Baghdadi's death: More details emerge from US raid

[Dill]

(10-28-2019, 10:27 AM)GMDino Wrote: How do I make a post on the raid without mentioning the POTUS who announced it (on twitter) and held the press conference on it?
The raid was good.  The follow up was bad.
But then I don't pretend about how I feel about DJT either.  Honesty gets a bad rap around here sometimes.  

I don't think anyone should discuss the raid without mentioning/discussing Trump. Even it killing Baghdadi is a "win," it does matter if the timeline of the raid had to be moved up and we had to work around Russia and Turkey because of an impulsive green light given Erdogan two weeks ago, while the US pullback leaves any follow up/consolidation unclear. It matters that he appears to have put more thought into self marketing his "situation room" image than in actual policy.

However, I think us Trump critics need to make it clear WHY events like the Baghdadi raid are not separable from Trump's policy and how Trump policy is not separate from his personality--from his personal fears, imagined conspiracies, desired attention from authoritarian leaders, contempt for his own staff, limited knowledge, lack of self discipline, petty anger etc .

Many Americans don't really grasp why Trump "making the raid about himself" should be of serious concern.  They understand very well what bad judgement means in a school superintendent or a hospital administrator or a football coach or a front office, but have difficulty seeing why that's a big issue in someone who "does it all the time" while in charge of foreign policy and thousands of lives. Where people like us see substance, they only see "style," separate from events and facts on the ground. That's why its important to connect the style to substance.