The Atlantic: David A. Graham: Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel: Get Used to Endless War
From ISIS to climate change, the Pentagon chief says, the threats that face the United States are long-term challenges.
It sure seems like there are frightening events happening everywhere today—from ISIS to Ebola, Russian imperialism to Chinese saber-rattling, climate change to congressional dysfunction. But is it really worse, or will this, too, pass?
Bad news: It’s really worse, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told James Fallows at the Washington Ideas Festival Wednesday….
And Hagel didn’t seem especially sanguine that it would end anytime soon. In other words: Get used to endless war…
He noted in particular the challenge of global warming, which Hagel’s Pentagon has made a priority, declaring it a national-security threat, even as Hagel’s own Republican Party continues to block broader steps..
Buckle your seatbelts.
h/t to WUWT reader pat
Last century, the US Army had a contingency plan in case of an invasion from Canada.
No, that plan still exists and is regularly updated as are most contingency plans.
I’d be concerned if they didn’t.
In defense of our wonderful United States Armed Forces who know that their mission is to “protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America” and NOT to fight CO2 fairies (or germs or …. well, lots of junk the Democrats want them to “fight”….) —
— the Secretary of Defense is a POLITICAL appointee.
And that is all.
Chuck Hagel is just a puppet who squeeks Democrat talking points.
“Hagel’s Pentagon” — LOL.
It’s positively Hagelian. In principle, that is.
The Pentagon is a very large building. It is so large that they can hold a press conference in one part of the building on the same day as a terrorist act hits another side of the building earlier in the day. It can also distribute WH BS directives while conducting other missions. Next stop: USDA meat inspectors and global warming.
“It is so large that they can hold a press conference in one part of the building on the same day as a terrorist act hits another side of the building earlier in the day.”
LOL.
Gee, global warming means greens ague to stop domestic pipelines that increase national security. Global warming means we don’t do off shore drilling to increase national security. Global warming means we close down coal plants and decrease national security.
But hey, we SURE DO NEED that military running around in the Middle East to keep the oil flowing.
Ya think the military thus wants domestic oil production and thus REDUCE the need for the military? No kidding, be it the Middle East, Russia and the US military = they ALL don’t want increased energy security in the USA since as such it reduces their importance.
The military is just another arm of the government with the same self interest. The military’s position on global warming clearly justifies their self interest by preventing domestic energy production and at the same time is a position that justify carbon tax systems that FEEDS this big government monster called the military.
Gee, who would have thunk that the greens and the military are in the same bed wanting reduced domestic energy production, but hey lets import oil from those folks in the Middle East that want to blow us up! Anyone have some spare war ships to send to some conflict in that part of the world? Gee, if we have all our own oil, then WHO cares about some sand dunes in the Middle East? And who would care about sending those multi billion dollar war ships into that part of the world?
Yes, the military is a HUGE dog wagging the SAME tail as the greens and socialists to justify their existence.
Regards,
Albert k
Sorry, don’t buy it. Not even the generals at the Pentagon want to send our soldiers, sailors and airmen to die just to keep our funding.
Your facts are wrong, also. We don’t buy much oil from the Middle East. Surprisingly little. Go come up with another conspiracy, maybe involving FEMA.
The USA does not need to buy ME oil, that might be true; but the USA does kill, bomb and burn anyone who dares to sell oil for something other than US Dollars; to maintain demand for T-Bills around the planet; see Saddam; Gaddafhi, and the current vilification of Putin. And the unfortunate accident of the Total boss.
Dirk,
You apparently are drinking from the same bottle as albert.
The reason other nations buy Treasury bonds is simple – there is no safer place to put their money. No currancy is more reliable, no government more trustworthy and no economy more capable.
I hope you are at least drinking the good stuff.
” to congressional dysfunction. ”
+++++++++
I am so sick of the bumper sticker slogans presented as if they were some fact. Congress is doing what it is supposed to do. That is, one party tries to keep in check things which they find uttery against their principles. If there were only a single party, laws would be continually written without representation of alternative views. Often times, the best thing congress can do is NOT act to take away more from one group and give it to a more worthy group.
And of course, there is one person Harry Reid, who has damned the process of bipartisanship by preventing so many bills passed by the House of Representatives to go to vote in the Senate
Some info about this here (may require a subscription):
“They have also been handmaidens to Harry Reid , the Majority Leader who has devoted the last four years to protecting Mr. Obama while turning the Senate into the world’s least deliberative body. ”
http://online.wsj.com/articles/the-senate-referendum-1414537955?KEYWORDS=reid
Hagel and al-Bama might consider one point in the middle of their machinations, the clarion call of war is how two bit dictators usually bring their country together during a self created internal crises. If we’re already at war, and it has been declared to be so, then the lever of war is lost. They might just be caught hoisting themselves on their own petard.
should be: “two-bit dictators and wanna-be’s”
This is nothing new. The Obama Administration has been foisting “Climate Change” off on the military since 2009. It’s disgusting, but we salute and follow orders. He has purged any general officers not willing to toe the party line.
