WORLD WAR 3 - Pacific

China encircles South China Sea

Click here for related story [Asia Maritime Reviews]

In an upcoming book [October 2017], award winning journalist Mike Faby -- 

"... with unprecedented access to the highest naval officers in America and 

China and their ships and weapons, ... presents a chilling look at the

 'warm war' over control of the South China Sea -- one that is threatening 

to flare into full scale conflict".

"The Chinese regard the Pacific, and especially the South China Sea, 

as their ocean, and they’re ready to defend it. Each day the heat 

between the two countries increases as the Chinese try to claim 

the South China Sea for their own, and the United States insists 

on asserting freedom of navigation. Throughout Southern Asia, 

countries such as Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, 

and South Korea respond with outrage and growing fear as China

 turns coral reefs into manmade islands capable of supporting airstrips

 and then attempts to enforce twelve-mile-radius, shoot-down zones. 

The immediate danger is that the five trillion dollars in international 

trade that passes through the area will grind to a standstill. 

"The ultimate danger is that the US and China will be drawn into all-out war."  

We've been following this WW3 scenario for for a number of years as China flexes its muscles in the Pacific.  It's not a new enterprise, nor is it a sea-based alone threat.  

China's design is to control the entire Pacific region, and the strategy is called "Wei Chi" [AKA: GO in Japan], developed more than 2,500 years ago. Although simple on the surface, Wei Chi is actually more complex than Chess, and has been successfully used by military leaders in China -- and Japan, for centuries.

Chinese strategy game of encirclement: Wei Chi

The basis of the game is encirclement of the opponent/enemy, in successively greater steps. Encirclement comes in stages of small maneuvers, each becoming part of a larger maneuver  in which the smaller encirclements are part of a greater encirclement until the opponent/enemy pieces/property are completely encircled on the playing board.  The victor has encircled the entire property of his opponent.

For Western powers, there are indicators of this strategy now, but in fact, it's been going on for nearly 50 years in the near term, but in reality, the strategy is centuries old.  The West has little concept of the Chinese strategy which has no definable time limit, and is generational rather than measurable.  

The end game of the Chinese is to dominate and control the entire Pacific, and not simply the South China Sea which the West presumes is the sole goal of China.  China has dominated small areas separately, but, standing back from the map, we see it is encircling many small areas which are encompassed by the very wide area known as the Pacific.

But, let's start at a visible beginning point, i.e., the Vietnam War.

China's involvement was initially limited to providing weapons and political philosophy to North Vietnam, whose leadership despised and distrusted the Chinese, but accepted their military largesse, along with arms and material and advisors also provided by the USSR.  

In the end, however, the Soviets withdrew when it was evident the North Vietnamese had lost the war and lacked the manpower to continue fighting.  China, however, recognized their regional opportunity and, still supplying North Vietnam with equipment, coveted all of Southeast Asia and sent their operatives into Laos, Thailand, and Burma to subvert these countries through insurgencies, and conversion to Communism.

It made no difference that the North Vietnamese had been defeated in Laos, and they had no foothold in Thailand, but they did have a tenuous grasp in Burma, but, the foothold was there.  

Henry, you are my tool!

What no one, including the Chinese, expected, was the surprise move by Henry Kissinger who met with the Chinese leadership in 1971 and, in exchange [so he thought) for Chinese trade opportunities with the US, Kissinger stated, and wrote in a 1972 letter to Chou en Lai that "... the United States has no further interest in Southeast Asia and will take no action should China wish to expand its influence in the region."      

Notably, Kissinger did not disclose this commitment to President Nixon, or to the State Department, or to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the US continued to fight the Vietnam war until 1975, with thousands losing their lives. 


At the close of the war, Kissinger, as Nixon's proxy, and again without Nixon's knowledge, directed -- "by order of the President" -- that all US regional intelligence operations were to be terminated immediately, shutting down espionage networks that had been in place since World War 2.  He subsequently extended that directive world wide, gutting the capacity of the CIA and the Intelligence Community and using the Church Committee hearings as his excuse.  So, our eyes and ears on the potential adversaries were sealed shut, neutering our safeguards.  Supposedly, NSA could take up the slack.

The purpose of Watergate, engineered by former Director of Central Intelligence Vernon Walters, was to dislodge Kissinger since Nixon had consummate faith in his most trusted advisor.  Unfortunately, we note that Kissinger, like a spotted tick, remains in the mix and has even met with President Trump - whom we hope did so solely out of courtesy.

Southeast Asia

And it was thus that all of Southeast Asia nearly fell to the Chinese.

The Chinese had engineered the fall and conversion to Communism of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, compliments of Kissinger, and they had structured the insurgency in Thailand, running a secret supply line [Binh Tram] through Vietnam and Laos to Northeast Thailand, setting up the Communist insurgent headquarters in Cambodia in the tri-border area.  The insurgency had been penetrated, however, to include sending double agents to the Chinese insurgent training centers, compromising their cadres and strategy, and disclosing their regional headquarters and strategies.

As luck would have it, a flight of F-4 Phantom attack planes was returning to its base in Northeast Thailand in 1974 and jettisoned their extra ordinance over what was thought to be an uninhabited area which was actually the insurgent headquarters and supply depot.  


