Hacked Emails Reveal NATO General Plotting Against Obama on Russia Policy

[uawchild]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by etherealtruth (a host of the Latest Breaking News forum).

Last edited Fri Jul 1, 2016, 07:37 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: The Intercept

RETIRED U.S. AIR FORCE Gen. Philip Breedlove, until recently the supreme commander of NATO forces in Europe, plotted in private to overcome President Barack Obama’s reluctance to escalate military tensions with Russia over the war in Ukraine in 2014, according to apparently hacked emails from Breedlove’s Gmail account that were posted on a new website called DC Leaks.

Obama defied political pressure from hawks in Congress and the military to provide lethal assistance to the Ukrainian government, fearing that doing so would increase the bloodshed and provide Russian President Vladimir Putin with the justification for deeper incursions into the country.

Breedlove, during briefings to Congress, notably contradicted the Obama administration regarding the situation in Ukraine, leading to news stories about conflict between the general and Obama.

But the leaked emails provide an even more dramatic picture of the intense back-channel lobbying for the Obama administration to begin a proxy war with Russia in Ukraine.

In a series of messages in 2014, Breedlove sought meetings with former Secretary of State Colin Powell, asking for advice on how to pressure the Obama administration to take a more aggressive posture toward Russia.

...

“Given Obama’s instruction to you not to start a war, this may be a tough sell,” Ullman replied a few months later, in another string of emails about Breedlove’s effort to “leverage, cajole, convince or coerce the U.S. to react” to Russia.

Read more: https://theintercept.com/2016/07/01/nato-general-emails/

[sheshe2]

1. Comments are not allowed in

LBN Op.

You can comment down thread, yet not in the original OP.

THIS is an great example of what makes President Obama an outstanding statesman, his ability to resist the neo-cons, the military and the gaggle of war mongerers apparently in the State Department.

You are using LBN to smear Hillary.

[forest444]

4. I believe uawchild is mostly referring to Vicky Nuland (Mrs. Robert "PNAC" Kagan).

Although she's probably best known for boasting that "we have invested more than 5 billion dollars to help Ukraine to achieve these and other goals" and that "our man Yatz" (the pro-privatization shill Arseny Yatsenyuk) should be used as a figurehead to help disguise all the neo-Nazi (Svoboda) influence in the new Ukrainian government.

Straight from the horse's mouth:

[floriduck]

6. I'm confused. How does this smear Hillary? She's not even referred to in the OP.

[sheshe2]

9. Aaaah. Cute they edited.

See the quote in post#1.

[floriduck]

10. If it was due to "warmongers in the State Department", that puts a lot of people in play.

[sheshe2]

13. Since the reference

of the original post, since edited, was hacked emails, neo-con and warmonger. She is called that and more everyday. One could only conclude they meant Hillary.

I apologize if I was incorrect.

[uawchild]

15. umm

the hacked emails referenced in the article were General Breedlove's, not Hillary's. Glad this is cleared up.

[uawchild]

12. And reposted the same comment down thread as you suggested.

n/t

[uawchild]

8. Thank you about comment section, it's removed in op

And as for the apparent war mongerers in the state department, I am referring to THESE people...

51 U.S. Diplomats Urge Strikes Against Assad in Syria
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/17/world/middleeast/syria-assad-obama-airstrikes-diplomats-memo.html?_r=0

State Department Draft Dissent Memo on Syria
In a draft version of a dissent memo filed with the State Department's senior leadership, dozens of diplomats and other mid-level officials called for military strikes against President Bashar al-Assad of Syria. The document was provided to The Times by a State Department official on condition
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/06/17/world/middleeast/document-state-dept-syria.html

So NO smear against Hillary was intended, sorry for thinking everyone here knew about this state department memo, it was big news.
Also, Hillary isn't in the state department now, so it never occurred to me that anyone would think the state department comment was in anyway directed at her. Thanks for the opportunity to make myself clearer.

[sheshe2]

14. Good.

LBN hosts, I am not one, would have locked your thread. I never post LBN, so most of the rules are fuzzy for me.

[PatrickforO]

19. I didn't get that from the OP. There is a steadfast group of

(I guess you could call them) war mongers in State. These tend to be high level bureaucrats that can't really be touched by cabinet secretaries. No SoS can get rid of them. The best we can do is formulate policies that don't get us into world conflagrations.

You must remember that the liberals, the socialist New Dealers, in State were purged viciously during the Red Scare days, and the survivors of those purges tended to be conservative interventionists. For instance, George Kennan developed the policy on 'containment,' which went hand in hand with the so-called domino theory, and look where that got us.

People age, and after the cold war was over, the old professional diplomats and operatives left and were replaced with a new breed of neocon hawk, the likes of Elliot Abrams, Paul Wolfowitz, Robert McFarlane, and Robert Kagan.

What people need to realize is these people are ENTRENCHED at State and in other cabinet departments.

So I think we can safely say that the OP really doesn't blame Clinton, even indirectly. Bill maybe, but not Hillary. I mean, I'm not real thrilled with Clinton as our nominee, but let's be fair. She's not at fault for every warmongering thing State does. And, notice how this NATO general did NOT get his way...

[benld74]

2. Sorely missed is correct

[forest444]

3. Neocon trolls in 4,3,2,1...

Mrs. Kagan (Vicky Nuland) must be having a fit.

[uawchild]

5. THIS

THIS is an great example of what makes President Obama an outstanding statesman, his ability to resist the neo-cons, the military and the gaggle of war mongerers apparently in the State Department.

Obama will be sorely missed when he leaves office.

[forest444]

7. Hear, hear.

Can you imagine what 'bomb-bomb' McCain or Robmey and his 19 Bush-era foreign policy advisers could have put us - and the world - into by now?

Unthinkable.

[PatrickforO]

20. Yeah I remember McCain singing that - bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran...

I can remember that and being horrified by it.

And now we have clueless Trump wanting to throw nukes around in Europe.

These people CAN'T be allowed anywhere near the nuclear football.

Just..................

NO

[forest444]

21. I can still hear his breathing through his teeth as he said it. Rethugs are regular Greg Stillsons.

Stephen King really is something of a visionary.

[muriel_volestrangler]

11. duplicate thread of

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141506041

[ZombieHorde]

16. I'm very happy to read President Obama is

resisting the pressure to escalate violence.

[avaistheone1]

17. I am too.

I am very impressed with Obama on this issue.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

18. Obama never purged the "Loyal Bushies".

[etherealtruth]

22. I am sorry, LOCKING as a duplicate thread (prohibited in LBN)

please see: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141506041