world has become completely politicized,” said the individual, who is close to the Trump transition. “They all need to be slimmed down. The focus will be on restructuring the agencies and how they interact.”

In Twitter posts on Wednesday, Mr. Trump referenced an interview that WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange gave to Fox News in which Mr. Assange denied Russia had been his source for the thousands of emails he published that had been stolen from Democratic organizations and Hillary Clinton advisers, including campaign manager John Podesta.

Mr. Trump tweeted: “Julian Assange said ‘a 14 year old could have hacked Podesta’—why was DNC so careless? Also said Russians did not give him the info!”

Mr. Trump has drawn criticism from Democratic and Republican lawmakers and from intelligence and law-enforcement officials for praising Russian President Vladimir Putin, for criticizing U.S. spy agencies, and now for embracing Mr. Assange, long viewed with disdain by government officials and lawmakers.

“We have two choices: some guy living in an embassy on the run from the law…who has a history of undermining American democracy and releasing classified information to put our troops at risk, or the 17 intelligence agencies sworn to defend us,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.). “I’m going with them.”

But for Mr. Trump and some supporters, the accusations that Russia hacked Democrats are seen as an effort to delegitimize his election.

Since the November election, Mr. Trump has published close to 250 Twitter posts. Of those, 11 have focused on Russia or the election-related cyberattacks. In each of those tweets, Mr. Trump either has praised Russian President Vladimir Putin—last month calling him “very smart”—or disparaged the investigation into the hacks.

This stands in contrast with his posts on other issues and countries, such as North Korea or China, where his views on national security risks line up more squarely with U.S. spy agencies.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence was established in 2004 in large part to boost coordination between intelligence agencies following the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

Lawmakers and intelligence experts in the past have proposed cutting or restructuring the ODNI. The President’s Intelligence Advisory Board, a White House panel, recommended in a classified report in 2010 that the agency be downsized and closely focused, according to the Congressional Research Service. The report didn’t result in legislation. '

Officials said change has proven difficult in part because its mission centers are focused on core national security issues, such as counterterrorism, nuclear proliferation, and counterintelligence.

“The management and integration that DNI focuses on allows agencies like the CIA to better hone in on its own important work,” said Rep. Adam Schiff (D., Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the House intelligence panel, who believes dismantling the ODNI could lead to national security problems.

Mr. Trump’s advisers say he has long been skeptical of the CIA’s accuracy, and the president-elect often mentions faulty intelligence in 2002 and 2003 concerning Iraq’s weapons programs. But his public skepticism about the Russia assessments has jarred analysts accustomed to more cohesion with the White House.

Top officials at U.S. intelligence agencies, as well as Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress, have said Russia orchestrated the computer attacks on the Democratic Party last year. President Barack Obama ordered the intelligence agencies to produce a report on the hacking operation, and he is expected to be presented with the findings on Thursday.

Russia has long denied any involvement in the hacking operation, though Mr. Putin has said releasing the stolen emails was a public service.
The heads of the CIA, Federal Bureau of Investigation and DNI James Clapper are scheduled to brief Mr. Trump on the findings on Friday. Mr.

Trump tweeted late Tuesday that this meeting had been delayed and suggested that the agencies still needed time to “build a case” against Russia. White House officials said Mr. Trump will be briefed on the hacking report as soon as it is ready.

Among those helping lead Mr. Trump’s plan to revamp the intelligence agencies is his national security adviser, Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who had served as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency until he was pushed out by Mr. Clapper and others in 2014. Also involved in the planning is Rep. Mike Pompeo (R., Kan.), whom Mr. Trump selected as CIA director.
Gen. Flynn didn’t respond to a request for comment on Wednesday, and Mr. Pompeo declined to comment.

Gen. Flynn and Mr. Pompeo share Mr. Trump’s view that the intelligence community’s position—that Russia tried to help his campaign—is an attempt to undermine his victory or say he didn’t win, the official close to the transition said.

Gen. Flynn will lead the White House’s National Security Council, giving him broad influence in military and intelligence decisions throughout the government. He is also a believer in rotating senior intelligence agencies into the field and reducing headquarters staff.

The lobby of the CIA Headquarters Building in Langley, Va. Donald Trump’s criticism of U.S. intelligence agencies’ assessments of Russian involvement in cyberattacks has some lawmakers questioning his goals.

Current and former intelligence and law enforcement officials have reacted with a mix of bafflement and outrage to Mr. Trump’s continuing series of jabs at U.S. spies.

“They are furious about it,” said one former senior intelligence official, adding that a retinue of senior officials who thought they would be staying on in a Hillary Clinton administration now are re-evaluating their plans following Mr. Trump’s election.

Current and former officials said it was particularly striking to see Mr. Trump quote Mr. Assange in tweets.

“It’s pretty horrifying to me that he’s siding with Assange over the intelligence agencies,” one former law-enforcement official said.

Paul Pillar, a 28-year veteran of the CIA who retired in 2005, said he was disturbed by Mr. Trump’s tweets and feared much of the intelligence community’s assessments could be filtered through Gen. Flynn.

“I’m rather pessimistic,” he said. “This is indeed disturbing that the president should come in with this negative view of the agencies, coupled with his habits on how he absorbs information and so on that don’t provide a lot of hope for change.”
UNQUOTE

BLUF..that is often overlooked in this article is the simple fact...former general Flynn was fired for cause by the DNI Clapper and this is simply Flynn "payback"...from someone who was supposedly a highly rated intel officer...emphasis supposedly......