The result was a series of over 325 secondary explosions and a body count of roughly 300 insurgents.  The impact was the near complete destruction of weapons, ammunition, training centers, communications, etc., of the Chinese backed Thai insurgency, a blow from which the Chinese almost did not recover, and crippled the insurgency.

The operative word is "almost", since the Chinese shifted from military/insurgent force to political persuasion as they targeted Thailand's political system, and nearly succeeded.  But, that battle continues today.  However, in the meantime, the Chinese backed insurgency in northern Burma also collapsed under pressure from the Burmese military -- again, through penetration of the insurgency by US Intelligence operatives.

But, as in all exciting assessments, the preceding history lays the groundwork for the current scenario, in which China carefully takes possession of more territory one piece at a time.

We won't go into all the specifics, but rather provide the strategy.

As you can see by the map, the current playing board is the South China Sea, which extends to the West beyond Vietnam's Eastern border, South to Indonesia, and East just beyond the Philippines -- and area of strategic interest to the US.

Within that area, China has been building little islands on coral bases and claims these manufactured islands are their territory -- enforced by building aircraft runways and military facilities on them.  Although our Military has viewed these outcroppings with some alarm, the Pentagon and Intelligence Community hierarchy under Obama seemingly ignored these territorial reaches, and, like Neville Chamberlain in 1938  who advocated appeasing Germany would sate the Nazis, the US leadership presumed the Chinese would not become a threat; at worst, it would be a "warm war".

Well, the Brits and Europe saw how well Neville's approach worked out.

But, the US approach, to the consternation of US allies in the region, has been appeasement to the Chinese.  

"Oh gosh, they're tiny little islands!  What possible danger can that be.  
The Chinese are merely wishing to extend their influence."

Notably, the CIA map above, which we used to open this discussion, focuses solely on the South China Sea and ignores the rest of the Pacific region.  Specifically, the map ignores the Communism of Vietnam and Laos and the semi-Communism of Cambodia.  There remains a Communist insurgency in Malaysia [albeit sub-rosa], and then there's the tilt towards Communism in the Philippines.

Meanwhile, we are witnessing the increased saber rattling of North Korea, threatening a nuclear attack on Japan.

In Indonesia and Singapore, there have been a number of port "visits" by the Chinese Navy which have merely dominated the ports with military vessels in a very visible show of force, though not a shot was fired.  There was no need since the Chinese Armada was of sufficient size and strength to intimidate even the most stalwart of local military forces.  The psychological impact was overwhelming, and the local governments recognized all this as a veiled, but very effective threat.

In the meantime, the US Navy has steadily been degraded in armament and size, while our best commanding officers were relieved of their commands during, and in the wake of Benghazi.  Our Defense contractors have created and deployed worthless sea-going vessels, which at best can be regarded as floating targets, but the Defense Contractors have made great profits, and political admirals look forward to this eternal revolving door with the private sector profiteering.  Worse, the Chinese have penetrated their production levels and stolen the sensitive design data for weapons such as the F-35 -- supposedly our most advanced [and expensive] fighter aircraft.

The US presence in the Pacific [and world-wide] has been downgraded, to include our carrier Strike Groups.  These depredations began with the attack on Benghazi, during and after which our fleets were rerouted and essentially downgraded to paper status while command officers were cashiered.  Mr Obama essentially gutted our Navy and made it into a paper tiger [with homage to Chinese lore].

Open Source Data provided by StratFor

Our allies in the Pacific have been convinced over the last eight years that they are at the mercy of the Chinese and have essentially acquiesced to the dominance of  the Chinese.  So, as an interim status, the US accepted the dominance of the Chinese, and the encirclement of the region.

Our Army forces in the Pacific are now being retrained and equipped for Jungle Warfare.  Oddly, it is as if there were no Military troops skilled in such matters, and so it's necessary for research and development of boots, uniforms, and equipment to operate in a jungle environment.  Apparently, the Army is unaware that we fought a 15 year war in Southeast Asia, and that there are quite a few Vietnam Vets who would be perfectly willing to train and equip our young troops for jungle operations similar to those conducted in Vietnam.

We were concerned that Mr Obama had linkage to the Russians or Chinese as it became evident that he was subverting the US Military to a Communist structure, perhaps to accommodate a transition to Communism.  Specifically, we noted that the Deputy Commander of Unified Commands had been converted to a civilian in some cases who served more as a [Communist] Political Officer to ensure adherence to political doctrine rather than as a subordinate.  In several cases during Benghazi, we noted such Political Officers relieved their Military commanders on orders from the White House.  Investigating further, we found that in some cases that the J2 in these commands was a civilian with no Military or Intelligence training, but appeared to be a secondary Political Officer.  Our current Military is unfamiliar with the Communist Military political structure, so such revelations lie in the hands of retired Cold Warriors.

Now, we throw in an extra factor to this odd equation.

Under the Obama Administration, we presumed there was linkage to China, complete with the trade deals, and movement of massive amounts of US currency to China via the Fed [$15 Trillion in 2009] which was unaccounted for, but tracked nonetheless.  Almost overnight, the Gross National Product of China skyrocketed, and suddenly, China was an economic force to be reckoned with.

