{"id":298604,"date":"2024-11-15T08:24:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-15T08:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=298604"},"modified":"2024-11-17T08:47:49","modified_gmt":"2024-11-17T08:47:49","slug":"trumps-picks-are-all-neocon-warhawks-ferociously-devoted-to-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=298604","title":{"rendered":"Trump’s Picks Are All Neocon Warhawks Ferociously Devoted to Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mike Whitney \u2013 The Unz Review Nov 13, 2024<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Trump\u2019s hawkish lineup is starting to look like a reunion for the worst of US interventionists. The man who said \u2018no wars\u2019 hired a cabinet that\u2019s clearly thirsting for the next one. @ghida_fakhry<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not Trump\u2019s pro-Israel cabinet. It\u2019s Israel\u2019s pseudo-American cabinet. Alon Mizrahi @alon_mizrahi<\/p>\n

Awww fuck! It\u2019s over before it even started! Nick@NickJ132388<\/p>\n

If George W. Bush was elected to a third term in office, this is what his cabinet would look like. Rubio, Waltz, Stefanik, Hegseth. Not a peacenik among them. Not an antiwar candidate among them. Not even a non-interventionist among them. Every single pick is a hard-boiled, right-wing war-hawk that is committed to marching in lockstep with the world\u2019s most notorious pariah-state, Israel.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with Trump\u2019s pick for Secretary of Defense, the man whose job it is to oversee the War Department and act as the principal defense policymaker and adviser. Trump chose Fox television host Pete Hegseth, \u201ca decorated Army veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as Guantanamo Bay.\u201d Hegseth has no administrative skills or experience, but he is a Trump loyalist who shares the president\u2019s views on \u201cwoke\u201d policies in the military. More importantly, Hegseth is dyed-in-the-wool Israel aficionado who thinks the interests of the Jewish state are inextricably linked to those of the United States. Check out this short excerpt from Pete Hegseth\u2019s book, \u201cAmerican Crusade, Our Fight to Stay Free\u201d (2020) that was posted on Michael Tracey Twitter site:<\/p>\n

\u201cSimply put: if you don\u2019t understand why Israel matters and why it is so central to the story of Western civilization\u2014with America being its greatest manifestation\u2014then you don\u2019t live in history. America\u2019s story is inextricably linked to Judeo-Christian history and the modern state of Israel<\/strong>. You can love America without loving Israel\u2014but that tells me your knowledge of the Bible and Western civilization is woefully incomplete\u2026..<\/p>\n

If you love America, you should love Israel.<\/strong> We share history, we share faith, and we share freedom. We love free people, free expression, and free markets. And whereas America is blessed with two big, beautiful oceans to protect it, Israel is surrounded on all sides by countries that either used to seek, or still seek, to wipe the nation off the map.<\/p>\n

The battle wages on Israeli soil as well. With each trip I take to Israel for FOX Nation, and on my personal time, I discover a new way in which Islamists and their leftist enablers seek to deny Jewish history and heritage. Today, Islamists in Jerusalem are attempting to claim that the Holy Temple built by King Solomon and rebuilt by Herod never existed. Apparently, they want us all to believe that Jews\u2014from Abraham to Jesus\u2014never sacrificed, built, or worshipped on that particular piece of real estate. \u201cTemple denial\u201d is yet another tool by which they seek to erase the Jews and the Jewish state. If that isn\u2019t delusional enough, on a recent trip to Bethlehem\u2014the birthplace of Jesus\u2014I discovered that Palestinians now claim that Jesus was not in fact Jewish but instead a Palestinian. Try that one on for size\u2014or watch my two FOX Nation documentaries on the subject: Battle in the Holy City and Battle in Bethlehem.\u201d Michael Tracey@mtracey<\/a><\/p>\n

A Secretary of Defense doesn\u2019t have to be impartial to fulfil his responsibilities to the president and the American people, but it does make one wonder how Hegseth\u2019s pro-Israel zealotry will impact the way he implements US policy. If, for example, Hegseth was ordered to stop the delivery of all bombs and lethal weaponry to Israel while ceasefire negotiations with Hamas took place, would a Christian Zionist like Hegseth obey such an order or act according to his own deeply-felt religious convictions?<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t answer that, but the obvious conflict of interest should have been a red flag for Trump if his goal was actually \u201cAmerica First\u201d.<\/p>\n

Oh, and did we mention that Hegseth is also an Iran hawk, which appears to be a basic requirement for any position on the Trump team. This is from Axios<\/em>:<\/p>\n

