Donald Trump vs. the National Security Establishment

Donald Trump vs. the National Security Establishment

By Ray Starmann

The GOP Establishment will do anything, including openly supporting Hillary Clinton, to ensure that Mr. Trump is defeated in November. Today, an open letter signed by fifty national security officials who served in Republican administrations from Nixon to Bush 43, was released by media outlets. The letter, minus the fifty signature blocks is printed below in italics. My comments are in regular print.
STATEMENT BY FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY OFFICIALS
The undersigned individuals have all served in senior national security and/or foreign policy positions in Republican Administrations, from Richard Nixon to George W. Bush. We have worked directly on national security issues with these Republican Presidents and/or their principal advisers during wartime and other periods of crisis, through successes and failures. We know the personal qualities required of a President of the United States.
Many of the undersigned worked in the George W. Bush administration and were influential in policy-making decisions that led to the disastrous US invasion of Iraq in 2003, a military operation predicated on lies, a war that played upon the fears of the American people after 9/11.
None of us will vote for Donald Trump.
Delightful, then you will be casting your vote for Mrs. Clinton, an incompetent, delusional liar with apparent and serious health issues; Gary Johnson, a libertarian whose only goals are to be a lifelong marijuana clinic client; Jill Stein, a left winger running on the Green Party ticket and some nameless guy from Utah who worked for the CIA.
From a foreign policy perspective, Donald Trump is not qualified to be President and Commander-in-Chief.
But, Mrs. Clinton surely is. Please list any accomplishments of Mrs. Clinton’s during her tenure in the Senate and as Secretary of State.  I will put on some Jeopardy music and give you a couple years to come up with something.
Indeed, we are convinced that he would be a dangerous President and would put at risk our country’s national security and well-being. Most fundamentally, Mr. Trump lacks the character, values, and experience to be President.
Undoubtedly, Mrs. Clinton has the character, values and experience to be President. Frankly, Mrs. Clinton has the character of an alley cat, the values of Ma Barker and experience laced with a trail of incompetence, deceit and criminality as the First Lady, as a US Senator from New York and as Secretary of State.
He weakens U.S. moral authority as the leader of the free world.
Yet, Mrs. Clinton strengthens US moral authority by the list of felonies and misdemeanors she committed as Secretary of State.
He appears to lack basic knowledge about and belief in the U.S. Constitution, U.S. laws, and U.S. institutions, including religious tolerance, freedom of the press, and an independent judiciary.
Mr. Trump does not wish to temporarily ban every Muslim from entering this country, only those from nations currently supporting terrorism. I find it ironic that so called national security experts are willing to jeopardize US internal security by allowing an open door immigration policy.
In addition, Mr. Trump has demonstrated repeatedly that he has little understanding of America’s vital national interests, its complex diplomatic challenges, its indispensable alliances, and the democratic values on which U.S. foreign policy must be based. At the same time, he persistently compliments our adversaries and threatens our allies and friends.
Mr. Trump clearly understands America’s vital national interests, the most vital being the security of this nation over all issues. Mr. Trump, unlike Barack Obama, is clearly aware that the first constitutional duty of the President is to protect this nation from all enemies, foreign and domestic. While Mr. Putin clearly seeks a rebirth of Russian military prowess in Eastern Europe, is it not possible to converse with the man? A new Cold War, sought by so many of the signatories of this abomination, makes no sense and only benefits one group, the military-industrial complex and its servants in the US national security establishment.
Unlike previous Presidents who had limited experience in foreign affairs, Mr. Trump has shown no interest in educating himself.
This is an interesting statement. Are these so called national security officials living and travelling with Mr. Trump? Do they have an itemized inventory of his library at home or his digital collection on his Kindle? What books has Mrs. Clinton read lately to educate herself – Saul Alinsky’s Guide to Destroying America through Political Revolution? Das Kapital?
He continues to display an alarming ignorance of basic facts of contemporary international politics. Despite his lack of knowledge, Mr. Trump claims that he understands foreign affairs and “knows more about ISIS than the generals do.”
Whether Mr. Trump knows more about ISIS than the generals is unknown. What is known is that Mr. Trump has more intestinal fortitude than the current crop of JCS moral cowards and sycophants.
Mr. Trump lacks the temperament to be President. In our experience, a President must be willing to listen to his advisers and department heads; must encourage consideration of conflicting views; and must acknowledge errors and learn from them. A President must be disciplined, control emotions, and act only after reflection and careful deliberation.
Apparently, the national security GOP cronies who wrote this letter have never read the myriad of accounts about Hillary’s erratic temper and her fits of violence. Nor, have they apparently read about Hillary’s foul mouth and complete disrespect for the US military and the US Secret Service.
A President must maintain cordial relationships with leaders of countries of different backgrounds and must have their respect and trust. In our judgment, Mr. Trump has none of these critical qualities. He is unable or unwilling to separate truth from falsehood. He does not encourage conflicting views. He lacks self-control and acts impetuously. He cannot tolerate personal criticism.
Mrs. Clinton is a compulsive, delusional liar whose disregard for the truth is only exceeded by her complete abhorrence of US national security protocol.
He has alarmed our closest allies with his erratic behavior. All of these are dangerous qualities in an individual who aspires to be President and Commander in-Chief, with command of the U.S. nuclear arsenal.
Hillary Clinton’s erratic behavior as Secretary of State has endangered us all. Her use of a personal server to store and send classified information at the Top Secret/SCI/SAP level has most certainly allowed hostile foreign governments to obtain US intelligence information, causing grave damage to US national security. Her erratic behavior has possibly led to the execution of a US intelligence asset and Iranian scientist, Shahram Amiri, yesterday. Hillary Clinton cares about one thing, the greater good of Hillary and nothing and no one else.
We understand that many Americans are profoundly frustrated with the federal government and its inability to solve pressing domestic and international problems. We also know that many have doubts about Hillary Clinton, as do many of us. But Donald Trump is not the answer to America’s daunting challenges and to this crucial election. We are convinced that in the Oval Office, he would be the most reckless President in American history.
The fifty signatories claim that they have doubts about Mrs. Clinton, yet their whole letter is designed to discredit Trump, and sway voters over to her. The national security officials claim that Trump is reckless, yet he has done nothing reckless in his career to validate that statement. He is a self-made billionaire who does not represent the broken, corrupt, vile Establishment that is fleecing the average American and which is responsible for endless, unwinnable wars.
The Establishment could care less about the average American. They care about one thing and one thing only, the financial gravy train that delivers on schedule to their bank accounts in the Caymans and Switzerland.
http://usdefensewatch.com/2016/08/donald-trump-vs-the-national-security-establishment/