And, by all reasoning in the economic world, it was not easily explained [well, other than the NY Fed transferring $15 Trillion to the PRC].  Suddenly, China had the cash to buy controlling interest in many US companies, to include IT and Defense -- which then depended on Chinese components for US Defense contracts. Think in terms of guidance and communications systems -- now controlled by the Chinese.

But, there's more to the story.

Why would the NY Fed move that amount of money out of the Fed to the Chinese.

Turbo-Tax Timmy Geithner

Well, it seems that Turbo-Tax Timmy Geithner was a classmate of Obama when they both attended school in Indonesia, when Barack was still Barry, and Timmy's dad was running the Ford Foundation - Asia, which employed Obama's mom, who lived with Barry in a four-star hotel and he was chauffeured every morning to school.  And, they were pals.

Tim Geithner then became allies in the development of the TPP [Trans-Pacific Partnership] which supposedly would "create jobs" due to the lowering of tariffs.  Unfortunately, most US manufacturing jobs had been forced out of the US due to high taxes and massive government regulation, so there was no job creation to be had. In effect, China had consumed the American economy, emplacing still another piece of "territory" in its encirclement strategy.

Once again, as a reminder, we are using the Wei Chi strategy of encirclement -- but the encirclement includes subversion from within.

As we move forward, we return again to the strategic piece of the puzzle which is Tim Geithner, the supposed buffoon whom we all ridiculed for his incompetence.

In reality, Timmy is a pretty smart guy; his mother was a Mayflower descendant with ties to the Rockefellers and George W Romney.  He grew up in China, spoke several Chinese dialects [e.g., Mandarin] and Japanese.  Geithner is also is tied to Kissinger [imagine that] and served as a Treasury attache' to Japan.

But, US Presidents also have ties to China, including George H.W. Bush, who was the  Chief of the US Liaison Office to the PRC from 1974 to 1975.  The Clintons and Carters also had close ties to China, of which we heard little in the Press.  We have to wonder just how many deals were cut over the years between the US and China of which we were unaware.

But, getting back to Geithner, we learn that the company he formed has been actively engaged with China in developing deals for Obama while he was President, and on today as they cut deals about which we have no clue.

But, there are facts that are hard to deny.
Timmy has memberships in, among other questionable groups, the Bilderberg Group, which is tied to the ford foundation, which was known for its leadership in the New World Order, which advocates a One-World Government, which would have the world ruled by a small collection of elites.

Geithner's last employment of record was as President of the Warburg Pincus group of New York, with offices in Beijing, Hong Kong, and Shanghai, plus offices in Europe and Brazil.  We wonder about Geithner's dealings with China, and continue to wonder what became of that $15 Trillion he transferred from the US while he was President of the NY Fed.

So, here we are, back to the starting point.

Will we go to war with China, and is China on the verge of taking control of the Pacific.

Well, under Obama, it was a given that the US would withdraw its presence from the Pacific and allow China to control the region without firing a single round.  The Wei Chi strategy had worked quite well, and the Chinese were virtually in control.  The key word there was "virtually", since it was mostly smoke and mirrors, and the US had essentially abandoned a presence in the Pacific.  

Pacific Fleet strength

But, the fact now is that Trump has pulled the US out of the TPP and assured the US Navy that he will fund the acquisition of new warships to patrol the Pacific and reenergize the US participation in the Pacific alliances such as the now defunct SEATO [Southeast Asia Treaty Organization] which was instrumental in containing China and ANZUS [Australia, New Zealand, US] which partners three strong countries to serve as a barrier to Chinese regional expansionism. 

Will there be a confrontation between China and US with its allies, to include Japan?

It depends.  

Trump is an unknown "wild card" in this game changing scenario. We estimate that the game of Wei Chi has gone on hold for the time being as they presume Trump will rebuild the US Navy into a formidable Pacific Military force with efficient ship-building programs that meet wartime Blue Water needs versus the nonsense vehicles like the Littoral Combat Ships which were poorly manufactured, slow, and became essentially sitting targets. 

25th Division troops

The US Army has begun training for fighting in the Asian environment, particularly in jungle warfare, perhaps anticipating a Chinese incursion into the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, or even into Thailand.

But, the Chinese are patient strategists. In the West, we think in warfare terms of days, weeks, or months.  The Chinese, on the other hand, think in terms of years or generations to achieve their objectives.





World War Three may have begun 60 years ago, and may go on for another 50 to 100 years; or, they may lose their tempers as they did with the MacArthur threat to China during the Korean War and actually unleash their fury, drawing us into a full-fledged "hot" war. 

Commander in Chief

Can we beat them?
Well, according to Mr Faby, we are in a "warm war" with China.  It may get hot, but we suspect that with Trump's strengthening of the US Military, China will think long and hard about heating up the warm war.

Probably, but will we have the leadership and the will to keep them peaceful?

We won't know that except through the leadership we elect and put into office.

Stay tuned; we'll keep you up to date.

West Slams Kaepernick

West chastises Kaepernick

This is another in our series of Guest Posts 

which we publish based on the 

significance and clarity of content

This open letter from Allen West to Colin Kaepernick references Kaepernick's refusal to stand for the US National Anthem played at the football game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Green Bay Packers.  In partial defense of Mr Kaepernick, we recall the stage was set by Michelle Obama in 2011 when she commented to Barack at a flag ceremony: 

"All this for a damn flag?"

--------

If there’s one thing I live for, it’s football season, especially college. 

