Military leaders in the Pentagon and the Washington area are on red alert, wary of what President Donald Trump might do in his final days in power. Although far-fetched, senior officers have been discussing what they would do if the president declared martial law.
And the responsible military commands in Washington DC are engaged in secret contingency planning in case the armed forces are called upon to maintain or restore civil order during the inauguration and transition period. According to an officer who spoke to the U.S. magazine, Newsweek, on condition of anonymity, the planning is being ignored by the White House and the Trump Loyalists in the Pentagon because otherwise it could be cancelled.
“I’ve been associated with the military for more than 40 years and I’ve never seen discussions like the ones going on right now,” said a retired U.S. Army officer, still working for the military but indirectly. The officer, who has been mentoring and advising senior leaders in his department, also remained anonymous for fear of possible reprisals.
Six officers in similar positions agree that there is no chance that the uniformed leadership would become involved in a scheme to create an election-related overthrow. They fear, however, that the military will be drawn into the Trump crisis, particularly if Trump attempts to rally private militias to disrupt the transition of power and thus create a rush on the streets of the capital.
At the moment, because of the coronavirus, says a retired judge advocate general, the president actually has unprecedented emergency powers, which could convince him – especially if he listens to some of his supporters – that he has unlimited powers and is above the law.
Previously, there had been speculation that Trump would use military action to alter the outcome of the presidential election.
More than a month after his defeat in the presidential election, Trump continues to make serious accusations about the conduct of the election. In a tweet published on Wednesday, the White House tenant attacked the signature verification process in Georgia as “slow”.
“They don’t want the results to be known before January 6,” he said, adding, “They know what they’re trying so hard to hide.
Trump promised his supporters that there would be a “wild” rally in Washington DC on January 6, the day Congress is scheduled to meet to officially finalize the presidential election results.
“It’s statistically impossible to have lost the 2020 election,” Trump tweeted Saturday. “Big demonstration in DC on January 6. Be there, it’s going to be wild! ».
The pardon granted by Donald Trump to the four Blackwater hitmen convicted and detained for the carnage of Iraqi civilians could prove to be very expensive for the United States, which stubbornly refuses to withdraw from Iraq as ordered by Parliament
Iraqi The Committee on Foreign Relations in the Iraqi Parliament denounced this Friday in the strongest terms the release of 14 Blackwater mercenaries who were sentenced to 14 years in prison for having massacred 14 Iraqi civilians in 2007 in al Nassour Square.
This measure must be countered and this countermeasure could not be less than a revision of all the contracts signed with the American security companies, says the commission, which claims to have already begun the prosecution of this case with the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
For many analysts, the revision of the security agreements signed with US companies and especially their revocation would de facto mean illegalizing their presence in Iraq and exposing them to the perfectly legal operations of the Iraqi Resistance against the US occupation. This week, the Iraqi Resistance claimed no less than six operations against the US military convoys maintained by the above-mentioned security companies that regularly travel through the main Iraqi arteries to Syria. US mercenaries are often at the head of the recruitment and trafficking networks of Dasch terrorists from Syria, networks that the Resistance fights powerfully on the borders or in Salaheddine or Kirkuk. A brand new operation…
According to Baghdad Today, a group of Daesh terrorists launched a vast offensive against the strategic city of Jurf al-Nasr, located in the north of the province of Babel in order to regain control of it, but the fighters of Hashd al-Shaabi took action just in time to neutralize the terrorists’ attempt.
The Hashd succeeded in inflicting casualties and damage on Daesh’s elements. Jurf al-Nasr, known as Jurf al-Sakhar until the end of 2014 and its reconquest by Iraqi forces, is a very small but strategic town. And it is located about 60 kilometers southwest of Baghdad.
Earlier, Hashd fighters got their hands on a good quantity of weapons belonging to takfirist elements of Daech, during the operation to secure the west of Kirkuk. It is worth noting that fifteen Austrian-made missiles were among the weapons seized.
Hashd al-Shaabi recently discovered and seized a large quantity of weapons belonging to Daech during an operation in al-Anbar province. Iraqi popular mobilization units are actively engaged in a series of operations aimed at securing Iraq’s provinces and definitively cleansing them of Daesh’s presence.
by Jeremy Abbott – American Correspondent – WN