Outlaw 09

Thu, 01/05/2017 - 12:41pm

Next @NolanWPeterson article in @DailySignal: How #Russia’s #Cyber Attacks Have Affected #Ukraine.
http://dailysign.al/2hDD1vw
 
Really worth reading all articles by this US journalist who was a former AFSOF type and who then became a very good field/combat journalist....

Outlaw 09

Thu, 01/05/2017 - 12:35pm

On one side we have the entire US Intelligence Community.

On the other we have Russia, a lying rapist on the lam, & the president-elect.

Giant elephant in this hearing is Trump threatening to gut the very agencies seeking to investigate threat. They don't address it directly.

Outlaw 09

Thu, 01/05/2017 - 12:16pm

Senatehearing: If @realDonaldTrump doesn't quit #Putin-#Assange love triangle, he stands good chance Senate conviction after Impeachment.

Outlaw 09

Thu, 01/05/2017 - 12:12pm

THIS is exactly what Trump does not fully understand by US intelligence...many hard tidbits of confirming intelligence come to the CIA via associated....."friendly services in Europe and their vetted spies and electronic monitoring of Russia....."

AND someone like former DIA fired chief former General Flynn is one who should know this simple intelligence fact of life.....

Clapper says he can't conclusively provide evidence without risking "very fragile and sensitive sources and methods."

Outlaw 09

Thu, 01/05/2017 - 12:07pm

As Senate talks #russianhacking on US election, Putin's next target is Europe's 2017 elections.
http://bit.ly/2jdHBBP

Outlaw 09

Thu, 01/05/2017 - 11:54am

Clapper says, "I don’t think we've encountered a more aggressive and direct attempt to interfere with our elections" than Russia hack.

BUT WAIT ...what were all those Trump anti CIA and proRussian tweets all about...did he not in fact tweet his general believe that Russia did not hack the electoral process in the US.....

Outlaw 09

Thu, 01/05/2017 - 11:39am

In reply to by Outlaw 09

BUT WAIT THEN we get this from the very person that ranted all of the above....AND this is not GDR Stasi "active measures" hard at work....????

QUOTE
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump is urging Republicans and Democrats to "get together" to design a replacement for President Barack Obama's health care law.

The president-elect says in a series of Thursday morning tweets that minority Democrats are doing "the typical political thing and (casting) BLAME." He adds: "It is time for Republicans and Democrats to get together and come up with a health care plan that really works — much less expensive & FAR BETTER!"

The tweets contradict Trump's advice to Republicans a day earlier, in which he wrote that "Dems are to blame for the mess" and warned the GOP to stay focused on blaming Obama's party.
UNQUOTE

ALL in tended to distract from his anti CIA and proRussian tweeting....

Actually Trump is an expert at using the Russian SIX Ds of propaganda....

Dismay....Deflect.....Distort.....Dismiss.....ALL designed to create two things...Doubt and Distrust.....

Outlaw 09

Thu, 01/05/2017 - 11:33am

In reply to by Outlaw 09

WHEN someone takes to ranting via social media...either that person is massively in need of mental health treatment AND OR working for the Russians as he fully supports the GDR Stasi "active measures"....

WHY...all the following tweets is designed to distract from his own anti US intel statements and his statements the Russians did not hack the election process that he has repeatedly stated.....

Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump 4h
4 hours ago

...do the typical political thing and BLAME. The fact is ObamaCare was a lie from the beginning."Keep you doctor, keep your plan!" It is....

Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump 4h
4 hours ago

The Democrats, lead by head clown Chuck Schumer, know how bad ObamaCare is and what a mess they are in. Instead of working to fix it, they..

Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump Jan 4
massive increases of ObamaCare will take place this year and Dems are to blame for the mess. It will fall of its own weight - be careful!

Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump Jan 4
like the 116% hike in Arizona. Also, deductibles are so high that it is practically useless. Don't let the Schumer clowns out of this web...

Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump Jan 4
Republicans must be careful in that the Dems own the failed ObamaCare disaster, with its poor coverage and massive premium increases......

Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump Jan 4
things they did and said (like giving the questions to the debate to H). A total double standard! Media, as usual, gave them a pass.

Outlaw 09

Thu, 01/05/2017 - 11:11am

THIS goes to the heart of the Trump future FP as it indicates exactly just ho he thinks and acts using of all things Twitter....

He and his supporters spend the entire campaign bashing Obamacare and stating he and his supporters will immediately replace it when they are elected...WELL they were elected and now this is tweeted against the Democrats....

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump is urging Republicans and Democrats to "get together" to design a replacement for President Barack Obama's health care law.

The president-elect says in a series of Thursday morning tweets that minority Democrats are doing "the typical political thing and (casting) BLAME." He adds: "It is time for Republicans and Democrats to get together and come up with a health care plan that really works — much less expensive & FAR BETTER!"

The tweets contradict Trump's advice to Republicans a day earlier, in which he wrote that "Dems are to blame for the mess" and warned the GOP to stay focused on blaming Obama's party.

Democrats point out that Republicans are not close to proposing a replacement for the law. Twenty million Americans have gained coverage under the law.

Trump stated his dislike of the health care law...stated what he is going to do...AND THEN blames someone else....?????