Saturday night I was enjoying a fantastic game between Charleston Southern University and North Dakota State University. The game went into overtime and ended with the Bison of NDSU winning 24-17.  However, as I watched this thrilling game, it was an item on the ESPN news ticker that disturbed me — to which I see a need to respond to this “teachable moment.”

As we reported yesterday, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick refused to stand for the National Anthem in Friday’s pre-season game against Green Bay because he was protesting “black oppression” in the United States. The Niners went on to lose.

The NFL issued a statement that said players are encouraged but not required to stand for the national anthem. 

Hmm, this is the same NFL that refused to allow the Dallas Cowboys to wear a helmet decal in honor of the fallen Dallas Police officers gunned down on Thursday, 7 July 2016.

This is the same NFL that said nothing when players from the St. Louis Cardinals displayed the false narrative symbol of “hands up, don't shoot” — which we know didn’t happen. 

I find it rather interesting that the NFL has no issue disrespecting law enforcement officers but only “encourages” players to respect the symbol of our nation, the American flag, and our anthem, the Star Spangled Banner.

However, I would recommend a simple scripture from the wise King Solomon for Mr Kaepernick, Proverbs 17:28 (NIV): 

“Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent, and discerning if they hold their tongues.”

Or, as the old folks down South would say, 

“...best for a stupid person to keep their mouth shut and not open it and let everyone know they are.”

Mr Kaepernick, a biracial young man adopted and raised by white parents, claims America is oppressing blacks at a time when we have a Black, biracial president who was twice elected. 

We’ve had two black US Attorneys General and currently have a Black Secretary of Homeland Security, along with a Black national security advisor. 

Here in Dallas our police chief, whom I know, is an outstanding Black leader. The officer in Milwaukee who shot the armed assailant after issuing an order to drop his weapon was Black. 

Is Mr. Kaepernick following suit and cherry-picking what he terms “oppression?”

Oppressed Kaepernick's House

First of all, let me clarify to you sir, you are a multi-millionaire “one-percenter” just because you can throw a ball and kiss your biceps. 

Men like Jesse Owens, Jackie Robinson, Hank Aaron, Oscar Robertson, Ernie Davis, and Bernard King and Condredge Halloway of my alma mater were athletes who knew of oppression. 

You, sir, may certainly have the right to sit upon your “fourth point of contact” when the National Anthem is played but never forget, you live in a nation that has provided you the privilege to have that right.

My story is one I wish to share. 

My dad was a corporal in the U.S. Army and served during World War II. He was born in 1920 and knew oppression. Yet, when he sat me down on the steps of our home, 651 Kennesaw Ave NE in Atlanta, he shared with me that there was no greater honor or privilege, than to wear the uniform of these United States. Perhaps that is why his first and middle sons, along with his grandson, are all US combat veterans, just like Dad. 

Herman West Sr. was not a victim, and he raised men who would never allow anyone to suppress or oppress them. Perhaps you should stop trying to make victims and admonish people, black people, to be victors — try it, and you may find that more satisfying than your insidious action and word vomiting.

If you want to know about oppression of blacks in America, past and present, I suggest you ask UD Representative Nancy Pelosi of the San Francisco Bay Area about the policies that decimated the black family? 

Maybe you can cross the Bay over to Oakland and ask US Representative Barbara Lee about the 13 to 15 million black babies killed since 1973, and ask her who is Margaret Sanger?

Or perhaps you can ask the two California senators, Boxer and Feinstein, about who doesn’t support better education opportunities for black children in the inner cities — school choice, vouchers, charter schools, home schooling.

Perhaps you didn’t know Barack Obama was the one who cancelled the DC School Voucher Program for deserving young Black children — talk about oppression. Is that something you’re willing to do, or is it just too difficult?

You should look at who’s been controlling the communities and cities where Blacks live. This isn’t not about what America has done; it’s about what a certain group, a political party has done. 

And your somewhat backhanded comment towards our law enforcement officers — well, I wonder how many times San Francisco PD has protected you?

Here is the deal young man. 

My recommendation is that you apologize. Be a stand up fella and admit you made a very stupid comment. Humbly state that you do realize how very special this country is and the opportunities it has afforded you — and many others. 

You should take that stand and apologize to all of those who are currently serving in our Armed Forces and those veterans who’ve been willing to make that last full measure of devotion. 

You see, when the National Anthem is played, it has a very special meaning to us — maybe you should take a hiatus and go over to Helmand Province in Afghanistan and spend a week and understand why. Go over and throw a football with the men and women who enable you to earn those millions of dollars.

The American Flag has a very touching meaning for those of us for whom it will drape our coffin — as it was for my Dad…and it will be for me. 

That song defines who we are as a proud and exceptional people. This is a land where so many dream of coming to and earning the title of American. Your actions were shameful, disgusting, despicable and disrespectful.

You do have a right and a freedom of expression. But know, there are consequences to your ignorant action, which is what it was.

When the National Anthem is played, I salute because I am a Black man, born and raised in the inner city afforded the opportunity for greatness in my own right. 

