Said Mitt Romney, quoted in "Sen. Mitt Romney raises a troubling theory about Trump and Turkey" (WaPo).
If that’s so, we should know it... Is that so? How can we know it? Romney is talking about reading Erdogan's mind in the past. But, whatever... more hearings! I wonder why. I can't help thinking that the reason for more hearings is to keep up the pressure on Trump and to undermine him to the maximum extent possible. Trump's decision already happened, and maybe it was less good than something else that might have been done, but what's the best way to move forward? Is it making Trump look as "weak and inept" as possible?
ADDED: Here's Trump falling for another con:
DEFEAT TERRORISM! https://t.co/8WbnLPgWIK— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 18, 2019
UPDATE, 6:36 PM: Trump tweeted this within the last hour:
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 18, 2019
Posts
75 comments:
PDT won't do it, but perhaps it's time to make an example of Willard, the rat-master. Killing him is right out, sadly. Horse's head is probably not the answer. How do you put the hurt on this guy such that he never speaks in public again?
I don't know, but I'd sure like to learn more about any illegitimate activities of Romney and his family. Was it China or Ukraine his kid was playing with? Is that it? Maybe the girls are into something.
Ann has Mitt figured out. He waited for this moment.
The President is Commander-in-Chief and the sole person is charge of foreign policy.
We don't need 534 generals and CINC's.
"It’s been … suggested that Turkey may have called America’s bluff, telling the president they are coming no matter what we did."
What bluff? Did we say we would do x to them militarily if they came, and then backed down?
Simply having 50 troops there as a kind of tripwire is no bluff, since there is always a question if we will allow ourselves to be tripped by any particular action by an adversary. For example, when Obama said he was drawing a red line and then let Syria use gas with impunity, he made a mistake, but I wouldn't call even that bluff being called.
Are we so weak and inept diplomatically that Turkey forced the hand of the United States of America?
"Jaw, Jaw" might be better than "war, war" but diplomacy that has no force backing it up is useless. While Turkey remains a part of NATO, and we still have 5000 personnel and 50 nukes at Incirlik, there is no way we were going to start shooting at Turkish troops, and both sides knew it. Mitt is just being willfully blind to the situation on the ground.
Oddly enough, when Trump did deploy the hammer of economic sanctions, the Turks suddenly decided it was in their best interest to let us and the Kurds exit the zone peacefully.
Mitt Romney giving his thoughts. Now that there is funny.
Yes, make him look like exactly what it is...a cruel, corrupt immature little man. The more he is exposed for who he really is, the better America and the rest of the world will be.
Let him be impeached ASAP! Let it be so!
It's also been suggested that moving our embassy to Jerusalem would ignite a middle east-wide conflagration.
It's also been suggested that obama's introduction of US troops into Syria would last a mere 30 days.
It's also been suggested that we can force ME nations to accept western style democracy and cultural norms.
It's also been suggested that Hillary is the smartest, bravest, most beautiful woman in the world and is unbeatable in any contest for the Presidency.
Lots and lots of things have "been suggested" or might have been suggested. It is possible that someone at NBC "suggested" maybe it wasn't such a good idea for Matt Lauer to install a rape room in the NBC building in NY.
Romney is a swamp creature. That is crystal clear now.
Romney is morphing into Hillary.
I just don’t understand.
I can't help thinking that the reason for more hearings is to keep up the pressure on Trump and to undermine him to the maximum extent possible.
Pretty much. This is just the latest in a long line of media-Dem-nevertrumper freakouts hoping to erode Trump's support. It doesn't really matter whether there's anything that's true in it or not. That's not the point. Spreading fear, uncertainty, and doubt in Trump is all that matters.
The whole Syria issue is kind of a funny one though. First of all, I believe that a majority of the American voters aren't particularly interested in us having boots on the ground in Syria for as long as we have had them their. But the Washington establishment seems bent on going against the public will on this issue. And for at least the past week or so I've seen a whole lot of prominent Democrats that sound like warmongering neocons. It's pretty funny.
My personal feelings reamin somewhat vague on this issue. I'm leaning toward that Trump has been doing the right thing here, but I honestly can't say for certain. I just look at the whole thing (the greater Mideast) as a giant mess that I wish we could fully extricate ourselves from. It seems like no matter what you do you'll be wrong. You'll be accused of "betraying" some group (who probably hates us anyways) or whatever.
The blogger Moon of Alabama thinks there was a behind the scenes deal between Russia, the US, Turkey, Assad and the Kurds:
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2019/10/the-win-win-win-win-plan-for-syrias-northeast-succeeds.html#more
The deal keeps Turkey out of Syria, and improves their security problem with the Kurds in general; gives Assad control of the country; removes the Kurds from the Turkish border, and neutralizes them; gets the US out of Syria, letting Trump claim his is fulfilling his campaign promises.