BLUF...he does not want to be blamed if his plan goes south with the public.

Recognize anything in this tweet that matches exactly what the GDR Stasi below was doing in the 80s/90s??????

Outlaw 09

Thu, 01/05/2017 - 12:06pm

In reply to by Outlaw 09

Bill C......

DNI Director Clapper:

'#Russia has long history of interfering in elections… But we’ve never seen such a determined effort as this one.'

Donald J. Trump
Verified account
‏@realDonaldTrump
to make up their own minds as to the truth. The media lies to make it look like I am against "Intelligence" when in fact I am a big fan!

They’re “a big fan” of yours, too. After all, they’ve been following you for 30 years, to hear some them tell it. *Super* interested in you.

BLUF........

Worth noting, now both @RusEmbUSA and @wikileaks RT the president-elect tweets especially those about the CIA...Assage/WL and Russian not involved in hacking...

Top US spy chief says WikiLeaks risks lives:
http://apne.ws/2jeChhN

Outlaw 09

Thu, 01/05/2017 - 11:26am

In reply to by Outlaw 09

IS Trump now running from his very own tweets that he has repeatedly sent out and stated in public.....

Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump 3h
3 hours ago

The dishonest media likes saying that I am in Agreement with Julian Assange - wrong. I simply state what he states, it is for the people....

Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump 3h
3 hours ago

to make up their own minds as to the truth. The media lies to make it look like I am against "Intelligence" when in fact I am a big fan!

A BIG FAN...when he has been tweeting the Russians did not hack the US election process....

QUOTE
The hearing comes a day before the president-elect receives a briefing by the CIA and FBI directors — along with the head of national intelligence — on the investigation into Russia's alleged hacking efforts.

Trump has criticized their findings and even seemed to back WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's contention that Russia did not provide him with hacked Democratic emails.

In new tweets early Thursday, Trump backed away from his apparent embrace of Assange. Trump blamed the "dishonest media" for portraying him as agreeing with Assange, whose organization has been under criminal investigation for its role in classified information leaks.

"The media lies to make it look like I am against 'Intelligence' when in fact I am a big fan!" Trump wrote.

Clapper told the committee Assange has no credibility.
UNQUOTE

Outlaw 09

Thu, 01/05/2017 - 6:14am

In reply to by Outlaw 09

Bill C....this is from 1986 and from the major GDR Stasi officer mentioned above.....RECOGNIZE anything?????

Stasi, 1986: "For the man on the street it is getting harder to assess [news stories]. This is where we come in as an intelligence agency."

East Germany's Stasi created 'active measures' Department X after receiving KGB instructions to do so during a visit to Moscow in ~1961

THIS GDR Stasi officer was the master craftsman of his tradecraft....active measures for over 25 years ...ie information warfare and disinformation.....

Stasi's Wagenbreth: "A powerful adversary can be defeated only by carefully and methodically exploiting every crack within its own society"

NOW does everyone fully understand what drives the Russian non linear warfare at it's core....

1. cyber warfare
2. information warfare including disinformation

AND this is what the former General Flynn and Trump seem to want to fully forget......WHY is that....simply put...both are fully and completely compromised by visits to Moscow and what occurred there...

QUOTED references are in German from the German book...English translation

MISSION: DECEPTION—amazing, eerily topical 1992 book on Stasi active measures in the West, by two former operators, one from "Department X"

Stasi's highly secretive "Department X" in charge of active measures [aktive Maßnahmen] was first presented internally in Belzig in 1986

Auftrag Irrefuerhung
Wie die Stasi Politik im Westen machte
Publisher Carlson

Large number of confirming documents reside in the German Federal Stasi Research Center here in Berlin and is open for researchers of that period..

Outlaw 09

Thu, 01/05/2017 - 6:03am

Bill C...this is what I mean by being now in a true "war"..."a war on the invisible front" common phase during the Cold War used by GDR Stasi....KGB and GRU spies inside the West.....as well as Polish SB and the Czech BtS agents.

Major GDR Stasi operator: "Our 'battle on the invisible front'—that is inside the West—was unencumbered by moral constraints vis-a-vis the 'enemy.'"

GDR Stasi: "The disinformation we engaged in far surpassed everything that [Western] intelligence agencies did—in character, extent & intensity"

QUOTE
Stunning section—eg: "Among many journalists prejudices against their own intelligence agencies were predominant—thus facilitating our work"
UNQUOTE

QUOTE
Note that op isn't over—it simply entered its next phase. Trump is inadvertently prolonging this active measure, making it *more effective*
UNQUOTE

"What would active measures be without the journalist?" asks Stasi's head of active measures, reflecting on his trade after 25 years in 1986

Stasi: "journalism and intelligence have objectively entered a kind of marriage. Both complement each other and can’t let go of each other."

"The press, radio, and TV are the ideal battleground for a Stasi operator focused on active measures."

Stasi memoirs: "Active measures are a Soviet invention that didn’t just imply a 'war of words,' but also a specific intelligence structure"

"Often the truth served the lie."
GDR Stasi active measures operator, 1992

Couple this mindset now with cyber/info warfare....and you have the "war" I am talking about....

Cyberwar for Sale

After a maker of surveillance software was hacked, its leaked documents shed light on a shadowy global industry that has turned email theft into a terrifying — and lucrative — political weapon.

