Pierce: The Military Intelligence Folks Are in Open Revolt

[babylonsister]

https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a22760519/william-mcraven-donald-trump-security-clearance/

The Military Intelligence Folks Are in Open Revolt
Retired Admiral William McRaven is a different breed of cat.
By Charles P. Pierce
Aug 17, 2018


It is now very obvious that the multiple impact warhead that retired Admiral William McRaven fired off against the president* the other day after El Caudillo Del Mar-A-Lago had taken away John Brennan's security clearance has hit everything at which McRaven aimed it. It has driven the president* to dig himself even deeper into the hole; on Friday, he waved his mighty sword at the other people on his new enemies list, particularly Bruce Ohr. It certainly helped embolden other dissenters among former intelligence officials and military officers. It appears that the entire military-intelligence alumni association is in open revolt.

As McRaven wrote in The Washington Post:

Therefore, I would consider it an honor if you would revoke my security clearance as well, so I can add my name to the list of men and women who have spoken up against your presidency. Like most Americans, I had hoped that when you became president, you would rise to the occasion and become the leader this great nation needs. A good leader tries to embody the best qualities of his or her organization. A good leader sets the example for others to follow. A good leader always puts the welfare of others before himself or herself. Your leadership, however, has shown little of these qualities. Through your actions, you have embarrassed us in the eyes of our children, humiliated us on the world stage and, worst of all, divided us as a nation.

McRaven is a different breed of cat. After retiring from the Navy, wherein he led the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, McRaven did not become a defense lobbyist or a think-tank commando. Instead, he spent three years as chancellor of the University of Texas system and, by all accounts, and with a few conspicuous bumps in the road, he did a splendid job. And he did so despite suffering from a non-life-threatening form of chronic leukemia.

The Texas Tribune did a fascinating exit interview when McRaven left the chancellor's job last May.

But there are always competing interests, so our job in higher ed is to make sure that we make a case for why what we are trying to do is important for the state of Texas. But you know as we go through this, everybody understands that there are competing interests and there is pre-K through 12, which I have said all along: If you have one dollar, put it towards pre-K through 12. That is important to be able to teach our young men and women and teach them well and educate them well so they're ready to go into the workforce or they're ready to come to a great university. So there are always competing interests.

Pre-K through 12. I'm often asked when I am sitting in various forums, and we start to turn to national defense and national security issues and somebody in the audience will invariably ask me what I think the biggest national security issue is, and my answer's the same every time: It's pre-K through 12. Which surprises them, they think I'm going to say North Korea or they think I'm going to say Iran. But the fact of the matter is, my biggest concern is: Are we educating the youth of America well enough so that in 10 years, 20 years that these young men and women will be great citizens of the United States, that they will be ready to come to college? That they will be ready to serve in industry and in technology? And I don't know that I think we have found the right answer to that yet. So the thing that keeps me up at night is making sure that the state of Texas – or hoping that the state of Texas – and the nation is investing in our pre-K through 12 in a way that will put our young men and women in a position to be successful.

This, then, is a retired military commander with impeccable credentials and a very interesting mind. (Pre-K through 12 as a national security issue? The admiral sounds like Diane Ravitch, and he's absolutely right.) Small wonder, then, that McRaven's scathing evaluation of the current president* and his administration* has had the power it apparently has.

And even though the idea of intelligence officials and military officers, retired or otherwise, combining to condemn the civilian political leaders of the country gives me the willies, that doesn't mean they aren't worth listening to, or that, out in the open, they can't present a formidable political force. The president* may have picked a fight this time the dimensions of which we don't yet know.

[PJMcK]

1. The final paragraph is chilling

Trump is messing with forces that he doesn't comprehend. If he screws them too much, he's toast.

The Intelligence Community is widely diverse and profoundly knowledgable. He's a fool to mess with these highly intelligent and dedicated American public servants. They can eat his lunch without even trying.

We owe these anonymous patriots our gratitude and support. They have protected us in ways we do not know.