MoA is generally one of the more insightful and reliable commenters on international events.
And once again, Putin reputation for diplomacy is enhanced. He is the greatest statesman since Bismarck. How contemptible our Ruling Class is. Only Trump has a clue.
I could care less what mitt Romney wants to know. And anyway, since when are the foreign policy engagements out in the open as they are being enacted. It’s called the executive for a reason moron. You and the rest of your pompous asses can’t be trusted with much of anything. It’s asinine, childish but what would expect from butt hurt romney.
"Its been..." = what the fuck. What's in the "..."? Anyway, nobody cares that Turkey "Called America's bluff". We had 50 fucking men in a region that has thousands of square miles. Who are the 50? How many had guns? What were supposed to do, mount a banzai charge against the Turks?
"Are we so weak.." = total bullshit. We were NOT going to kill Turks - A NATO ally - over Syria. Turkey knew this, they aren't stupid. Trump warned them sanctions would be coming, and Turkey didn't care. They were willing to take the hit. That's all it is. Mittens just wants to grandstand and hurt Trump. He's a backstabbing, jealous little weasel. Thank God he lost in 2012. He's the new John McCain -except he was a draft-dodger and has zero experience in foreign policy.
Romney should restrict his moral superiority to his family, which is where it matters.
Are we so weak and as to choose diplomacy over military involvement? Are we so inept as to use Turkey's military for a single week to dislodge the Kurds, and then use economic leverage to restrain the Turks? That's strength and competence, and being weak and inept.
Oh, Mitt. The movie star good looks should have been a giveaway.
Mitt Romney proves that Never-Trumpers and Democrats belong in the same dustbin of history.
It's been suggested that Mitt Romney has a three digit IQ, however there has been little indication of it since he left the Massachusetts governor's office. (Come to think of it ...)
I'm proud of Mitt! Good on him for standing up for our values and for goodness and decency itself, which is under assault from this criminal regime.
Romney is the Republican Hillary.
“It’s been suggested....” or maybe he is Senator WaPo summoning the anonymous ghost army.
Either way, he is chickenshit.
Romney and Hillary are a matched pair.
You can't "Defeat Terrorism". Terrorism is a tactic, it's been used for millennia. We have to defeat evil. Calling evil "terrorism" is a wimpy, watered-down cop-out.
Last week Trump critics believed Trump caved to Erdogan betraying the Kurds. this week they believe his bluster goaded Erdogan into attacking.
The truly interesting group is those who believe both which seems to include Mitt. I suspect most of the rest as well.
ah yes calling turkey a small country, despite it being the second largest army in nato, and of course there are those remarks back in 2007, back when cofer black, was his chief campaign advisor on foreign affairs,
sunsong: "Yes, make him look like exactly what it is....."
...........Romney.
Well, Trump has quite successfully exposed Romney for precisely what he is.
The rumors that Romney ONLY ran for the Senate because he believed he could act the part of Sen Howard Baker in a brand new democrat impeachment process AND, possibly, end up being appointed as Pence's VP are looking more and more non-rumor-y every single day.
Transparent.
Romney, the new "maverick" of the Republican Senate, is a mere lickspittle compared to McCain, who would have had hearings ginned up and already condemning Trump before the weekend news shows aired. Does Romney not understand that his role as a stooge of the left is showing?
BleachBit-and-Hammers: "Romney is a swamp creature. That is crystal clear now."
10/18/19, 2:32 PM
madAsHell: "Romney is morphing into Hillary.
I just don’t understand."
10/18/19, 2:35 PM
You understand perfectly well. Romney is not actually morphing into Hillary. He is Hillary. He and Hillary are both the swamp.
BTW, Romney has a son who, lo and behold, is also involved with a company with direct Ukrainian energy interests, so, there you go.
Carve Turkey, to establish Kurdovo? Slice Syria, for a desert respite?
A month short, a cause without celebrity, and about one hundred years too late.
I'm really surprised by the extent to which we have war mongers in Congress. I wouldn't have guessed the number was so high.
Too bad Mitt didn't get this mad at Obama and the Dems when they snickered at him identifying Russia as our #1 geo-political foe.
A "joint effort"?
Sounds like a clever way of making the U.S. just as responsible as Turkey if/when things go belly-up.
Mitt is just reminding us of the White Horse Prophecy - and thinks that he's the chosen one.
https://www.mrm.org/white-horse-prophecy
Mittens is Sunsong's kinda man. Pick up your check Sunsong!