By MATTATHIAS SCHWARTZJAN. 4, 2017

http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/04/magazine/cyberwar-for-sale.html

Bill C..........

BTW...if you have been following me on the Ukrainian thread since Crimea you would have seen me post a tons of comments around this particular Italian software company....Hacking Team....they had a massive hack and millions of Megs of data..emails.sales contracts..actual hacking tools/software viruses and malware software was placed on the common internet...

I downloaded all of their data and am still going through it for my customers especially the hacking tools side of the house and all Microsoft problems they spotted and successfully used when MS did not know they even existed..........they sidestepped EU export regulations when they sold their tools and software...

AND our new incoming President being as smart as he claims he is should have known all of this if he fully understands hacking as he claims he does....

Outlaw 09

Thu, 01/05/2017 - 4:50am

It is amazing to see that Trump...former Gen. Flynn...Pompeo...and Newt all believe that Russian hacking does not exist....ALL the while the Ukrainians are doing it constantly to the Russian military...and to a close Putin advisor.

Hacking is not a one way street and those that do not believe it possible are in for an rude awakening in the coming months as there is a full scale cyber war afoot here in Europe.....

Confirmed. End of story. Wait for the leak.
https://twitter.com/odhcpd/status/816932334754811904#

Rumor has it Ukraine hackers have got hold of Russian army satellite intel database of their presence in Ukraine.

Bloody Ukrainian "hacktivists" who seem to refuse to surrender. That's very unpleasant.

Let see how the story gets spun or forgotten...by Western MSM...AND Trump and his merry band of hacking deniers....

BTW...this Ukrainian group is just as good if not better than the Russian state sponsored hackers....

Outlaw 09

Thu, 01/05/2017 - 4:26am

In reply to by Outlaw 09

Deleted...duplicate

Outlaw 09

Thu, 01/05/2017 - 4:23am

In reply to by Outlaw 09

WikiLeaks Assange- from US State Enemy 1 to reliable source under Trump

SEEMS Trump forgot Assange support for Snowdon's escape to Moscow and then releasing of the Snowdon stolen data

Outlaw 09

Thu, 01/05/2017 - 12:19am

HOW is it possible that so called intelligent individuals can be so massively fooled apparently every single day...

Newt Gingrich to Hannity: Julian Assange is such a "down to earth, straight forward interviewee"

If he is supposedly down to earth then just how did he get into the rape charge and has fled basically into a foreign Embassy to avoid legally being charged in Sweden....supposedly out of fear of being delivered to the US as a spy by the Swedes...

AND his assistance to Snowdon who in the past year is now truly believed to have been a RIS mole inside NSA.

Newt...should pay far closer attention to the actual words stated by of all persons Assange in his denial......

Assange's careful words ≠ denial; in fact they confirm Wikileaks received emails from Russia via 3rd party

So hacked by Russia is in fact proven fact indirectly by Assange....third party could have been in fact the Russian GRU....

Outlaw 09

Thu, 01/05/2017 - 12:09am

THIS is now becoming dangerous for the US general public and the security of the US in general ..Flynn was fired because he actually failed at his job BUT he thinks he is just as smart in the intel world is as Trump is smart in the hacking world....

Trump's overhaul of CIA is a reprisal for its alerting Americans of Russian interference in the election and its valid concerns about Trump.

QUOTE
General Flynn and Mr. Pompeo share the Trump view that the IC's positon ...that Russia tried to help is campaign---IS an attempt to undermine his victory and or say he did not win....the official close to the transition said....

Outlaw 09

Wed, 01/04/2017 - 11:59pm

This article concerns the opinions of the incoming SoS Tillerson...who is not all that unfriendly with Russia and Putin even though he talks tough..suspect not much difference between his views and Trump's views on Russia which have been documented below.

See what he says are Europe's three biggest threats and you suspect the tough-on-Russia talk is just a feint.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/josh-rogin/wp/2017/01/04/rex-tiller… 

Outlaw 09

Wed, 01/04/2017 - 11:51pm

When the question was raised what will the Trump FP look like my response was and still is...what you see...hear and see in tweets is exactly what the Trump FP will be ...extremely simple actually but many do not want to believe.....

BUT does that go over well with the general public who actually in issues of FP do have a healthy opinion of what is correct and not correct....

Americans are uneasy about Trump’s handling of international affairs — via @TheFiscalTimes
http://read.bi/2icjRKt

Outlaw 09

Wed, 01/04/2017 - 12:41pm

BUT WAIT...appears the Trump simply overlooked this single small fact about WL and Assange......

2010 Wikileaks docs Assange released helped Putin stay in power. Critics became traitors for mtg w/ StateDept. Nemtsov killed, protest died

Outlaw 09

Wed, 01/04/2017 - 12:46pm

Lindsey Graham (R): what bothers me is Trump is rightly critical of China, Iran but w/ Russia 'he seems to have a blind spot+I'm perplexed'

Compromised...compromised...compromised.....easily understood if one fully understands the Trump visits to Moscow since 1987...

OR maybe......
Perhaps, Trump admires Putin's style of dictatorship, which includes brutal suppression of media, opposition, killing whistleblowers.

Michael McFaul

@McFaul
It is the responsibility of our Commander in Chief to defend the American people from attacks on our sovereignty, not defend the attackers.

Outlaw 09

Wed, 01/04/2017 - 12:27pm

In reply to by Outlaw 09

So who releases kompromat on Trump first? The Chekists or the CIA?