May you seek God’s forgiveness and find humility, because we, the people are not going to forget what you did and said.

signed

Allen B West

Lieutenant Colonel [Ret]

US Army

Editorial Note:

West's Military decorations include

Bronze Star

Meritorious Service Medal [3]

Army Commendation Medal [3+Valor]

Army Achievement Medal [2]

Valorous Unit Award

Air Assault Badge

Master Parachutist Badge

West was a US Congressman in Florida 2011 - 2013]; he was defeated when Democrats changed the districts; notably, the margin by which he was defeated came from St Lucie County in which 799 votes went missing, while thousands of Military Absentee Ballots were not counted.  The Florida Attorney General chose not to indict the St Lucie County Supervisor of Elections, Gertrude Walker, even though she admitted to "irregularities [e.g., 'discovery of uncounted ballots']" in both the election vote count and the subsequent recount.

Trump Disses Intelligence Community

The US Intelligence Community

For related story, click here [The Hill, Julian Hattem]

The Hill, a formerly reputable and objective journal of activities on Capitol Hill and the White House, published a piece by Julian Hattem, a very young reporter whose political zeal has seemingly tainted his reporting ability; his previous experience came as an intern on the Huffington Post and a stringer for the Japanese newspaper Ymiuri Shimbun -- notable for continuously denying the Comfort Women controversy [Journalism has plummeted in reliability in recent years as the old professionals were laid off when News Outlets ditched journalists with experience and ethics, and replaced them with children posing as adults, whose reporting would be better placed on Saturday Night Live].

This young reporter's headline appeared on Facebook as follows:

"Trump says he doesn't trust US intelligence just before classified briefing"
followed by this quote
" 'I won't use them because they've made such bad decisions' Trump claimed."

Naturally, this partial quote set the internet ablaze as lots of DNC  and GOP trolls and self-appointed national security experts jumped on this quote as evidence that Trump has no business being President if he's not going to listen to the Intelligence Community.

All the Intel that's fit to print

[Oddly, none of these critics have raised more than an eyebrow over the fact that Obama rarely takes the morning Intelligence Brief, and generally completely ignores the daily President's Briefing Book.]

But, then again, we have Hillary, who did take the morning brief from State INR [Bureau of Intelligence and Research], and then copied Top Secret Codeword material onto her emails and cell phone texts, revealing extremely sensitive intelligence information pertaining to "Sources and Methods", and in at least one documented case, outed the identity of an Iranian nuclear scientist who had been recruited to spy on Iran's nuclear capabilities.  The Iranians arrested and executed him.

Now, our stalwart young reporter would likely have been counseled had Ben Bradlee been his editor, but, Ben is no longer with us, sadly, and much of journalism's professionalism died with him.  And, we can't be sure if the headline and lead was actually Hattem's, or was created by a politically biased editor at The Hill.

So, let's examine young Hattem's story, as it unwinds beyond the headline --

"...Trump said he does not trust information coming out of US intelligence agencies and indicated he would cease relying on the bulk of the intelligence community's massive workforce."
[we added italics, underlining, and color to emphasize the nuance of Trump's statement]

Trump's more complete statement:
"Very easy to use them, but I won't use them because they've made such bad decisions"
referring to intelligence failures leading to the invasion of Iraq in 2003 based on the Intelligence Briefing Bush received which declared Saddam had Weapons of Mass Destruction!  

Notably, those WMDs never materialized, and Bush came under constant criticism from all sides, to include our allies.  Financially, the Iraq War(s) will have an estimated tab of nearly $4 Trillion, plus an expected $490 billion in benefits owed to the war veterans, a death toll of up to 189,000 security forces, insurgents, contractors, and humanitarian workers, and of course, close to 5,000 US Military casualties.

Iraq, without a strong leader to rule the myriad religious sects, many led by fanatical extremists, and now overrun with terrorist factions, is in shambles and will likely not return to its relatively quiet status of its days under the thumb of Saddam.  Currently, Iraq, once the 12th largest oil producer and exporter, can barely meet its own needs for fuel and will require close to $100 billion to rebuild its dilapidated production infrastructure.

"If we had never touched it, it would have been a lot better."

That's pretty much the conclusion that most observers have reached given the horrendous results.

Our Intelligence Community, then headed by the intellectually challenged,  professionally inexperienced, political hack  George Tenet came up with a National Intelligence Estimate [NIE] that claimed we could save the region from a possible nuclear war if we invaded and killed Saddam.

Well, we invaded, blasted the daylights out of Iraq several times, defeated their military quite readily, executed Saddam without much of a legal process, left the country leaderless [our hand-picked successor was shot and killed as he triumphantly exited the US plane in Iraq], and, emplaced a massive US Military occupation force since drawn down, but rebuilding as we speak to deal with ISIS/ISIL, an outgrowth of al Qaeda now linked, via Wikileads, to support from Hillary Clinton and President Obama.

What did we accomplish?

We disrupted Iraq, opening it to strife amongst all its tribes and religious sects who have all been competing for power; and, we have created tens of thousands of new enemies there who were previously our friends, but are now our bitter enemies.  We've converted our allies there to what we call "terrorists", i.e., those who hate us and wish to do us harm.  [For an in-depth read on this conversion, we recommend serious students read Rick Francona's book Ally to Adversary.]

But wait!  There's more!

Our Intelligence Community, still led by George Tenet, failed to recognize the threat to the US which came in the form of the attack on the World Trade Center [WTC] on 9/11/2001.