I must admit that I have never been more impressed with the US military. It only needs 50 troops to contain the sovereign state of Turkey and maintain peace in the always volatile ME. These are truly the super warriors of our time. It is unimaginable to me how Trump could have withdrawn these 50 super warriors knowing that they are invulnerable to bombs and bullets and critical to the stabilization of the entire Turkey-Syria frontier while they are, at the same time, containing all the ambitions of Iran. Incredible super warriors! Where do we find more of them?
So the guy who gave a woman cancer, tortured his dog, cut a gay kid's hair, had binders full of women and was going to put blacks back into chains is now the voice of reason?
OK.
Maybe Turkey called our bluff. Maybe it's a bluff that Trump wanted called so he could do something he's been wanting to do.
Since when do we care what losers think?
news reader called yer bluff, Lights out Mittens.
Poor Mitt. I met him in the last few years and was surprised by the sense of fear underneath his veneer of competence.
Mitt would be better off staying quiet and not be such a buffoon. Until he took on Trump, he still had a halfway decent reputation. Now he is just a loudmouth blowhard, far worse than the man he hates with a passion.
Mitt, here’s an example to help you understand: Imagine that you were President of the US and Candy Crowley was President of Turkey. You’d do whatever Candy told you to do, wouldn’t you? You know you would.
"If that’s so, we should know it. For it would tell us a great deal about how we should deal with Turkey, now and in the future.... Are we so weak and inept diplomatically that Turkey forced the hand of the United States of America? Turkey!?... I believe that it’s imperative that public hearings are held to answer these questions, and I hope the Senate is able to conduct those hearings next week."
Romney isn't an idiot. His career is proof of that. His idiocy is born out of spite that blinds him to reality, hence such nonsensical comments. No president Republican or Democrat given the same set of circumstances would have acted differently to Trump in this instance. Sunsong, are you natively this stupid or willfully this stupid? Show of hands from the NeverTrumpers; how many of you are willing to call Erdogan's bluff and get into a shooting war in Syria with what is still officially a NATO ally that is mostly armed with our weaponry, whose Armed Forces have a substantial portion of their Officer Corp trained by our Armed Forces and is a large country with a substianal military? And let's not forget we have a major airbase in Turkey that hold a number of nuclear weapons. So again, show of hands who wants to play chicken with the lives of fifty of our troops? Show of hands, who wants to send a real signal to the Turks and deploy fifty thousand troops to Syria because that is probably the lowest number needed to be a credible threat to the Turks and we still have an airbase in Turkey with our people and planes and fifty nuclear weapons to be held hostage. Come on Sunsong, tell us what you would do if you were president today. If I were Trump, I would ask Congress for the authority and the funding to go to war with Turkey just to expose the phonies on both sides of the isle.
It's a good thing Mitt's boys flocked to the defense of the country.
Oh wait....
it's more complicated then that,
https://syria.liveuamap.com/
Erdogan isn't really using his army, but proxies like the free Syrian army, that we spent 500 million on,
I've said it before: Trump could destroy Romney with one tweet about the box that he kept his dog in on top of his car. Label him "Dog-Torturer Romney," ask for legislation against the Romney-Box, and revive the hashtag #DogsAgainstRomney (one of the few times where liberals knew how to meme).
Can we just all agree that Russia is our #2 strategic enemy? [And Iran is #3?]
I'm proud of Mitt! - Sunsinga
Let it be known Sunsinga fully supports someone who gave a woman cancer, tortured his dog, cut a gay kid's hair, had binders full of women and was going to put blacks back into chains.
so we have his tie to Ukraine through cofer, his tie through china, through Huawei, ties tangentially to Epstein, through Robert Maxwell,
Shorter Mitt: Speculation. Speculation. Speculation. If true...
Trump's Waterloo helps impeachment... You go girl
Poor Mitt. I met him in the last few years and was surprised by the sense of fear underneath his veneer of competence.
I met him back in 2008 and he was hungry and gracious. Wish I had my money back.
sunsong: "I'm proud of Mitt! Good on him for standing up for our values and for goodness and decency itself,...."
Sunsong and her pals called Romney a literal theocratic Hitler and murderer of women who hadn't paid his taxes in 10 years.
But somewhere along the line, being Hitler and murdering women lost its cachet....
If that’s so, we should know it... Is that so? How can we know it?
Uh, by having the hearing. Duh.
Unless one prefers a policy devoid of thought, facts and information. Seriously, this push to have less oversight and accountability over critical foreign policy shifts and whatever whimsy drives them could use an actual explanation in itself. I've never heard someone actually argue that we should have less instead of greater understanding over foreign policy in conflict-ridden regions, so if someone is seriously pushing that approach maybe they could explain their preference a little better.
Romney? PDT is right what a looser. The man that had no comeback to Candy Crowely during the debate- He lost the election when he did not call her out. Romney thinks like a looser is a looser.
At first I was concerned PDT action in Syria but it seems to be working out. PDT isolated Turkey and they backed off.