IMHO...it will be the CIA as it is their duty foremost to protect the United States from "enemies near and far" something Trump is not up to it appears....

It is getting closer to having compromising materials leaked on Trump as the IC is desperately trying to get people to wake up and smell the coffee....

Intelligence And Defense Officials Call For Bipartisan Investigation Into Russian Hacking
https://www.buzzfeed.com/lissandravilla/intelligence-and-defense-offici… 

If this type of investigation does not occur soon very soon watch the leaking begin...

Outlaw 09

Wed, 01/04/2017 - 12:20pm

WHY does an incoming US President ALLOW himself to be part and parcel of the ongoing Russian info war against the United States....easy to understand when one assumes Trump has been fully and completely compromised by RIS......?????

From social media commenter today....

.@realDonaldTrump has become a tool of foreign adversaries engaged in a direct assault on our democracy.

Outlaw 09

Thu, 01/05/2017 - 5:09am

In reply to by Bill C.

Bill...two things are standing totally out in the rain at this moment in time....BOTH Trump and Putin are driving on the concept that neo liberalism is evil and responsible for all our ills....

BOTH are also strong believers in neo nationalism...both are basically at their core...authoritarians...yes Trump is one if one sees this tweeting as evidence of this bent. AND his strong "dislike of those that critique him" and his use of the recent word "enemies against me" in one of his recent tweets...and both in some ways dislike the current way their respective government works.....

BUT a "clash of civilizations"...that I am not sure about...we are in fact in a war and have been since 2008 with Putin and right now it is being fought on the cyber front....

If that war is classified as a "clash" so be it....but one must accept there is a war and we are in the middle of Cold War 3.0 since at least 2014.....

In the case of the US we are even in a "clash/war" with those that "claimed to have won the election thus the mandated right to change everything" EVEN in the face of the simple fact that only 49% of the electorate voted..and out of that 49%...only 48% voted for Trump and 49% for Clinton and the Clinton side has a 3M vote lead in the general vote....which does not translate into a so called "mandate"....

So in some aspects one could make the argument that even Trump and his merry band are at "war" with millions of Americans...BUT we call this "war" "democracy".

I would argue BTW..that we have effectively now departed the realm of "democracy" and are edging ever so closely to that often over used word spoken in hushed tones...."fascism"...

In some ways 1984 should be massively reread in the US....and fully understood...

Bill C.

Wed, 01/04/2017 - 12:19pm

Outlaw:

What are your thoughts re: the possibly similar "Clash of Civilizations" focus of both the Trump and Putin foreign policies -- as noted in my comment, and links, provided immediately below your latest comments below?

This being the exact matter that has caused Trump to ignore such things as proven Russian hacking in the recent presidential campaign and election?

Outlaw 09

Wed, 01/04/2017 - 12:13pm

Someone inside the Republican Party needs urgently to sit Trump down and explain to him the brutal facts concerning Russian hacking either as a state sponsored hacking attack and or as a Russian mafia criminal hack and the millions of dollars of damages created by both...YEARLY.....
This incoming new US President is actually becoming a serious threat to the security of the US and all UIS citizens even those that did not vote for him which were 3M more during the general election....

How can one single so called intelligent "claiming to be the smartest businessman alive" be so stupid UNLESS one is so compromised by the Russian intelligence services....which it appears more and more likely that he is in fact seriously compromised......

I openly invite Trump on his own dime as he has the money to come to Berlin and sit down with my internet engineers and watch hourly Russian hacks originating strictly out of Russia targeting multiple locations on a daily basis...not to lessen those out of China...Iran.....and surprise surprise Syria these days...

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-cites-assange-claim-about-…

Trump cites Assange claim about Russia hacking

When it comes to claims that Russia hacked Democratic officials during last year's election, Donald Trump is apparently taking the word of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange over that of U.S. intelligence officials.
"Julian Assange said 'a 14 year old could have hacked Podesta' - why was DNC so careless? Also said Russians did not give him the info!" Trump tweeted Wednesday.

Podesta is the Hillary Clinton campaign chairman whose emails were released by WikiLeaks during the campaign, part of an effort that U.S. intelligence officials attributed to the Russians, perhaps in order to help Trump win the election.

Trump, who has questioned the potential involvement of Russia, is scheduled to receive a special intelligence briefing on the hackings on Friday.

In later tweets, Trump questioned why the Democratic National Committee didn't have the the same "hacking defense" as the Republican Party did.
The Assange tweet came the morning after Trump claimed -- without evidence -- that intelligence officials had delayed a briefing on the allegations against Russia.

Tweeted Trump late Tuesday: "The 'Intelligence' briefing on so-called 'Russian hacking' was delayed until Friday, perhaps more time needed to build a case. Very strange!"

Intelligence officials told reporters that the special briefing has always been scheduled for Friday; it is part of a review ordered by President Obama, who has also accused the Russians of seeking to intervene in the 2016 presidential election.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied involvement in the email hackings of Democratic Party and Clinton campaign officials.

In an interview with Fox News, Assange said that the WikiLeaks source was not a "state party." He also said the accusers are seeking to "de-legitimtize" Trump's win, a claim also made by the president-elect and his aides.

U.S. intelligence officials have said WikiLeaks takes information anonymously, and that Russians took advantage of that system.
Meanwhile, U.S. lawmakers in both parties questioned Trump's criticism of the U.S. intelligence community.