Oddly, the FBI was provided a Philippine Police report which provided accurate details of the plan to attack the WTC -- which was completely ignored at the FBI and the DCI.



It was Tenet's job to coordinate the efforts of all the US Intelligence agencies as well as to work with the foreign intelligence agencies of our friends and allies.  A post-mortem of our intelligence failures leading to 9/11 indicated pure stove-piping of intelligence reports, disruptive competition, and, ultimately, failure to share information of intelligence value.  Astoundingly, Bush did not fire Tenet, but kept him on to create the WMD fiasco leading us into the perpetual Iraq War, and even more devastating, the war in Afghanistan -- home to al Qaeda, which Osama bin Laden reportedly led.

Beginning in 2001, a Military response was created to find Osama bin Laden, reportedly the mastermind of the 9/11 attack -- although that notion was questioned early on, and remains in question.  But, we dispatched Special Forces troops who were quite adept at finding anyone, anywhere [recall they tracked down Che Guevera in South America], particularly since they had worked closely with the Taliban and could have tracked down Osama, had the Intelligence Community been functional; but it wasn't, and the US declared war on Afghanistan as our new official enemy; so we bombed them, and attacked them because our Tenet's Intelligence Community declared them the enemy.

And, by Gawd, they became our enemy, and created terrorist cells, and fought back against the US onslaught which grew into a massive war, with a new regional headquarters known as CENTCOM, which created Military and Intelligence reports of limited to no value in conducting the war.

As time went on, and ISIS grew from a cell of al Qaeda-Iraq, and it has now come to light that "US Military leaders altered intelligence reports 'to paint a rosier picture' of the US-led fight against ISIS than Intelligence analysts believed was warranted."

According to Brigadier General Tata, he was directed by
"an individual from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence who conducts the President's Daily Brief, to stop producing 'products of record' that did not fit the Administration's narrative of a defeated al Qaeda and a non-threatening enemy in ISIS."

SecDef MacNamara Briefs Bogus Intel

 Well, having been an Intelligence analyst for a number of years, we can assure you that such directives are not unusual.  We recall seeing Intelligence estimates briefed at the Five O'Clock Follies as press briefings in Vietnam restructured to validate General Westmoreland's bogus body counts and "victories" which never occurred, and his assurances that we had "... won the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese people" -- which was absolute drivel since the South Vietnamese distrusted and hated us almost as much as the North Vietnamese. Interestingly, most of the Viet Cong were South Vietnamese soldiers whom we had equipped.

At the Pentagon, in the Carter Administration, our colleague who managed the Korea desk, was pressed to portray North Korea as a burgeoning threat capable of overrunning South Korea; this followed Major General Singlaub's personal views of the North Korean threat.  Carter was advised that Singlaub was an idiot, and fired him.

Notably, North Korea is repeatedly being touted as a major threat, and we have been pleased to describe in detail why it is not a threat in a blog post a while back.

US Forces Moved into Honduras

We were also pressed by the Deputy Chief of Staff for [Army] Intelligence [Lt General Odom] to tout the Central American insurgents as a major threat to the region, thus justifying the deployment of a brigade from the 82d Airborne Division to El Salvador, plus a massive build up of US forces in Honduras to engage Nicaragua.

[In reality, we assessed Nicaragua as the most dangerous threat, particularly as it spawned the Liberation Theology [Maryknoll Missionary] Communist movement to engage the region.

Interestingly, we found that the sister [a Maryknoll nun and political advisor to Daniel Ortega] of Speaker of the House Tip O'Neil received a phone call on Ortega's office phone disclosing a Top Secret briefing we had just delivered to him.
[We subsequently met with O'Neil and recommended he end his political career rather than facing charges of Treason, and he complied.]

82d Airborne Division

To inflict reason on the engagement of US troops in El Salvador, we dismissed the concept of deploying an airborne brigade of blond haired, blue eyed gringos who would become targets of all four guerrilla organizations, but also any of the roving gangs terrorizing San Salvador.

In its place, we recommended an advisory unit of 55 trainers in each military specialty; Congress agreed, and authorized that deployment, limiting it permanently to 55 US advisors.

Even with these precautions, one of the advisors was assassinated within months of the arrival of the 55 advisors.


While we were the Editor of the Black Book [content was Top Secret Codeword] at the Pentagon  - which was distributed to the Intelligence Community [IC] executives and to the White House, we gained positive recognition as the most accurate publisher of unbiased Intelligence in the Community; and it was not unusual for disgruntled analysts from other agencies in the IC  to visit us carrying intelligence reports and analysis which their superiors had suppressed for political reasons.  Once we checked out the validity of the reports, we then added them to our Black Book, bringing these issues to attention of the entire Community -- and the National Security Council, forcing the issue back to the disgruntled analyst, now in elevated status, for detailed clarification.

Forgotten POWs

[At that time, the Defense Intelligence Agency was led by an array of Leftists left over from the Carter Administration whose acolytes remained in the shadows, but later rose to senior executive positions; it was DIA which suppressed intelligence on the post-war existence and location of US prisoners of war for political reasons, leading the North Vietnamese to execute hundreds of US POWs as they no longer served the purpose of bargaining chips.]