[Skraxx]

2. One Can Only Hope That "Contingency" Plans are being put into motion

[C Moon]

3. I hope they are on top of protecting our voting system. I believe 100% there will be hacking in Nov.

[FakeNoose]

4. It has come to this because Congress has neglected their duty for the last year and a half

The GOP has done nothing to stop the orange asshole from destroying our country. I'm happy to see that the intelligence community (and our military commanders) refuse to sit back and do nothing. They obviously have seen enough and they're ready to start the revolution any day now.

[TryLogic]

11. the GOP congress is absolutely the biggest problem.

Trump is what he is, and we all know pretty much what he is, although he may be worse than we realize. But, the GOP congress is failing its duty to the point of treason.

[onetexan]

12. The GOP are his enablers. If they have stood up to him from

The beginning, he would not be in office, nor be able to continue to devastate our institutions and individuals the way he is continuing to. They are highly complicit.

[Beartracks]

17. Yes! Trump's abominable, but the Republican Congress is utterly derelict. n/t

[Achilleaze]

5. The deceitful republican Draft-Dodger-in-Chief is hiding from the Admiral

How cowardly (R).

[jimmil]

6. He is an absolute threat

To Betsy DeVos and all her pals trying to destroy public education and feed at the trough of privatization of government funds... scum bags

[Farmer-Rick]

7. When you allow fat pigs to run rampant through your fields and country

It creates one big fat mess.

[Johnyawl]

8. I'm in general agreement with Pierce on this...

..."And even though the idea of intelligence officials and military officers, retired or otherwise, combining to condemn the civilian political leaders of the country gives me the willies..."

...because I remember that several of Nixon's 'plumbers' came out of the intelligence community. However, when the political leader is edging dangerously close to authoritarianism then the intelligence officials and military officers that array themselves against him are doing what they swore oaths to do, which is to protect the country from all enemies, foreign and domestic, and to uphold the constitution. Gen. Smedley Butler helped save this country from fascism in the '30s. That we have men like McRaven, Clapper and Brennan standing against this monster gives me hope that my country will survive, and recover from this.

[Mustellus]

9. oh.. Trump understands.

His very first visit the morning after his inauguration was to CIA headquarters. He stood in front of the wall of nameless heroes, many having died at Russian hands, and made a fool of himself.

Those people, above all, are not going to readily start to dance with our new friend Putin. While I certainly don't wish for a war with Russia, what they have done in our election (known inside the CIA before it came out in public!) is certainly a hostile act. And I'm sure many of these people regard our current President as a Russian tool, if not totally in the pocket of Putin.

[malaise]

10. He will pay for this one - big time

Take that to the bank

[Hekate]

13. This is brilliant and thought provoking. Thanks, babylonsister.

Quoth McRaven: You're going down hard, buddy.

That last paragraph....

[TomSlick]

14. Here's a good rule:

Don't screw with the spooks. They know stuff, are sneaky, and kill without remorse.

[roamer65]

15. He is messing around with a potential military coup.

[Stinky The Clown]

16. I said it from before his installation in the White House: The Intelligence Community will . . . .

. . . . take him down or at least be his undoing.

There is NO love lost between him and them.

[calimary]

19. I remember reading the quote from an unnamed member

of the intelligence community: “he will die in jail.”

That quote came a long time ago - when this was just barely beginning. Before the 2016 election. My reaction then was the same as my reaction is now: “well they sure are taking their time...”

[CrispyQ]

18. Investing in our people is one of the best investments we can make!

We lost sight of that & now a craven group of grifters has hijacked our government to serve their interests.

I read that civics isn't even taught in some schools. I was lucky. In fifth grade I had a social studies teacher who pounded it into our heads that government impacts every aspect of your life. I bet not a week went by that she didn't tell us to register to vote when we became adults. Voting age was 21 back then, but by the time I took civics in the 9th grade, it had been lowered to 18.

[Scurrilous]

20. K&R

[Uncle Joe]

21. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread babylonsister.

[gtar100]

22. His description of a "good leader" describes President Obama quite well.

And no one in the republican party serving in congress.

If only voting republicans would pull their heads out to see the what horrible people they elect.