Trump Rejected Militarys ISIS Strategy Because It Was Too Similar to Obamas

[riversedge]

Trump only wants a new strategy so he can put his brandname on it.




Trump Rejected Military’s ISIS Strategy Because It Was Too Similar to Obama’s


http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/07/trump-rejected-isis-plan-because-it-was-similar-to-obamas.html



By Eric Levitz


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Obama’s third term? Photo: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images


In one of his first acts as commander-in-chief, Donald Trump ordered his top military advisers to conduct a 30-day review of America’s strategy for defeating ISIS.

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Nearly a month later, we’re still waiting for that news conference.
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But the Daily Beast suggests an alternative answer. The outlet notes that U.S. forces have removed 50 top ISIS leaders from the battlefield since Trump took office — down from 80, in the last six months of Obama’s tenure. Further, the militants killed on Trump’s watch have generally been lower-ranking than those targeted by the previous administration.

These facts don’t reflect the inferiority of the Trump administration’s anti-ISIS strategy so much as the sufficiency of the strategy it inherited: The military is simply running out of high-value ISIS targets to kill. Under Obama, the U.S. military was effectively wiping out ISIS’s leadership.

....................... But to the extent that sheer force can solve a problem like ISIS, the Obama administration’s approach was working just fine:

Trump’s changes to the campaign [against ISIS] so far have been tactical—namely, giving the military more autonomy to strike, including special operators. But the effectiveness of the current Obama-era strategy of attacking ISIS via local forces together with allies calls into question whether there’s a need for more dramatic revision.


That’s presented a dilemma for those working on the Trump anti-ISIS strategy and slowed its public unveiling, U.S. officials tell The Daily Beast. The White House has asked defense officials to come up with new ideas to help brand the Trump campaign as different from its predecessor, according to two U.S. officials and one senior administration official. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive debates............................

[Turbineguy]

1. That "I know more than the Generals!" shtick

worked well for Hitler too.

[Coventina]

2. Wait, I thought he had his own, wonderful, secret plan that was going to defeat ISIS in 30 days?

What happened to that?!?!?

[spanone]

3. he lied.

[Wounded Bear]

4. That's because Obama asked the same generals for a plan...

Obama, unlike Trump, knew that he was not a trained and experienced military strategist and had the Pentagon come up with a plan. He may have made some minor modifications for political and foreign affairs reasons, but by and large he did what most good executives do, he relied on the experts instead of pretending to be smarter than them.

[Initech]

5. The sad thing is they'll never admit that Obama was right on anything.

When he got so much right that they're getting wrong.

[Boomerproud]

6. His contempt/hatred for Obama is pathalogical.

Just like his base.

[Gothmog]

7. Trump is an idiot