Later, our analyst colleagues were pressed to suppress intelligence information on Osama bin Laden, lest he be removed as s potential threat under President Clinton -- which resulted in multiple missed opportunities to capture him.  But, under George W Bush,  the NeoCons led his National Security Council to persuade him to invade Iraq, over the protests of the Intelligence Community.

And, of course, in the Obama Administration, the IC has pretty much been left alone to do its own thing, with Obama pretty much ignoring everything they have to say.  That of course, has not prevented NSA and the DNI from expanding their operations to target US citizens as potential terrorists, as pointed out by Fast Eddie Snowden, but, we've already discussed those issues.

Bottom Line:

Trump has been advised of, and recognizes that the assessments of the US Intelligence Community are generally inaccurate and corrupted by politically motivated executives.  That's not to say that the analysts are not excellent, but that, instead, the superb analytical products of the dedicated professionals at the base of the Intelligence Community are corrupted by senior staff to match the political statement of the day.

So, for him to advise that he will not accept most of what they produce and brief him on is to say that he recognizes that the IC leadership has consistently abused its status, and that its products are all too often suspect as politically motivated.

Trump was correct in his assessment of Intelligence Community estimates:

I won't use them because they've made such bad decisions!
[As a businessman, Trump has had to rely on trusted advisors; we don't think he can trust the IC]

[Disclaimer: The author is no longer involved in, or engaged with the Intelligence Community.  
He served, in succession, as desk officer/analyst at the Pentagon  East Europe, Middle East North Africa, and then Latin America, subsequently becoming the editor of the Black Book, after which he was assigned to the State Department Bureau of Intelligence & Research [INR] assessing threats in developing countries and providing special assessments for two Secretaries of State and as special advisor to Ambassador at Large, Vernon Walters.  He was Special Intelligence Advisor to the CINC Southern Command, and authored the 25-year HUMINT regional strategy.  His Master's degree is in International Economics having completed studies at Oxford and Georgetown Universities and the National Intelligence University.  His operational activities were in developing countries around the world, and he played a key role in the creation of the Defense Clandestine Service as operations officer from 1984-1990.  His Military service included  command of three intelligence units he formed.  His professional citations include The Director of Central Intelligence Exceptional Intelligence Analyst Award, a variety of military awards from the Army and DOD, and special recognition for excellence from the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.]

Trump's Cabinet

In the wake of Mr Trump's designation of his future Attorney General -- Trey Gowdy, we'd like to review the most desirable appointments to key Cabinet posts, with our rationale

[Disclaimer: we have no control over whom Trump selects]

President Trump, on assuming the Presidency, following a landslide victory not seen since Reagan's massive win against Jimmy Carter in 1980.  The voters, this time, demanded CHANGE -- i.e., throw out the rascals in the Oval Office and all of Obama's appointees an Socialist generals, and hopefully, evict all the Congresspersons and Senators who have allowed Obama and his cabal to run roughshod over the US Constitution, our citizens and our nation.

Secretary of State:  
Jim Webb
1)  Marine officer, awarded the Navy Cross, Silver Star, Bronze Star [for Valor], Purple Heart
2)  Law degree from Georgetown University and Instructor at the US Naval Academy
3)  Assistant SecDef for Reserve Affairs; Secretary of the Navy
4)  US Senator [Va-D]
5)  Will provide Trump expert advice on Military and Diplomatic issues
6)  Understands both the House and the Senate and how to move legislation through.
7)  Will restructure the State Department to rid it of Left Wing radicals and select professionals for all key positions, and promote deserving career diplomats for ambassadorships.
8  The worst nightmare for the DNC/GOP cabal if they attempt to assassinate Trump [as they did with Reagan].  Webb would nail each conspirator to the wall and restructure both the DNC and the GOP.
9)  Will draw the votes of Democrats who are disgusted with Hillary or Bernie, as well as undecided Independent voters.

Secretary of Homeland Security: 
Rudy Giuliani
1)  A national hero who took the lead in the 9/11 crisis.  Knows his way around politics and can be counted on to remain Conservative in Economics and on Immigration issues.
2)  A backstop in the event the Establishment attempts to kill Trump as they did with Reagan; he won't hesitate to prosecute corrupt Congressional Representatives and Senators; look out Ryan, Boehner, McConnnell, Reid, Pelosi, Boxer, et al.
3)  He took on the mob, neutralized them, and somehow, he's still alive!
4)  Will eliminate the useless bureaucracy of 250,000 employees, cut the budget to realistic levels, and demilitarize DHS and eliminate its anti-American posture and redirect towards the external threat.
5)  Will eliminate DHS role in escorting illegals into the US, and reorient them to focus on neutralizing the illegal threat from within.

Attorney General:  
Trey Gowdy
1)  Demonstrated his intensity and tenacity in pursuing the Benghazi Hearings; fought off Boehner and Congressional pressure to force him to drop the investigation which would have revealed GOP complicity in the Administration's scheme.
2)  Can be counted on to pursue Hillary Clinton and the Obama Communist cabal, to include the Muslim Brotherhood operatives in the US Government.
3) Will indict and prosecute corrupt Congressional Representatives and Senators
[Look out Boehner, Ryan, Pelosi, McConnell, Boxer, et al.]