"Let me tell you, you take on the intelligence community, they have six ways from Sunday of getting back at you," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. "So even for a practical supposedly hard-nosed businessman, he's being really dumb to do this.”

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., also on MSNBC, said that "I have a lot more faith in our intelligence officers" than in "people like Julian Assange."

IT is the job of the US President to protect ALL Americans and in this case...Trump appears to care more about Putin and the image of Russia THAN he does care about the US....

Even the lowest educated person in the IT world knows WL is Russian tainted and is part and parcel of the Russian info warfare directed straight at the heart of the US....

YET Trump defends Putin and Russia ...WHY is that?????

Compromised...compromised...compromised from his visits to Moscow beginning in 1987...

Outlaw 09

Wed, 01/04/2017 - 12:13pm

Someone inside the Republican Party needs urgently to sit Trump down and explain to him the brutal facts concerning Russian hacking either as a state sponsored hacking attack and or as a Russian mafia criminal hack and the millions of dollars of damages created by both...YEARLY.....
This incoming new US President is actually becoming a serious threat to the security of the US and all UIS citizens even those that did not vote for him which were 3M more during the general election....

How can one single so called intelligent "claiming to be the smartest businessman alive" be so stupid UNLESS one is so compromised by the Russian intelligence services....which it appears more and more likely that he is in fact seriously compromised......

I openly invite Trump on his own dime as he has the money to come to Berlin and sit down with my internet engineers and watch hourly Russian hacks originating strictly out of Russia targeting multiple locations on a daily basis...not to lessen those out of China...Iran.....and surprise surprise Syria these days...

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-cites-assange-claim-about-…

Trump cites Assange claim about Russia hacking

When it comes to claims that Russia hacked Democratic officials during last year's election, Donald Trump is apparently taking the word of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange over that of U.S. intelligence officials.
"Julian Assange said 'a 14 year old could have hacked Podesta' - why was DNC so careless? Also said Russians did not give him the info!" Trump tweeted Wednesday.

Podesta is the Hillary Clinton campaign chairman whose emails were released by WikiLeaks during the campaign, part of an effort that U.S. intelligence officials attributed to the Russians, perhaps in order to help Trump win the election.

Trump, who has questioned the potential involvement of Russia, is scheduled to receive a special intelligence briefing on the hackings on Friday.

In later tweets, Trump questioned why the Democratic National Committee didn't have the the same "hacking defense" as the Republican Party did.
The Assange tweet came the morning after Trump claimed -- without evidence -- that intelligence officials had delayed a briefing on the allegations against Russia.

Tweeted Trump late Tuesday: "The 'Intelligence' briefing on so-called 'Russian hacking' was delayed until Friday, perhaps more time needed to build a case. Very strange!"

Intelligence officials told reporters that the special briefing has always been scheduled for Friday; it is part of a review ordered by President Obama, who has also accused the Russians of seeking to intervene in the 2016 presidential election.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied involvement in the email hackings of Democratic Party and Clinton campaign officials.

In an interview with Fox News, Assange said that the WikiLeaks source was not a "state party." He also said the accusers are seeking to "de-legitimtize" Trump's win, a claim also made by the president-elect and his aides.

U.S. intelligence officials have said WikiLeaks takes information anonymously, and that Russians took advantage of that system.
Meanwhile, U.S. lawmakers in both parties questioned Trump's criticism of the U.S. intelligence community.

"Let me tell you, you take on the intelligence community, they have six ways from Sunday of getting back at you," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. "So even for a practical supposedly hard-nosed businessman, he's being really dumb to do this.”

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., also on MSNBC, said that "I have a lot more faith in our intelligence officers" than in "people like Julian Assange."

IT is the job of the US President to protect ALL Americans and in this case...Trump appears to care more about Putin and the image of Russia THAN he does care about the US....

Even the lowest educated person in the IT world knows WL is Russian tainted and is part and parcel of the Russian info warfare directed straight at the heart of the US....

YET Trump defends Putin and Russia ...WHY is that?????

Compromised...compromised...compromised from his visits to Moscow beginning in 1987...

Bill C.

Wed, 01/04/2017 - 12:13pm

Note the apparent "Clash of Civilizations" direction of a Trump foreign policy. (Which explains such things as why Trump and Putin appear to be looking at the world in the exact same way?)

BEGIN QUOTE

Through his public statements and presidential appointments, Donald Trump is remaking Republican foreign policy in two fundamental ways. The first concerns Russia. Previous GOP leaders like Mitt Romney and John McCain described Moscow as an adversary. Trump describes it as a partner. The second concerns Islam. Previous GOP leaders—most notably George W. Bush—insisted that the U.S. had no beef with Islam, or with the vast majority of Muslims worldwide. Trump and his top advisors disagree. They often describe Islam itself as a hostile force, and view ordinary Muslims as guilty of jihadist sympathies until proven innocent.

On the surface, these two shifts seem unrelated. But they’re deeply intertwined. Before Trump, Republican leaders generally described the United States as fighting an ideological struggle against the enemies of freedom. Now, Trump and his advisors describe America as fighting a civilizational struggle against the enemies of the West. Seen through that very different lens, Muslims look more nefarious and Vladimir Putin looks more benign.