Alongside his strong support for Israel, Hegseth has also expressed strong positions regarding Iran\u2026 He had called the Iranian revolutionary government an \u201cevil regime\u201d, and in 2020 said that if Iran wanted \u201cto come back to the table for talks on their nuclear capabilities\u201d it should do so \u201climping and begging.\u201d\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes we have moments, and I happen to believe we can\u2019t kick the can down the road any longer in trying to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear bomb,\u201d Hegseth said in an appearance on Fox & Friends.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat better time than now to say \u2018we\u2019re starting the clock, you\u2019ve got a week, you\u2019ve got X amount of time before we start taking out your energy production facilities. We take out key infrastructure, we take out your missile sites, we take out nuclear developments, we take out port capabilities.<\/strong>\u2019\u201d Trump appoints pro-Israel, Iran hawk Pete Hegseth for secretary of defense,<\/a> Axios<\/em><\/p>\n

Does that sound like a reasonable approach to you or the fast-track to a regional war?
\nAnd how does this fit with all the non-interventionist gobbledygook that Trump was spewing before the election? Was it all for show? And, please, don\u2019t tell me that Hegseth wasn\u2019t fully vetted or that Trump was unaware of his political views before he picked him. That\u2019s nonsense. Hegseth is a hard-nosed, prowar jingoist who recently dismissed public demands for a ceasefire as \u201cextortion on behalf of Hamas\u201d (say what??) and who thinks the only problem with Biden\u2019s Middle East policy was that it wasn\u2019t tough enough.\u2019 And so it is with all Trump\u2019s picks. They\u2019re all ferociously devoted to Israel and they\u2019re all gung-ho for a war with Iran.<\/p>\n

Pete Hegseth on dual loyalty<\/a>\u2014Wow.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how the typically temperate Daniel McAdams summed up Hegseth:<\/p>\n

President-elect Donald Trump\u2019s designated Secretary of Defense is a certifiable lunatic. A cultist in the manner of Manson. Literally someone who needs to be in a mental hospital.<\/strong> Who craves an apocalyptic war to end all of mankind so that his twisted understanding of God will come down and slaughter all (including Jews) who do not convert to his cult\u2019s beliefs. This is a truly dangerous person.<\/strong> This is the person running our military machine. The madmen have taken the asylum. Daniel McAdams @DanielLMcAdams<\/a><\/p>\n

Yikes. Looks like Don Rumsfeld won\u2019t be our worst Sec-Def after all.<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s Marco Rubio or \u201cLittle Marco\u201d as Trump used to affectionately call him during the 2016 campaign. Rubio\u2014who Trump picked as Secretary of State\u2014is another shoot-first-and-ask-questions-later warhawk whose views veer only slightly from those of John Bolton and Lindsay Graham. In a recent video by peace activist Medea Benjamin, Benjamin\u2014who is shown standing outside Rubio\u2019s senate office next to a giant flag of Israel\u2014says the following:<\/p>\n

We are here outside Marco Rubio\u2019s office. You have probably heard that he has been picked by Trump to be the next Secretary of State. We have been to his office before, and we were always curious that there was an Israeli flag outside. And I thought maybe he would take the flag down to show his allegiance is 100% to the US government and not to the Israeli government. But, no, lo and behold, the flag is still here, <\/strong>which gives you a pretty good indication of where his allegiance is going to be as Secretary of State. Medea Benjamin@medeabenjamin<\/a><\/p>\n

Imagine if Rubio placed a Russian flag outside his office, or a Palestinian flag? What do you think the reaction would be? Is it really appropriate for a US senator to display the banner of a foreign power in front of his taxpayer-provided office? Here\u2019s more background on Rubio from Michael Tracey<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Marco Rubio would arguably be the most hardcore interventionist Secretary of State for an incoming administration in decades, perhaps rivaling Hillary Clinton. Definitely outpaces Colin Powell, who was in the relatively more \u201crealist\u201d faction of the G. W. Bush Administration<\/p>\n

And here\u2019s more on Rubio from the horse\u2019s mouth, The Jewish Telegraphic Agency<\/em>:<\/p>\n

President-elect Donald Trump is filling out his national security team with pro-Israel hawks who favor maximum pressure on Iran\u2026<\/strong> Reports Monday said Trump planned to name two Floridian allies to top jobs: Sen. Marco Rubio will be tapped to be secretary of state, and Rep. Michael Waltz will be his national security adviser.<\/p>\n