Secretary of Defense:
Allen West
1)  Former Congressman from Florida [Armed Services Committee]
2)  Army private, rose to rank of Colonel; Military Commander, deployed to Iraq Iraq [Desert Shield/Desert Storm
3)  Political Commentator
4)  Will purge political flag rank officers and promote combat-experienced officers to the highest ranks.
6)  Will restructure the Military into a realistic command structure rather than the Soviet-style Obama Military
7)  George Will hates him

Secretary of Commerce:  
Darrell Issa
1) Congressman [CA-R] Benghazi Probe
2) US Army Explosives Ordnance Disposal Specialist
3) US Army officer, rated as "Unlimited Potential"
4) Businessman, bought and turned around a failing car alarm company; started up Quantum Electronics for car security, coordinate with car manufacturers, and built his company into a highly profitable company.
5) Introduced [passed] the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act making federal expenditures transparent.
6) Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
7) Expected to be very supportive of small business

Secretary of Treasury:  
Newt Gingrich

1) Former Speaker of the House [1995-1999], led US voters to oust Democrat Congressional Representatives based on their profligate spending supporting Clinton programs.
2) Co-authored the Contract With America to cut wasteful government spending and balanced the budget.
3)  Restructured Welfare under the Welfare Reform Act and overrode Clinton's vetoes.
     a) Gave state governments autonomy over Welfare Delivery
     b)  Reduced federal government role in Welfare
     c)  Placed time limits on welfare assistance
     d)  Created stricter conditions on food stamp eligibility, and restrictions on immigrant welfare
     e)  Created work requirements for all welfare recipients
4)  Passed the Taxpayer Relief Act [1997]  which reduced taxes on capital gains [spurring private investment [Democrats today give Clinton credit for this act, which Clinton opposed]
5)  Passed the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 which subjected Congress to the same laws that apply to businesses and American citizens in general.
6)  Knows all the ins and outs of Capitol Hill and how to bring all Parties and partisans together in the national interest.  Trump could not have a better political advisor.
7)  Knows how to handle Media attack dogs and the Establishment pressure mongers.
8)  Knows where all the skeletons are on Capitol Hill.
9)  Understands the role of the Presidency, and particularly the Budget Process for streamlining federal expenses.
10)  Fully understands how to reform the US budget process and limit the powers of the Fed.

Secretary of Health & Human Services:  
Ben Carson
1)  Presidential Candidate
2)  Noted neurosurgeon; director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins
3)  Yale grad
4)  Trusted Trump advisor
5)  Will likely revamp ObamaCare to eliminate unconstitutional aspects.
6)  Will likely streamline HHS to eliminate useless bureaucracy and trim budget

Secretary of Transportation:  
Tom Davis

1) Former Congressman [Va-R] [Moderate]
2) Chair: Republican Congressional Committee [1998 - 2002]
3) Chair: House Government Reform Committee [2003 - 2007]
4) Investigated George Soros for his attempts to buy Washington Nationals [baseball team]
[Soros retaliated by launching a scandal campaign against Davis]
5) Promoted the rapid development of Metro Rail in Northern Virginia
6) Investigated federal response to Hurricane Katrina highly critical of Bush Administration
7) Heavily involved in infrastructure development and renovation.

Secretary of the Interior:  
Sarah Palin
1) Former mayor, former governor of Alaska [the largest US state]
2) Took on Exxon and the other oil companies operating in Alaska and forced them to stop polluting and also toreturn some of the profits to the citizens, effectively eliminating the state income tax.
3) Will likely review oil company operations in the US to ensure environmental responsibility as well as safe transport.
4) Will restructure Bureau of Indian Affairs to honor treaties with the Indian nations and provide assistance as needed to Native Americans.

Secretary of Veterans Affairs:  
General James Mattis
1)  Military professional
2)  Understands the needs of Veterans
3)  Has no tolerance for corruption or useless bureaucracy
4)  Will likely fire the top tier of VA administrators, promote professionals from within, and appoint professionals from the Military retired ranks.

Commissioner: Customs and Border Protection: 
Joe Arpaio
1) Sheriff of Maricopa County, AZ since 1993
    a) Led the challenger against Illegal Immigration
    b) Brought law enforcement to a new level of effectiveness in
         his jurisdiction
    c) Developed a highly effective and admired prisoner
        incarceration program
    d) Under constant attack by the Obama Administration
        due to Arpaio's national popularity in law enforcement
2)  Expected to renew and solidify border enforcement and to back Border Patrol Police monitoring the whereabouts and activities of illegals in the US.



We will designate potential candidates for other Cabinet [and supporting posistions] as they emerge.  
We removed:
a)  Paul Ryan as a candidate for the Secretary of the Treasury after watching him bow and scrape to Obama and turn against US citizenry by promoting legislation which would increase taxes and government spending for worthless government programs.
b) David Petraeous as Secretary of State given his appearance as a key new player in the Bilderberg conference, indicating that he has sold out to the New World Order.

b) We added Newt Gingrich as Secretary of Treasury based on his accomplishment as Speaker of the House in balancing the budget and creating welfare reform.

c) We removed Condoleeza Rice as a nominee for Secretary of State as it appears she has sold out to The Establishment, being one of the "50 National Security Experts" who condemned Trump.  She's in bad company there since most can easily be labeled as "other than experts" based on their hand-in-glove and very profitable relationships with Establishment elements, 

Feel free to recommend.