NS experts: a distracted and potentially vulnerable country

[Dill]

How 'bout a thread on how all these various mini-crises--including the almost coup in Michigan--destabilize the country to the point of threatening national security?
National security experts describe a distracted and potentially vulnerable country
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/national-security-experts-describe-a-distracted-and-potentially-vulnerable-country/2020/10/04/54f31870-05e2-11eb-a2db-417cddf4816a_story.html

The U.S. president is hospitalized with a virus he refused to treat as a grave threat, in the final weeks of an election whose results he will not pledge to accept, as the nation confronts a struggling economy, an unyielding pandemic and racial unrest.

The combination of these crises has plunged the United States into a vortex of potential vulnerability that national security experts said is probably without precedent.

Consumed by its own difficulties, the country is in a poor position to respond to provocations by adversaries, advance its foreign policy interests with support from allies, or serve as a credible model of functioning democracy, former senior national security officials said.

“I see weakness and division and above all else distractedness,” said Nick Rasmussen, who served as director of the National Counterterrorism Center in the Obama and Trump administrations. “Any problem anywhere else is just a third- or fourth-order problem right now because we are so self-absorbed, inward looking and consumed with our own toxicity. And when you’re distracted, you make mistakes.”

The fallout spread swiftly over the weekend, radiating outward from the president. More than a half-dozen White House aides, Republican lawmakers and senior operatives have also tested positive for the novel coronavirus after flouting health protocols at public events, triggering panic in quarters of the West Wing and forcing the Senate to shut its doors to prevent further spread.

[Dill]

This bit is especially interesting:

The outbreak came as members of Trump’s national security team faced accusations that they were using their positions to ensure his reelection.

Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe was excoriated by his predecessors last week for declassifying discredited intelligence reports supposedly implicating Hillary Clinton in an effort to “stir up a scandal” against Trump in 2016 involving Russia. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was rebuffed in his effort to secure a meeting with the pope by Vatican officials who reportedly regarded his approach as an election ploy to please Catholics. And Attorney General William P. Barr was accused of being the source of unsubstantiated claims of voting irregularities cited last week by the president.

“In a normal government, you could probably absorb some of this dysfunction,” said John McLaughlin, a former acting director of the CIA who now teaches at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. “But this government, on national security policy, has had a very sketchy — to say the least — process for making foreign policy decisions.”. . . 

McLaughlin and others emphasized that the country’s main adversaries do not appear poised to test the United States, in part because of their own apprehensions about the vote, now just 30 days away.

Russia and, to a lesser extent, China are already seen as interfering in the U.S. election with relative impunity. And Iran has yet to follow through on its vow of further retaliation for the U.S. drone strike in Baghdad in January that killed Iranian Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani.

But the leaders of those countries, as well as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, could be reluctant to challenge the United States more forcefully in the coming weeks out of concern for the impulses of an ailing president or the potential consequences from a future administration led by Democratic nominee Joe Biden if he is elected.

[Dill]

“Some adversaries may think that America may be distracted, so that they can get away with something,” said Stephen J. Hadley, who served as President George W. Bush’s national security adviser. On the other hand, he said, they may think a provocation “could give Trump an opportunity to be presidential, to be commander in chief, and that strengthens his hand with the American people.”

“I think that is probably the thinking of China, I think it’s probably the thinking even of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, I think it’s true for the Iranians,” Hadley said. “They’re just going to hunker down and get through this period and see who’s elected.”

“There’s been a steady series of emails just repeatedly asking, at repeated junctures, ‘What in the world is going on?’ ” said a former senior U.S. intelligence official in frequent contact with counterparts. Trump’s refusal to wear masks or abide by other protective measures has baffled foreign officials, the intelligence official said, describing Trump’s symptoms as an “extraordinary manifestation of the obtuseness of his approach to the coronavirus.”

This official and others emphasized that they believe that the U.S. military and intelligence agencies remain focused on overseas threats and are functioning well despite the turmoil in Washington.

“People can have confidence that the U.S. military and intelligence community at a professional level are doing their jobs and keeping an eye on everything and sounding alarms that need to be sounded,” McLaughlin said. “But into what environment? A very distracted and confused one at this point.”

[BigPapaKain]

FaKe NeWs

[NATI BENGALS]

I think Putin’s mission for trump was clear. He is destroying our global reputation and dividing the citizens of our country. One of the few things he is able to succeed at when he tries.

[Dill]

(10-09-2020, 01:56 PM)NATI BENGALS Wrote: I think Putin’s mission for trump was clear. He is destroying our global reputation and dividing the citizens of our country. One of the few things he is able to succeed at when he tries.

Greatest, most ambitious, most successful covert op in history--getting Trump elected, baffling our allies and encouraging dictators world wide.

The chaos years.