Thread by @RobertPLewis

Loyalty & Pride over Military Service for a Commander in Chief (Thread):

1. Pussy hats didn't work
-RussiaGate didn't work
-Stormy & Jean Carroll didn't work
-UkraineGate won't work
-Corrupt media has lost nearly all of their influence

So what is the left trying now?
(con'td)

2. I've noticed another method of attack from the left to dissect the loyalty of one of President Trump's most fiercely loyal bases lately, and it's the most laughable. But most Americans don't understand why the military & combat veterans love our Cmdr in Chief so much.
(cont'd)

3. Being a combat vet myself, I wanted to share some insights from my own experience, those of my Brothers and some other friends who are part of "the machine" to help explain a few things, and show why this is yet another losing battle for the left.
(cont'd)

4. Have you ever had a job that you thought you would love, doing something that you were great at & enjoyed, but realized that management or corporate culture tied your hands & hamstrung you from doing what you knew needed to be done?
(cont'd)

5. This is something that happened to our military for 16 yrs under both Obama and Clinton, and I'd like to share a personal story to help explain one of the reasons Obama was such a terrible CoC, and why ISIS proliferated under his control but was decimated under Trump.
(cont'd)

6. My first book, Love Me When I'm Gone, has most of the story set on FOB Shank in Logar Province, Afghanistan. It's a province near the Pakistani border where my ODA spent most of our time on my first deployment to Afghanistan.
(cont'd)

7. Because of its proximity to Pakistan and Kabul, it was a main pipeline for men, weapons & equipment moving from Pakistan to Kabul, and has been on & off a very hot part of Afghanistan throughout the war.
(cont'd)

8. When my ODA went to FOB Shank, we were the first warfighters on the FOB - it was mainly a logistical base before that, with some EOD as the only combat arms present. There was an ANA Kandack base across the street, and we trained, armed and fought alongside them.
(cont'd)

9. Because of its proximity to Pakistan, there were quite a few bad guys in Logar, & we would be frequently rocketed or mortared at night. Before we arrived, the US soldiers couldn't do much about it. After we arrived, we were allowed to hunt the people doing it.
(cont'd)

10. We had an open Rules of Engagement that was clear & straight forward: find, fix & destroy the enemy. Pretty clear when someone is lobbing Katyusha rockets and mortars at you that they're the enemy. So, they sent mortars, we went after them, problem solved.

11. After that deployment was over, I had a little over a month off before heading to Iraq with a different battalion, and while I was in Iraq my former ODA went back to Afghanistan and FOB Shank. There was an Army Times article about my ODA titled "72 Hours in Hell..."
(cont'd)

12. ...written about a 72 hour firefight they were in during that deployment, so you can guess what the OPTEMPO was like for them. I cannot find that article anymore, which is odd.
During that deployment, FOB Shank began a major buildup, getting runways, expanding...
(cont'd)

13. ...in size and even getting a runway large enough to land C-17's on, which is significant. FOB Shank has since been turned over to the Afghans, and this article pretty much sums up what they've done with it: stripes.com/news/welcome-t…
(cont'd)

14. But that's not the important lesson.
After my ODA finished their 2nd deployment to Shank, a friend of mine in Civil Affairs was sent their, overlapping the end of my former ODA's deployment, staying for another year after they left.
What else happened in this time?
(cont'd)

15. Obama took office.
There are many reasons that the military (aside from the politicians masquerading as Generals) hated Obama's treatment of the military, but my friend's experience at Shank under his rule is a great example of one of the major ones.
(cont'd)

16. Obama wanted to rule the military from DC, taking power away from the warfighters on the ground, constraining the Rules of Engagement (ROE) to the point where soldiers were worried about shooting back lest they be brought up on charges for war crimes...
(cont'd)

17. ...which Obama's admin did often. The Taliban & AQ knew this, and began using women & children as human shields, always having cameras present to take video if American soldiers shot back, having a direct line to US press just in case they could use it as PR...
(cont'd)

18. ...with a willing media, who were strangely anti-war then, yet seem to be warmongers now that President Trump is fighting to keep us out of wars in the Middle East.
But one of the major implications of this ROE was that you could not shoot back unless you could...

