The Flynn Assassination & Its Ramifications

T. Belman.  I am in touch with a number of experts who say that Flynn didn’t lie to Pence. It is obvious that Trump wanted him out rather than in. He could have stood by him. But there is more to it than that. Why didn’t Trump replace him with a similarly minded guy. On the contrary he chose the opposite who espoused that Islam is a religion of peace. Did Trump want to abandon his line about “radical Islamist terrorism”? We will have to see if Trump continues using that phrase.

The fact that McMaster in his first public remarks after his appointment, stood in opposition to his boss. Its like he was giving a message. McMaster also immediately selected McCain to head an important committee on National Security. Perhaps Trump threw Flynn under the bus in a deal made with McCain to buy McCain’s silence on Russia and Islam.  We will see.

By Michael Ledeen, FORBES

Why should I challenge the powerful words of Bryan Wright or the extensive reporting of Adam Kredo?  The political assassination of General Mike Flynn was carried out by a cabal of CIA officials and Obama loyalists, in tandem with allies in the media.  It’s an ugly spectacle, damaging to our national interests, and perhaps unique in our history, as Senator Cruz has said.

Flynn’s phone calls with Russian officials, which took place before he officially entered the White House, do not appear to violate any law. Yet the release of classified information about them certainly is a crime.  As Wright says, “The spies who are plotting against President Trump are breaking U.S. laws. They’re violating their oaths. And they’re committing treason to remedy (perceived) treason.”

If I had to guess, I’d bet that Wright’s correct:  the spooks, in league with the Obama remnant in the bureaucracy and the press, killed Mike Flynn.  That’s the logic of the event.  Cui bono?  Who gains? 

The vicious attack on Flynn is not a new development. There are many in the Intelligence Community who have been out to get Flynn for years,  because he exposed their failures in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  In an article in 2010 he said:

Eight years into the war in Afghanistan, the U.S. intelligence community is only marginally relevant to the overall strategy, Having focused the overwhelming majority of its collection efforts and analytical brainpower on insurgent groups, the vast intelligence apparatus is unable to answer fundamental questions about the environment in which U.S. and allied forces operate and the people they seek to persuade.

As he had done in Iraq, Flynn transformed the way battlefield intelligence was done in Afghanistan, with similarly impressive results.  Al Qaida in Iraq, and the Taliban in Afghanistan, were defeated by US and allied forces.  No wonder he was put in charge of DIA.  And no wonder top brass, and high-ranking intel officials, didn’t like it;  Flynn’s methods eliminated the big guys—those in uniform and those at CIA and DIA–from the process of collecting information, evaluating it rapidly, and putting the lessons learned into play within hours.  Our intelligence became more accurate and thus our ability to win became more effective.

Some of the disgruntled officials and officers went after Flynn at DIA, and they collected his scalp.  The same men were furious when Flynn was chosen to lead the National Security Council, and again brought him down.  In league with media accomplices, they created a firestorm based on the blatantly false claim that Flynn was in cahoots with Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin.  Never mind that anyone taking the time to read Flynn’s book, The Field of Fight, would easily find language very hostile to Putin.  But the media firestorm was too hot for the White House, and Flynn was driven out.

I was surprised that President Trump pulled the plug on his national security advisor.    Flynn was one of the first foreign policy leaders to endorse Trump, and undoubtedly helped him win the election.  Remember all those rallies where Flynn introduced the candidate?  He,  more than any other Trump supporter, provided badly-needed credibility to The Donald’s call to make America great again. 

Pity that the hard core of the Trump Administration, from the president down through the various friends and family members, and a few professional pols like Reince Priebus, do not seem to have appreciated the consequences of the Flynn assassination for their own power and future.  Anyone contemplating service in the Trump Administration will now have to ask himself an obvious question:  if the White House won’t fight to protect a loyal ally, a national hero, like Mike Flynn, it isn’t likely to fight for me, is it?

To be sure, we don’t yet know all the details, and it may well be that Flynn fell into the “Scooter Libby trap,” in which he is at risk of being accused of making false or incomplete statements to FBI questioners.  But to date, there isn’t any reason to think he actually did anything wrong.  And the hullabaloo about Flynn’s conversations with the Russian ambassador is preposterous;;  that’s exactly what he should have done.

Let’s read the transcripts and see what actually took place.

Meanwhile, President Trump should expect ongoing attacks against himself and his team.  His enemies, inside and outside the system, have been encouraged to up the ante.  Yes, the new security advisor is a terrific man, but the political risk of Trump’s cabinet is far greater than it was a couple of weeks ago.

You’ll see.