END QUOTE

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/12/the-conservative-s…

Here are some other articles addressing this -- apparently similar -- Trumpian/Putin "Clash of Civilizations" foreign policy view:

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/11/donald-trump-team-islam-…

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/12/24/tancredo-the-clash-o…

Outlaw 09

Wed, 01/04/2017 - 5:00am

Attempting to conduct strategic FP via Twitter will get you in trouble every single time....the incoming so called "I am smarter than everyone else should at least know that much".....

How can he make strategic administration decisions public in 140 characters?...it is great for his supporters but not tolerated by the rest of the world Trump has to deal with....

China Warns Donald Trump Not to ‘Escalate’ North Korea Situation With Erratic Tweets

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/china-warns-donald-trump-not-to-%e2…

China has hit back at Donald Trump’s claim that Beijing isn’t doing enough to rein in rogue state North Korea, cautioning the U.S. President-elect not to “escalate” an already tense situation on the Korean Peninsula through his liberal use of social media.

On Monday evening, Trump took to Twitter to deny North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s claim that his nation was in the “final stage” of developing a nuclear-armed ballistic missile capable of hitting the U.S. mainland. Trump then followed up with another tweet to say China wasn’t doing enough to temper the young despot’s belligerence.

“China has been taking out massive amounts of money & wealth from the U.S. in totally one-sided trade, but won’t help with North Korea. Nice!” read the tweet.

In response, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a press briefing on Tuesday that his government’s efforts were “widely recognized,” and that “we hope all sides will avoid remarks and actions to escalate the situation.”

The Korean Peninsula is the latest source of friction between the incoming Trump Administration and China to be aired via the President-elect’s Twitter account.

Last month, Trump revealed he accepted a congratulatory phone call from Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen in a breach of almost four decades of diplomatic protocol. Beijing still claims sovereignty over the self-governing island despite its effective split from the mainland in 1949 following China’s civil war.

Trump has also frequently used Twitter to accuse China of underhand trade practices like currency manipulation that he claims have forced American jobs oversees. The real estate mogul has nominated at least two hard-line China trade critics — Robert Lighthizer and Peter Navarro — to top posts in his Administration.

Regarding North Korea, Trump has a point: China is Pyongyang’s only friendly nation of note and accounts for 90% of its trade. The continued existence of North Korea is of strategic advantage to Beijing if the alternative is a unified Korean Peninsula administered by Seoul that is a staunch U.S. ally.

Outlaw 09

Wed, 01/04/2017 - 5:31am

In reply to by Outlaw 09

This meeting that Trump claims the IC passed on today......was always planned for Friday say agency sources increasingly upset by Trump tweets.

IMHO...I know of no major western nation state that has ever been run and managed as well as having a FP built and driven by Twitter and FaceBook????

Again just how could Trump get this meeting date so wrong?????

Outlaw 09

Wed, 01/04/2017 - 4:55am

Trump Says Intelligence Officials Delayed Briefing on Russian Hacking
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-says-intelligence-official…

BUT WAIT ...there was no meeting scheduled for today as top intel types were personally traveling to Trump on Friday.....SO who lied again to Trump about the Tuesday meeting????????

THIs appears to be just another deflection attempt to deflect from his Tweets that he was going to "reveal things not known to others".....

THIS bodes super well for his coming FP decisions....if he cannot even talk to and or arrange a simple intel briefing....

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald J. Trump said Tuesday that intelligence officials had delayed briefing him on their conclusion that Russia interfered in the 2016 election and suggested, with no evidence, that they might be buying time to assemble a more substantial case.

A spokesman for the director of national intelligence declined to comment on Mr. Trump’s claim. Senior administration officials disputed it, saying that no meeting had been scheduled for Tuesday.

Mr. Trump’s Twitter post, on a day when he had said he might reveal “things that other people don’t know” about the hacking, underscored his skepticism about the intelligence agencies’ conclusion that the Russian government used cyberattacks to tip the election in his favor.

He posted it as senior national security officials — including the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, and the director of national intelligence, James R. Clapper Jr. — were finalizing plans to travel to New York on Friday to brief him about their findings.

It was not clear whether a meeting to discuss the hacking had been scheduled for Tuesday or, if so, why it did not occur. But Mr. Trump’s insinuation was that intelligence officials were intentionally withholding information from him. For weeks, he has dismissed their findings and strongly criticized the intelligence agencies, saying they cannot be trusted because they were convinced, incorrectly, that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq before the United States’ 2003 invasion.

The decision by Mr. Comey and Mr. Clapper to brief Mr. Trump in person appears to be an effort to show him how seriously they take their conclusions that the Russian government was behind the hacking of Democratic officials before the election.

Last month, President Obama ordered the intelligence agencies and national security officials to provide him with a full report on Russia’s meddling. The White House has not said when the report will be completed, but Sean Spicer, a spokesman for Mr. Trump, told reporters on Tuesday that Mr.
Trump had requested the same briefing Mr. Obama receives once the report is done. Mr. Spicer said he expected that to happen this week.

In an interview that aired Tuesday on “PBS NewsHour,” the C.I.A. director, John O. Brennan, defended the intelligence agencies. “I would suggest to individuals who have not yet seen the report, who have not yet been briefed on it, that they wait and see what it is that the intelligence community is putting forward before they make those judgments,” Mr. Brennan said.

