PrairiePundit

Breitbart: Award-winning journalist and war correspondent Lara Logan discussed how retired generals who are speaking out against President Trump are either “complicit” with or waging an information warfare campaign against him, in an interview with Sirius XM’s Breitbart News Daily on Wednesday. Logan reminded listeners of the Russian collusion narrative, and how many officials from the Justice Department, Director of National Intelligence, Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency, and other agencies worked together to push the idea that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 election. “Think about how many people it took who had to be complicit to push that narrative. Think about the secretaries of defense and the national security advisers that served at that time, who all had access to the intelligence. They all knew it wasn’t true,” Logan told show host Breitbart News Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow. “General [Jim] Mattis, he knew. General [H.R.] Mc...

CNN: Iraqi forces have now seized control of most of the strategically significant city of Tal Afar from ISIS, the Iraqi Joint Military Command said Saturday. Iraqi Joint Military Command spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasool said units from the joint Iraqi forces are in full control of 60% of the "operational area" and 90% of the city center of Tal Afar. The offensive to retake the key northwestern city from ISIS started Sunday . Several divisions of Iraqi security, including the American-trained Counter Terrorism Forces, were advancing on Tal Afar from different sides. The commander of the Tal Afar operation, Abdulamir Yarallah, said Saturday that units of the 9th Armored Division and the Popular Mobilization Units, also known as the Hashd al-Shaabi, had captured al-Muthanna 2 district and the Tal Afar Hospital. Earlier in the day, Yarallah said counterterrorism forces had "raised the Iraqi flag" in the central areas of The Citadel and al-Basateen. Only a ...

NY Times: Trump Defends McMaster as Conservatives Seek His Dismissal Nationalist wing of the president’s political coalition unleashes a relentless attack on the national security adviser. “He is a good man,” Trump replies. I disagree with McMaster on the Palestinians and their absurd position on Jerusalem as well as their support for war crimes against Israelis.  I also disagree with his apparent position on the flawed Iran deal.  I think he is dead wrong in claiming that the Israelis are illegally occupying the area the Palestinians reside in. McMaster is a good military strategist and tactician.  I don't understand why he is clinging to the failed policies of the past in dealing with the Middle East.  I see more logical movement from the Arab States in their relationship with Israel and Iran than I am seeing from the US State Department and McMaster.

NY Times: Trump Chooses Army Strategist to Be National Security Adviser Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, a widely respected military strategist, is seen as one of the Army’s leading intellectuals. The choice continues President Trump’s reliance on high-ranking military officers to advise him on national security. McMaster is a mart guy who has been a thoughtful military leader and strategist.  He was an early adapter to the counterinsurgency strategy that was eventually used to defeat al Qaeda in Iraq.  He knows first hand what a disaster Obama's retreat from Iraq was for Iraq and the US allies in the Sunni dominated region.