Everyone must first and foremost recognize several facts when evaluating what Hagel stated.
1. Hagel is a politician.
His background suggest he understand business and foreign trade. He has limited national security expertise other than sitting through committee meetings in Congress. Obama nominated him to be SecDef most likely because he was inexperienced enough not to challenge him or his WH on matters of National Security, and as a get-along-to-get-along establishment Republican he is malleable.
2. He is second in command of the US military, only subordinate to the President.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Combatant Commanders must follow his orders. If they do not agree and cannot abide by or with his or his boss’s priorities, their ONLY option is to resign and let another general be promoted to their job who agrees to follow Hagel’s orders.
Once you understand those two facts, then one can see how the US military becomes the President’s social-political tool, from a President who little regard for national defense policy nor does he want to.
Re: #2 above
NEVERTHELESS,
there is hope.
So long as the majority of the US military are pro-liberty and truth (and they are!), all will be well IN SPITE OF THE PLAGUE IN THE WHITEHOUSE.
The person occupying the oval office may be “Commander in Chief,” but the U. S. military’s CONTROLLING authority is the Constitution of the United States. And no one, not Nixon, not Dope, NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW.
Including natural law
which is simply
what a healthy human conscience says is: “the right thing to do.”
BY DEFINITION there will be very little evidence to cite of the times that the U. S. Armed Forces have successfully done the right thing over the years (and, ARE doing, even in the past 6 years, despite the No-Hand-Over-MY-Heart**….. er,…… until I HAD to do it to get elected….. “Commander in Chief’s” vile Rules of Engagement….), but, I can cite one:
On April 8, 2009, Somali pirates hijacked a Maersk container ship. Captain Mark Phillips ended up a hostage in his failed attempt to exchange himself for the pirate captured aboard his ship. The U.S.S. Bainbridge went full ahead to the rescue. The team of SEALS aboard was refused permission to shoot the pirates at any opportunity — in an effort by B. Hussein to spare the lives of those who shared “my Muslim faith” {see c. 2008 ABC interview with George Stephanopoulos, quickly corrected, but also see video below for indisputable evidence for B. Hussein’s “muslim faith”}***. Thanks to Commander ___ (I sure hope his career was not torpedoed after that incident …. I’m not even mentioning his name, though not a secret, here, just to keep him from suffering simply do to ANY publicity rousing the retribution fiends who may have chosen to overlook his actions so far…), the SEALS killed 2 (?) of the pirates and rescued Capt. Phillips. EVEN THOUGH, at that time, the Rule of Engagement hissed out by B. Hussein was (paraph.) “only shoot if Phillips is in imminent danger” — Phillips’ merely being held captive had already been (during his 4-day ordeal at sea) ruled NOT “imminent danger” enough(!!!).
And then what happened to the Navy SEALS in Afghanistan, …. not all that long after? Pay-back.
Tough beans, you vile, anti-American, pseudo-president — the SEALS did the right thing and, in SPITE of all you might do to them in revenge: THEY WILL DO IT AGAIN.
DO THE RIGHT THING rules our wonderful military men and women.
Thank God.
Natural Law, as referred to in the Nurnberg trials, “the law above the law,” is ultimately the sole control over the savagery that is Naziism or fascism or communism or socialism (which INEVITABLY become, as Friedrich Hayek warned, “a dictatorship of the elite” — real world experiments in Russia, China, Cuba, and on and on prove this. It is fact, not conjecture).
Though you will see little evidence, it is operating EVERY DAY.
GO, UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES!!! We, the People, have your back (with that shotgun in the back bedroom closet, if need be…..).
**************************************************************
Source videos:
**
Video evidence of Barack Hussein Obama refusing to place his hand over his heart during the playing of “The Star Spangled Banner” (shows, incidentally, how dumb he is, too — any saavy politician…. (head shake)):
(youtube vid — I HIGHLY RECOMMEND MUTING THE SOUND… (shudder))
***
youtube video evidence of B. Hussein’s “muslim faith”
WARNING: disturbing images at end…
The above evidence explains a LOT of what has happened over the past 6 years.
******************************************************
******************************************************
Conclusion (answering #2 above): the de jure formality that makes one “Commander in Chief” (or one of his stooges), does not make one de facto commander of ….. anything.
Sigh. I used the “N-z–ii” word (and likely a couple of others, lol). Sorry for the need to mode-rate (red face).
Correction (if my post about the hope we can have due to the noble nature of the majority of those in the U.S. Armed Forces gets publishe — oh, please, oh, please, oh, please, dear mo-d-er-ator)
“due to ANY publicity… .”
Thanks!
OH, HOOORRAAAAAYY!! It did!!!!