Both men have said Israel should not be prevented from staging a direct attack on Iran\u2019s nuclear weapons program<\/strong>. That stance echoes Trump who, before the election, urged Israel to \u201c\u200b\u200bDo what you have to do.\u201d Trump had criticized President Joe Biden for confining Israel to only hitting military sites, but not nuclear ones, in a retaliatory strike\u2026.<\/p>\n

Trump has yet to formally name Rubio, but his pending appointments has been widely reported and the Republican Jewish Coalition, which has a longstanding relationship with Rubio, congratulated him<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u201cPresident Trump\u2019s choice of Senator Rubio for this critical role sends a message loudly and clearly: The days of weakness and appeasement are over,<\/strong>\u201d the RJC said in a statement on Monday night. \u201cWe know that with Senator Rubio leading the State Department, America will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our allies and confront our enemies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rubio came up in Florida politics in part because of the backing of billionaire auto dealership magnate Norman Braman, a past president of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation. He is known to be close to Miriam Adelson, the pro-Israel casino magnate who funneled $100 million into Trump\u2019s campaign this year.<\/strong>\u2026.<\/p>\n

In October, after Iran barraged Israel with missiles, and as Israel\u2019s conflict with the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah was escalating, he tweeted, \u201cIsrael should respond to Iran the way the U.S. would respond if some country launched 180 missiles at us<\/strong>. And they should do in Lebanon what we would be demanding our leaders do if terrorists were launching anti-tank rockets at us from a neighboring country, forcing 60000 Americans to evacuate their homes and farms for almost a year.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the 2016 election, she and her late husband, Sheldon Adelson, were close to deciding whether they would back Rubio or Texas Sen. Ted Cruz as the Republican nominee. Then Trump pulled ahead of the pack and Sheldon Adelson decided to endorse the reality TV star.<\/p>\n

Rubio has said for years that the United States should not stand in the way of an Israeli strike on Iran\u2019s nuclear program. Trump taps Iran hawks Marco Rubio, Mike Waltz for top national security role<\/a> s, The Jewish Telegraphic Agency<\/em><\/p>\n

Funny how much influence people like Adelson have when it comes to selecting who is going to lead the country. And, it doesn\u2019t stop there either because\u2014as we can see\u2014a hundred million bucks not only buys you a president but everyone in the president\u2019s cabinet as well. Sounds like a bargain to me, although seriously corrupt too. It is convenient, however, when publications, like the Jewish Telegraphic Agency<\/em>, explain exactly how the system works and then boast about how it serves their overall interests. What\u2019s that saying about \u201cthe tail wagging the dog\u201d?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

Then there\u2019s Mike Waltz, Trump\u2019s pick for national security advisor who is\u2014surprise, surprise\u2014another warmongering neocon who, in Trump\u2019s words, will be \u201ca strong champion of my America First Foreign Policy agenda, and a tremendous champion of our pursuit of Peace through Strength!\u201d<\/p>\n

Peace?? Not bloody likely!<\/p>\n

In a nutshell: Waltz opposed leaving Afghanistan, he thinks we haven\u2019t been supportive enough of Ukraine, and he also thinks that Iran needs a good \u201cpunch in the nose\u201d<\/strong>; which I would interpret as tacit support for military action. Here\u2019s Michael Tracey\u2019s take:<\/p>\n

At the \u201cAmerica First\u201d summit in DC, Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) says he just returned from Ukraine and is now calling for the deployment of US military \u201cadvisors\u201d directly into the war <\/strong>to operate US weapons systems alongside Ukrainian forces. \u201cLet\u2019s win this damn war!\u201d he proclaims Michael Tracey @mtracey<\/p>\n

Troops on the ground?? Is that what Waltz wants?<\/p>\n

Sure sounds like it, but how does that fit with Trump\u2019s elusive peace agenda? Here\u2019s more from Tracey:<\/p>\n

Mike Waltz, the incoming National Security Advisor, worked for Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney<\/strong>. Remember like a week ago when everybody was absolutely convinced there was some giant ideological chasm between Trump and the Cheneys? Michael Tracey @mtracey<\/p>\n

Waltz says \u201cpunch Iran in the nose\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
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Performing the standard role of Republicans during foreign policy crises — create political pressure to show “toughness” by ramping up the aggressive military action — Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) demands Biden “punch Iran in the nose,” by which he presumably means start bombing Iran pic.twitter.com\/vX8cQV91kl<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Michael Tracey (@mtracey) October 26, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n