Despite Mr. Trump’s skepticism, Republican leaders on Capitol Hill, including Senator John McCain of Arizona, have embraced the intelligence agencies’ conclusions and praised Mr. Obama’s decision last week to impose sanctions on the Russian government. Mr. McCain, who is the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has scheduled a hearing for Thursday at which Mr. Clapper; the head of the National Security Agency, Adm. Michael S. Rogers; and others are expected to testify about the hacking.
Mr. Trump had asked for an array of senior intelligence officials — including Mr. Comey, Mr. Clapper, Admiral Rogers and Mr. Brennan — to brief him in the same room so he could question them about their findings and ascertain whether they agreed with one another’s assessments, according to a transition official.

It is not clear whether Admiral Rogers and Mr. Brennan will attend the briefing at Trump Tower on Friday.

On Tuesday, Mr. Trump, like Mr. Obama, received the president’s daily briefing, a summary of high-level intelligence and analysis about global hot spots and national security threats written by the office of the director of national intelligence. It is unclear whether Mr. Trump is receiving the presidential briefing every day, but he is getting a general national security briefing daily from Michael T. Flynn, who will be his national security adviser.

At his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Fla., on Saturday, Mr. Trump said he would disclose information on Tuesday or Wednesday “that other people don’t know” about the hacking.

In another Twitter post on Tuesday evening, Mr. Trump said he would hold a news conference next Wednesday in New York, which would be his first since July.

Last month, he abruptly canceled a news conference where he had been expected to explain how he planned to avoid conflicts of interest from his global business dealings.

Next week, Mr. Trump is certain to face questions about his position on Russia’s role in the cyberattacks, as well as his faith in the intelligence agencies.

Outlaw 09

Wed, 01/04/2017 - 1:04am

It is amazing just how many on the conservative side fully and truly underestimate both Putin and his intelligence services....forgetting along the way that he was a KGB LTC tasked with recruiting Germans to spy on US Special Forces based in southern Germany......then after the Wall fall he heads to St. Petersburg links into the Russian Mafia and then off in his current political career.....the Russian intelligence services have always linked into the Russian mafia.....but how many in the conservative/Trump circles really knows about this????

Hannity: No one's been killed bc of Wikileaks

Former US Amb to Russia: My friend was killed bc WL outed him as supporter of Putin's rival

WHAT Hannity seems to forget just as does Trump....there is a simple Russian saying..."once a duck always a duck"

Outlaw 09

Tue, 01/03/2017 - 12:54pm

Is Trump’s Tariff Plan Constitutional?

He wants to use an executive order, but only the House has the power to create duties on imports.

Outlaw 09

Tue, 01/03/2017 - 12:51pm

A North Korean nuclear threat, a Trump Twitter ‘warning’ and a propaganda gift for China

Kim Jong Un kicked things off in the new year by saying his country was close to test-launching an intercontinental ballistic missile, which, if successful, could ultimately put a nuclear warhead within range of the United States.

Donald Trump, who had once suggested inviting Kim over for a hamburger to persuade him to give up his nuclear weapons program, took to his usual medium to respond...twitter....naturally.

Outlaw 09

Tue, 01/03/2017 - 12:23pm

CNN CIA Analyst Shreds Trump Spox’s Russia Comments: ‘What the Hell Is That Dude Talking About?’
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/cnn-cia-analyst-shreds-trump-spoxs-russia-co… …

Former CIA official and CNN counterterrorism analyst Phil Mudd was blunt in his criticism of Donald Trump incoming press secretary Sean Spicer, calling his denial of Russian hacking during the 2016 presidential election completely incomprehensible.

New Day host Chris Cuomo asked Mudd about Spicer’s comments the previous day, in which he called CNN host Alisyn Camerota “unbelievable” and illogical for suggesting the Trump transition team should be drawing conclusions about whether Russia hacked the DNC during the election without seeing the evidence first.

Mudd was not impressed. “What the hell is that dude talking about?” he asked. “I don’t understand this. His boss has come out and already drawn conclusions and said, ‘I don’t believe them.'”

“Meanwhile, on the other side, Republicans and Democrats in Congress and the intelligence community have come out and said with high confidence say that the Russians hacked information related to the elections. I agree with the judgment,” he said.

Mudd did say he agreed that “it’s not clear” that the Russians intended to sway the election. “But to say either from the Trump camp or from the government camp that we don’t know what happened and we’re going to wait for the report, do we ignore history here? I don’t get it, this is ridiculous.”

Outlaw 09

Tue, 01/03/2017 - 12:18pm

This needs to be urgently followed....not just idle comments.......QUESTION......why did this not come out during the election campaign?????

The intelligence community is going to leak like sieve in the coming months.

Trump wanted this war and he is going to get it...in the last 70 odd years those Presidents who decided to attack the IC seemed to end up always losing in the end.....

IC is politically diverse, CI types tend 2B #GOP when not just cynical bastards. They're anti-Trump for professional not political reasons.

IC knows some very unsavory things about Trump + RIS. I've seen some of it, heard more from trusted people. Expect very damaging leaks soon.

RIS...Russian Intelligence Service....means SVR and GRU..outside Russia and FSB inside Russia....

Outlaw 09

Tue, 01/03/2017 - 11:46am

Exclusive: Trump team seeks agency records on border barriers, surveillance

WHY surveillance records????

The current transition team does not have the authority to request thin until 20 Jan.....why now????