19. ...positively identify the person who was shooting at you. By virtue of their use, this is nearly impossible with mortars and katyusha rockets, which are made to be able to put distance between you and the target, and were often shot at FOB Shank during the night.
(cont'd)

20. The chilling effects Obama's ROE had on commanders was to be extremely hesitant to allow their soldiers to do their job and hunt, fight or even shoot back at bad guys who were shooting at them.
During my Civil Affairs friend's deployment, they essentially had to...
(cont'd)

21. ...lay in their bunks at night, knowing they would be mortared and rocketed, and knowing that they couldn't do anything about it.
And, of course, when the Taliban figured out they could do this with impunity, the attacks picked up significantly.
(cont'd)

22. Just imagine that, for a moment: sent to a God awful place for a year, ostensibly to fight for your country, but having your hands tied keeping you from not only fighting but also from defending yourself.
And people wonder why PTSD increased so much during that time.
(cont'd)

23. Not surprising to anyone with a competent brain, these constrained ROE also allowed ISIS to flourish. Commander's hands were tied to the point where ISIS was allowed to take massive amounts of land, slaves, kidnapping victims and operate with impunity.
(cont'd)

24. At a time where Obama acolytes had total control over military operations. It's almost like he didn't want anything done to stop them.
A friend of mine was tasked by the New York Times to look into how and why President Trump was able to decimate ISIS in 2 years...
(cont'd)

25. ...when Obama couldn't do it during his 8. My friend is a NYT best selling author who has more contacts in JSOC, C_A and F_I than most, and so he did what a good author or investigator does...he reached out to his contacts.
(cont'd)

26. They told him the same thing that any war fighter who served under Obama could have told you: when President Trump removed Obama's constraining ROE, the warfighters were finally allowed to actually go hunt bad guys.
(cont'd)

Having run multiple successful businesses, President Trump knew that ego serves its purpose, but when you are not the Subject Matter Expert, it's best to defer to the SMEs when making big decisions.
(cont'd)

27. He gave military control back to the military, got rid of the politicians masquerading as Generals and tasked them to destroy ISIS - and that's exactly what they did, in record time.
My friend wrote an article and submitted it to the NYT, but they refused to print,
(cont'd)

28. saying that it "would make Trump look good."
Think about that for a moment: the NYT refused to print anything good about President Trump, even when he had successfully decimated the virus that is ISIS.
Enemy of the people, indeed.
(cont'd)

29. I've seen a resurgence in the left attacking President Trump for his lack of military service, but they are, as usual, completely missing the point and not understanding why the military and combat veterans love his as their Commander in Chief.
(cont'd)

30. Full disclosure, I've considered many times re-joining the military just to say that I could have served under him.
I'm nearly 40, have 4 kids and am doing the thing that makes me happy (writing), but the honor of having him as CoC has made me think about it.
(cont'd)

31. These lunatics on the left that attack President Trump's service never worry that Bill Clinton not only never served, but also decimated the military with his Base Realignment and Closing (BRAC), reductions in pay and funding.
(cont'd)

32. They don't care that Obama used cheap Chinese steel to build military equipment, reduced our supply of ammo to the point that Gen Mattis warned Trump during the transition that we were combat ineffective, and sent pink slips to combat arms Captains while they...
(cont'd)

33....were on deployments. The last one essentially took our combat-hardened leaders out of the professional advancement, ensuring we'd lose an entire generation of military leaders with combat experience.
Think about the implications of that.
(cont'd)

34. He's only been in office for 3 years, and already President Trump has done more for the military and veterans than any President before him with military service.
"But the VA Choice bill has been on the table for decades."
-but it never got passed before him
(cont'd)

35. "But they've been talking about reforming the VA for decades before Trump."
-but they never actually did before him.
He's turned our military back into a professional fighting force, the likes of which the world has never seen.
He's put money back into the...
(cont'd)

36. "Peace through Strength" philosophy, making world leaders second guess every geopolitical gamble they had put into play under Obama.
How many Navy vessels were antagonized by Iran under Obama?
How many under President Trump?
The world understands now, as they did...
(cont'd)

37...under Regan, that if you mess with the USA, you will be turned into a parking lot.
At the same time, he's keeping us out of needless wars, much to the chagrin of talking heads like Meghan McCain, Max Boot & Bill Kristol.
Those who've never had to receive a phone...
(cont'd)

38. ...call telling you that you Brother in arms is dead do not understand the significance of that.
Those of us who've received those calls do.
We are willing to fight and die for the flag & what it represents if needed.
We believe in the USA.
We love the USA.
(cont'd)

39. But we don't want to lose our Brothers & Sisters if not absolutely needed.
We'd prefer to let our enemies die for their cause rather than our countrymen & women.
But the left understands none of this.
(cont'd"

40. So let them continue their "President Bone Spurs" claims and attacks on his credibility as CoC due to a lack of military service.
But also understand that we vets and active duty do not see that as the most important attribute for a CoC of the US Military.
(cont'd)

41. Loyalty, love, respect and a "weapons free" ROE if we're sent to do our duty and hunt bad guys are all that we care about.
President Trump understands that, has done that, and we love him for it.
God bless America, thank you God for President Trump.
/END

@HeroesMediagrp @tracybeanz @dbongino @T_S_P_O_O_K_Y @SeanParnellUSA @seanhannity @GenFlynn @drawandstrike @themarketswork @MikayesFiona