#(:))
Revealed is right. Baraq Hussein bin-Obama al-Indonesii has repeatedly revealed himself inadvertently.
The only thing scarier than the current administration’s stupidity is going to be the future administration’s stupidity. As far as the leadership pool is concerned this country is wading in the very shallow end.
We’re screwed.
More like a plastic kiddie’s wading pool, and nobody’s wearing diapers…
But it’s all in the long-term plans. As Gerald Celente says, “Don’t forget to vote. Throw out the bums and bring in the scums.”
Chuckie forgot to mention, “endless false flag operations.”
“He noted in particular the challenge of global warming, which Hagel’s Pentagon has made a priority, declaring it a national-security threat, even as Hagel’s own Republican Party continues to block broader steps..”
HAGEL’s Pentagon!? Seems like folks have forgotten the Pentagon study during the Bush (Jr) regime that breathlessly declared the national security threat presented by man-made global warming. (They hadn’t switched to the multipurpose term “climate change” yet.) Plans were being made to deal with the mass migrations and riots that were sure to stem from all the CAGW droughts, floods, failed crops, and general unrest.
Why does Orwell’s version of news reporting in “1984” keep coming to mind?
The younger Bush Administration fought the insanity of CACA, first by not implementing the Kyoto Protocol in 2001, then by waging the so-called “war on science” so decried by Leftists at the time. The Pentagon was most certainly no under orders to “fight climate change” during Jan 2001 to Jan 2009, as it has been since, under the Obama Administration.
Is this another right wing attempt to whitewash the criminal Bush administration? Don’t forget that the left wing and the right wing are appendages of the same predatory bird.
I didn’t say anything about the Kyoto Protocol. The fact remains that the Pentagon during Dubya’s regime issued a report on the threat of CAGW to national security. The statement that “Hagel’s Pentagon has made [climate change] a priority, declaring it a national-security threat” is disingenuous at best. The traitors in office build upon the foundations of their predecessors. Hagel’s position is rooted firmly in the previous Pentagon recommendations.
You are misinformed.
I assume you refer to the 2004 Office of Net Assessment study, which was not adopted by the Pentagon, ie the office of then Defense Secretary Rumsfeld & JCS, but was indeed rejected by them &, according to the MSM, “suppressed”. The study emerged from a handful of bureaucrats & did not reflect the thinking of either the DoD or the Bush Administration.
Hence the Obama Administration bears complete responsibility for corrupting the Pentagon with cockamamie CACA.
You both have good points but let’s remember the source of this insanity was the Clinton-Gore administration.
So long as all wars are sustainable, everything will be alright. People dying and being killed would be a plus if the IPCC and Agenda 21 philosophies are taken literally. Mind you the bodies will need to be buried well.
Cheers
Roger
http://www.rogerfromnewzealand.wordpress.com
Reblogged this on Norah4you's Weblog and commented:
Back to Middle Age? IPCC acts and make humans believe that Humans are the centre of Universe…..
Other bloggers reblogg and comments from U.S. Military caves to endless global warming attack, SasjaL’s blogg
The US Military has not ‘caved’ to the endless global warming attack. The political appointee Chuck Hagel is the wuss that has ‘caved’, in the service of Obamunism.
Correct.
The US Armed Services are civilian led. When their civilian leadership tells them to focus on climate change, they salute and say “Yes sir.” They might offer counsel, but if it is ignored, well it wouldn’t be the first or last time.
How important climate change is to the services will likely change with a change in administration. For that matter, its importance under the current leadership will only extend to how much funding may be attached.
Ha! Wait until the Canucks stop selling their oil (amongst the largest reserves in the world) at cut rate prices to south of the border! Dust off those invasion plans again, boys!
Canada had (& probably still has) plans to counter a US invasion, too. The 1920s plan was to counterattack into & seize major cities in Washington State, Montana, Minnesota & New York to divert US attention until, it was hoped, relief forces from the Empire were able to strike back.
That’s simply due diligence by the military.
The US and Canada are close, very close. We love each other in fact.
Get Real!
Canada and the US will continue to stand together.
I know. Thank God. A good time is always had by all during joint & combined ops at CFB Cold Lake, for instance, & senior officers pull rank whenever there is a mission to Canada, especially it seems to Quebec.
My point is that defense establishments plan for every conceivable possibility, no matter how remote.
BTW, liked your statement that the Obama Administration plans for victory in elections, not wars. Well said.
Plans for victory regardless of patriotism! That the Democrat under Obama have a machine designed to harvest non-citizen votes is frightening. That the machine has in fact been working is a sign that our republic has turned into a democracy, being pandered to by dumb as a fox politicians.
Competency is the main MIA in this (policy) conflict.
Well, that’s all righty then. Since GW, especially AGW, is a non-issue and a non-threat, the secondary issues will be easily dealt with! Non-sarc.