Skip to main content

A Different American President's Opinion on Afghanistan

Image
By

 +

JMJ

I have to admit that President Trump's actions over the past few days have been more than annoying. 

Trump as a Soviet Negotiator

As I've mentioned, Trump appears to Negotiate like the Russian or Soviets like Herb Cohen described in his book "You can negotiate anything".  

All "Soviets" whether for Moscow or from Memphis [Tradicat: ... or New York], use the same six steps in their negotiation dance:

  1. Extreme initial positions: They always start with tough demands or ridiculous offers that affect the other side's expectation level.
  2. Limited authority. The negotiators themselves have little or no authority to make any concessions.
  3. Emotional tactics: They get red faced, raise their voices and act exasperated - horrified that they are being take advantage of. Occasionally they will stalk out of a meeting in a huff.
  4. Adversary concessions viewed as weakness. Should you give in and concede them something, they are unlikely to reciprocate.
  5. Stingy in their concessions. They delay making any concession and when they finally do, it reflects only a miniscule change in their position.
  6. Ignore deadlines. They tend to be patient and act as though time is of no significance to them.

Speaking about the 'mid-way' offer by Trump. It isn't a midway offer, its only midway for the tariffs that he has decided to impose. Looking at the list, Trump definitely has tapped #1, #2 (Trump holds all authority), #3 (he has been pushing this button a lot),  #5 (the mid-way offer, delaying Tariffs instead of removing).

While #4 and #6 haven't happened yet  - we'll see if Canada blinks is Trump sees it as a weakness.

Unexpected Consequences

So while Europe is now doing what Trump wanted, that is spending more on military spending and contributing more to the defense of Ukraine, it may actually hurt the USA military defense  industry.  I've already noticed European countries restarting mothballed weapons facilities and awarding them contracts that, presumably, would have gone to USA companies.

It will be interesting to watch.

 




Afghanistan: a Tale of Two Presidents

As a side point, I have been reading George W. Bush's memoirs - Decision Points. When I got to the following paragraph, I remembered that Trump is the one who started the Afghan withdrawal - a withdrawal finished by Biden.

Bush's words are definitely prescient:

Ultimately, the only way the Taliban and al-Qaeda can retake Afghanistan is if America abandons the country. Allowing the extremists to reclaim power would force Afghan woman back into subservience, remove girls from school and betray all the gains of the past nine years. It would also endanger our security. After the Cold War, the United States gave up on Afghanistan. The result was chaos, civil war, the Taliban takeover, sanctuary for al-Qaeda, and the nightmare of 9/11. To forget that lesson would be a dreadful mistake.

So - I don't know what will happen and all the while remember to keep the Faith.


P^3.


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Catholic Church and the Rule of Law- Part II: Dr. John Lamont

By
+ JMJ This is the second article from Dr. Lamont from his lecture given in May 2014. P^3 Source Part A: Society of St. Hugh of Cluny Source Part B: Society of St. Hugh of Cluny 8 May2014 The Catholic Church and the Rule of Law- Part II By John Lamont To understand how the Jesuit conception of obedience departed from earlier conceptions, it is helpful to compare it with the teaching of St. Thomas on obedience. The fundamental difference between the two is that St. Thomas considers the proper object of obedience to be the precept of the superior (2a2ae q. 104 a. 2 co., ad 3). Obedience that seeks to forestall the expressed will of the superior does not bear on what the superior wants or thinks in general, but only on what the superior intends to command. St. Ignatius’s lowest degree of obedience, which he does not consider to be virtuous, is thus what St. Thomas considers to be the only form of obedience. St. Thomas holds that St. Ignatius’s alleged higher forms of o...
Post a Comment
Read more

Open Letter to Cardinal Gantin - July 6, 1988

By
There has been some discussion (read lots) about the term 'Conciliar Church'. I have posted this letter written by the Superior General and District Superiors of the SSPX after the 1988 Consecrations. Of particular interest is that the 'Conciliar Church' being referred to as a system. My paraphrase would be that the SSPX regards the 'conciliar Church' as an error within the Church. Source Open Letter to Cardinal Gantin Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops
Post a Comment
Read more

Morning and Evening and other sundry Prayers

By
+ JMJ Along the theme of P^3 (Prayer, Penance, Patience), and for my own reference ... here is a collection of Morning and Evening prayers from the Ideal Daily Missal along with some additional prayers. In this crisis of the Church, I do not think it is possible to do too much prayer, penance and have patience. P^3
Post a Comment
Read more

Rome and the SSPX - Version 2026 Part 6b: Principles and Rules for Surviving this Crisis of the Catholic Church (Principle 1)

By
 + JMJ Principle 1: Realize that something is amiss in the Catholic Church The world in which I had my Traditional Awakening, is one in which practically anything pre-Conciliar such as liturgy, doctrinc, and even dogmas are either suppressed, ignored or re-framed to be acceptable to the ‘world’. What is more, the people adhering to these pre-conciliar teachings and liturgy are persecuted by other members of the Catholic Church. The things that non-Trads say about Trads can be quite extreme. For example, accusations against Traditionalists include that they are: A revival of the Jansenists (link) , Schismatics, Heretics, Uncharitable, Lefebrists Radicals Integrists When one group of Catholics is persecuted by the others for simply wanting to live as Catholics before them did for generations … well something is wrong. Further, we need to realize that when what was previously condemned is now promoted and what was previously promoted as the trut...
Post a Comment
Read more

How is the SSPX prepared to accept the Second Vatican Council??? - Reblogged and Updated.

By
+ JMJ The Archbishop remained steadfast. In the 1980s, in his correspondence with then-Cardinal Ratzinger, Archbishop Lefebvre stated his position that the criterion for interpreting Vatican II in light of Tradition comprises three elements: 1) He and the SSPX would accept anything in Vatican II that is clearly consistent with Tradition; 2) Any ambiguous texts of Vatican II must be interpreted strictly according to Tradition; according to the consistent teaching of the Church throughout the centuries. 3) Anything in the Council that cannot be interpreted according to Tradition should be revised. The Archbishop laid this out explicitly in his letters to Cardinal Ratzinger in 1982 and 1985. CF News: Rome-SSPX: Background to the Doctrinal Discussions CF News: The April 15 Deadline A few years ago Tony La Rosa (aka ecclesia militans a Toronto based 'resistor') had a difficult time accepting this approach to the council. He held that it must be completely tossed as...
Post a Comment
Read more