Introductory story here from
the Washington Post that is tied to the following story from ABC News –
basically the same subject. The WaPo headline is:
“A real mess: Trump is leaving behind crises and undermining Biden before
he takes office”
When President-elect Joe Biden is sworn into office on January 20,
2021, the list of crises he will face includes: (1) a massive cyber intrusion, (2)
a still-raging global virus pandemic, (3) a slowing economic recovery, and (4) a
lingering reckoning over the nation’s racial tensions.
Trump is not making Biden’s
job any easier and, in several ways, appears to be actively making it harder —
going to extraordinary lengths to disrupt and undermine the traditional
transition from one administration to another despite the nation’s many crises.
The result is a situation
without precedent in American history: A president ending his term amid
crises while seeking to delegitimize his successor and floating the prospect of
mounting a four-year campaign to return to power.
Trump has sought to play down or even deny the still-expanding cybersecurity breach that many experts blame on Russia, even as its impact has spread to a growing number of federal agencies.
The delayed and turbulent transition process could complicate the Biden administration’s ability to address the challenge and shore up the nation’s cyber-defenses.
Democrats and some Republicans raised the alarm on December 20 about a massive and growing cybersecurity breach that many experts blame on Russia.
Trump has been far more
vocal on other issues that have captured his focus, ranging from baseless
claims of election fraud to a rolling purge of administration officials deemed
not sufficiently loyal.
In his final weeks in
office, Trump is making a series of moves aimed at cementing his legacy and
handicapping Biden’s presidency — from abruptly pulling troops from war zones
to cracking down on Iran to encouraging the DOJ to investigate his political
enemies.
Now, tie the WaPo story into this from
ABC News into Trump’s current high-level security meetings re: Iran with
these other actions:
He ordered B-52’s to fly near Iran.
He withdrew the U.S. from the 2015 JCPOA nuclear deal with
Iran that was
working by all accounts including on-site IAEA inspection reports of Iranian
compliance. But Trump wanted it his way or no way, so he pulled us of the agreement.
All that leads one to think that Trump actually wants war with Iran. Then he leaves office and that to Joe Biden and later Trump can say: “See the mess Biden has made – only I can fix it.”
All that is a classic and clever stunt, ploy, and Trump's M.O.
Lately, Trump has not been allowing Biden’s security team to
set in or attend high-level security briefings on this subject and the growing concern he has ginned up.
Now, Trump appears to
have emerged victorious the one last big battle with Congress over his push
for massive arms sales to the ME after the Senate failed
to block a $23 billion sale to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Only a couple of Democrats
joined all but one Republican to sink two resolutions that would have blocked
the sale to UAE of: (1) armed drones and (2) the
F-35, the most advanced U.S. fighter jet.
That deal, known as the Abraham Accords, has been welcomed
by Republicans and Democrats as historic, but many lawmakers warned against the unprecedented delivery of
such high-tech weaponry to an Arab partner in the Middle East and accused the
administration of rushing the sales through in Trump's lame-duck session.
Why Opposition to the Arms Deal? Two key examples are:
• In addition to UAE airstrikes in Yemen, they have also
been accused of passing U.S. military equipment along to militias on the ground
in the war-torn country which is a violation of U.S. arms policy. Particular
outrage is in concern because it allegedly includes Islamist extremist groups.
• They are also accused of violating the UN arms embargo on
Libya, where a civil war has been fueled by outside weapons from Turkey, Russia,
and others – something the U.S. has repeatedly condemned.
Sen. Chris Murphy
(D-CT) says: “Why reward the UAE with
this massive unprecedented arms sale ($23B) when we can't be sure how they're
going to use those weapons or whether they're going to actually stay in the
hands of the UAE? That, in and of itself, I think is a reason to press pause on
the sale.”
The State Department briefed Murphy and other members of the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee recently in a classified meeting to try to
dispel some of their concerns, but Senate aides told ABC News that lawmakers
left the meeting with many unanswered questions.
Related to this very serious and growing issue: Groups
urge halt to arms sales provide help to Yemen
My 2 cents: All of this is very worrisome and yet in character with how Trump is and acts and governs: Slipshod and raggedy.
I am sure the Biden team sees it the same way and is all over this as they ready themselves to take over from Trump … trouble is what can Trump do between now and January 20?
Many people forewarned of this from Trump, and now those predictions meet reality. So, hang on tight.
Thanks for stopping by.
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