Posted on Dec 2, 2015
Do you believe the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff may have committed career suicide by contradicting President Obama?
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http://thehill.com/policy/defense/261644-general-we-have-not-contained-isis
The United States has "not contained" the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the nation's top military officer said Tuesday, contradicting President Obama's remarks last month about the terror group.
"We have not contained" ISIS, Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told lawmakers at a House Armed Services Committee hearing.
The comment runs counter to what the president said days before ISIS launched a string of attacks across Paris.
"I don't think they're gaining strength. What is true is that from the start, our goal has been first to contain, and we have contained them," Obama told ABC News.
Ben Rhodes, deputy national security adviser for strategic communication, later said the president's remarks applied specifically to Iraq and Syria.
Dunford said ISIS has been "tactically" contained in areas they have been since 2010 but added, "Strategically they have spread since 2010."
His remarks were in response to questioning by Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) on whether ISIS has been contained at any time since 2010.
Dunford added that ISIS posed a threat beyond Iraq and Syria to countries such as Egypt, Nigeria, Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Lebanon and Jordan.
Forbes also got Dunford to disagree with Defense Secretary Ash Carter, who testified alongside him.
Carter had declared during his opening statement that "we're at war" with ISIS.
Forbes pressed Dunford whether the U.S. was at war with ISIS, and who declared that war.
"We are technically not at war," Dunford replied.
An academic report released Tuesday said that American support for radical Islamism has reached “unprecedented” levels.
“What we do see in the United States is an unprecedented mobilization” that is “bigger than any other mobilization we have seen since 9/11,” Lorenzo Vidino, the director of George Washington University’s program on extremism, said during an event releasing the report.
The report found that the types of Americans drawn to ISIS vary widely in terms of race, age, education and family background. Yet they are largely all united by their use of social media, which ISIS has been able to master as its reach has grown.
FBI Director James Comey has said that federal officials have launched ISIS-related investigations in all 50 states.
Obama, who is in Paris for talks on an international climate change agreement, has also used the trip to meet with world leaders about the threat from ISIS.
The United States has "not contained" the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the nation's top military officer said Tuesday, contradicting President Obama's remarks last month about the terror group.
"We have not contained" ISIS, Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told lawmakers at a House Armed Services Committee hearing.
The comment runs counter to what the president said days before ISIS launched a string of attacks across Paris.
"I don't think they're gaining strength. What is true is that from the start, our goal has been first to contain, and we have contained them," Obama told ABC News.
Ben Rhodes, deputy national security adviser for strategic communication, later said the president's remarks applied specifically to Iraq and Syria.
Dunford said ISIS has been "tactically" contained in areas they have been since 2010 but added, "Strategically they have spread since 2010."
His remarks were in response to questioning by Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) on whether ISIS has been contained at any time since 2010.
Dunford added that ISIS posed a threat beyond Iraq and Syria to countries such as Egypt, Nigeria, Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Lebanon and Jordan.
Forbes also got Dunford to disagree with Defense Secretary Ash Carter, who testified alongside him.
Carter had declared during his opening statement that "we're at war" with ISIS.
Forbes pressed Dunford whether the U.S. was at war with ISIS, and who declared that war.
"We are technically not at war," Dunford replied.
An academic report released Tuesday said that American support for radical Islamism has reached “unprecedented” levels.
“What we do see in the United States is an unprecedented mobilization” that is “bigger than any other mobilization we have seen since 9/11,” Lorenzo Vidino, the director of George Washington University’s program on extremism, said during an event releasing the report.
The report found that the types of Americans drawn to ISIS vary widely in terms of race, age, education and family background. Yet they are largely all united by their use of social media, which ISIS has been able to master as its reach has grown.
FBI Director James Comey has said that federal officials have launched ISIS-related investigations in all 50 states.
Obama, who is in Paris for talks on an international climate change agreement, has also used the trip to meet with world leaders about the threat from ISIS.