Mittens Romney who let Tubby Crowley beat him in the second debate. Naff off, Mittens
sunsong said...
Yes, make him look like exactly what it is...a cruel, corrupt immature little man. The more he is exposed for who he really is, the better America and the rest of the world will be.“
That’s a little hard on Mitt. He’s a douche, sure, but I doubt he’s making much of an impact on the rest of the world. America either, for that matter.
Yes, make him look like exactly what it is...a cruel, corrupt immature little man. The more he is exposed for who he really is, the better America and the rest of the world will be.
Let him be impeached ASAP! Let it be so!
I’m all for impeaching Mittens! We can agree on something!
The Trump fanboys keep talking about how bad a U.S.-Turkey conflict would have been had Trump not moved the troops out. Nonsense. The token troop number would not have been attacked with any more likelihood than Erdogan sending suicide bombers into an American police station. Amazing how the Trump fanboys make up and imagine a putative conflict where none was taking place before Trump moved the stationary, unendangered cops out. Wow. What's next, are we supposed to pull our companies out of Turkey if Erdogan requests it? Get a fucking grip. Not every deployment is a bloodbath. Most are Club Med.
I'm a Looooooooooooo-zer,
And I'm not what I appear to be.
Turned coats is not a good look for Romney and Hey Girl!.
The US should have stood up to Turkey's bluff, says Romney who couldn't stand up to Obama's bluff in a debate.
Meantime the Syrian Free Army, made up by former Syrian army defectors, is fighting for Turkey against Assad's forces. The Kurds have joined with Assad. Which side of that would we want American forces to defend, Mitt?
is it too late to Impeach Romney?
Speaking as a proud former owner of 1973 AMC Gremlin,
Mitt Romney's CLAIM TO FAME is that he is his dad's son
His dad's CLAIM TO FAME is being CEO of American Motors.
Think about That, for a while. Ramney's CLAIM TO FAME is dad was the boss of AMC
Howard said...
Trump's Waterloo helps impeachment... You go girl
It's not going to be Trump on St Helena.
What did you say O-6 was ?
Trump channeling Chevy Chase: "I'm President of the United States and you're not."
Trump has been an immense force for clarity, as the Blue Falcons out there show themselves for what they are.
I feel sorry for Mitt, he is trashing his reputation, by getting into a mud wrestling match with Trump, trying to virtue signal how much smarter he is than Trump.
How stupid.
And I voted for Romney for President.
I gave a lot of money to Mitt Romney, and knocked on a lot of doors for him, because I thought he was an honest and decent conservative.
I didn’t do anything for Trump, thinking him a buffoon with no chance of winning.
How wrong I was, on both sides.
One of Mitten’s sons might have ties to a Ukrainian energy company.
Ray - SoCal said...
I feel sorry for Mitt, he is trashing his reputation, by getting into a mud wrestling match with Trump, trying to virtue signal how much smarter he is than Trump.
Romney's ham handedness and inability to read an opponent doesn't mesh with his executive experience at the state and business level.
Is Romney seeking to be the new Maverick, the new McCain? Well good luck with that. McCain's level of media pandering, self-serving assholery set a high bar indeed.
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10220193138123634&id=1382260304&sfnsn=mo
"Thus, it might be better for the United States, before pinning too much hope and faith on the Kurds, to understand that they’re military imbeciles with an unearned and undeserved reputation, that their culture is barbaric, they their one talent seems to be propagandizing and manipulating liberal Western opinion, which is eager to be manipulated, anyway, that any kids who die usually do so because of their own neglect of those kids, that they have no sense of gratitude for any help you give them, that they treat women like donkeys, and that they place zero value on the lives of those who try to help them.
Why we, or anyone, would place our faith and trust in them…well, it eludes me."
We don’t need to read Erdogan's mind to know if he called a bluff. We might need to read Trump's mind, but not Erdogan's.
HoaxPPT: "Amazing how the Trump fanboys make up and imagine a putative conflict where none was taking place before Trump moved the stationary, unendangered cops out. Wow."
LOL
Someone is a little behind in his far left talking points!!
Again!
Unexpectedly.
https://mobile.twitter.com/raniakhalek/status/1184516917098373122
USA playing games in Syria against Assad and biting own ass.
Just like alquaida grew out of USA playing games in Afghanistan to frustrate USSR
The king of Utah has spoken.
Blogger Seeing Red said...
One of Mitten’s sons might have ties to a Ukrainian energy company.
I've seen that too. Maybe Romney is joining the other side for a good reason.
I was wondering who was going to fill McCain's backstabbing shoes.
Seems Romney is that guy...
"It's been suggested ..." Where did I hear that before? Aha! "Ancient Aliens" on the History Channel.
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