ISIS
Terrorism
Office of the President (POTUS)
Posted 10 y ago
Responses: 29
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Another thought occurred to me. Where is the JCS Chair's next step in his career?
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MCPO Roger Collins
That is an option. As I said Earlier, it would become a political issue since he was recently confirmed. He is an honorable honest leader with an impeccable record. Can his senior say the same?
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MAJ David Wallace
With this administration, that is entirely possible. If you aren't wearing pajamas 24/7, living in your mom's basement, drinkin' the Kool Aid, and bad mouthing the USA on your blog site, you are not of value to the powers that be.......
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I don't believe so. His job is to provide the President with honest, informed information. If the President doesn't follow the advice given to him, that's on him. Career wise, the General has topped out and after this assignment the only option is retirement. So technically, he has no further military career to effect. But I think that he may get privately rebuked, but that is all.
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Being a 4 star in the Military, there are few things he can do that would be career suicide. He is at the apex of his career. The only place he could go would to receive a 5th star, not likely to happen. Really, once they have served as CJCS, they retire from the Military.
He could be fired or asked to resign by the POTUS. Not likely, but could eventually happen. The POTUS has helped many senior Military personnel leave the service and I would not put it pass him to try and get Gen. Dunford to retire sooner than later. The POTUS prefers to have yes men instead of rational thinkers with their own opinion or ideas.
He could be fired or asked to resign by the POTUS. Not likely, but could eventually happen. The POTUS has helped many senior Military personnel leave the service and I would not put it pass him to try and get Gen. Dunford to retire sooner than later. The POTUS prefers to have yes men instead of rational thinkers with their own opinion or ideas.
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CPT Ahmed Faried
^ can you verify any of that are you just content to spread misinformation. Provide proof that this President has "helped many senior Military personnel leave the service". You need to evaluate these political lies before spreading them as fact.
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SSG Todd Halverson
CPT Ahmed Faried - Look at the facts. Pre-Obama the military, on average, relieved of command an average of one per year. Since Obama has taken office, over 190 have been relieved. Check the Army Times, Marine Corps Times, NBC News or Fox News. From 2009 when Army Gen. David D. McKiernan was the first 4-star relieved; since Truman relieved MacArthur, Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, to 157 Air Force majors. Military advocates decry ‘illegal’ early terminations of 157 Air Force majors, Marine General John R. Allen – Nov. 13, 2012 ISAF Commander, and Marine Gen. James Mattis – May 2013. Chief of CentCom, who was travelling and in a meeting when an aide passed him a note telling him that the Pentagon had announced his replacement as head of Central Command. It was news to him — he hadn’t received a phone call or a heads-up from anyone at the Pentagon or the White House.
If one believes they all left because they wanted to, then they are living in a fantasy world.
If one believes they all left because they wanted to, then they are living in a fantasy world.
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CPT Ahmed Faried
SSG Todd Halverson - ok. I still haven't seen the definitive proof that the President was personally responsible for these actions. Provide that proof.
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SSG Todd Halverson
Obviously you can not see or understand the big picture..... When the President relieves a General of his command, there really is only one thing left for him to do. They can only retire or spend the rest of their time in some kind of meaningless job.
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He would have had his comments been opposite of the president's view about the enemy that is "climate change".
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No, He didn't directly call out the President as lying (despite how the press is spinning it), instead he told the truth as he knows it. This might even provide the administration cover for the containment issue in the future. At this point in the President's lame duck administration, they'll probably just ignore it. Although the General may not be invited to any more of the President's golf, basketball, and beer weekends at Camp David.
The real question is: does anyone in this administration (other than Gen Dunford) know the difference between the words "Tactical and Strategic"? I doubt it.
The real question is: does anyone in this administration (other than Gen Dunford) know the difference between the words "Tactical and Strategic"? I doubt it.
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It's definitely not career suicide. It's more just doing his job and being himself. It's what his reputation has been as a Marine and continues to be. Good on him.
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