Military Expert Responds To Trump: ‘Can’t Wait’ To Hear What You Teach Me

Dickinson College
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

The military expert Donald Trump previously said he could teach “a couple things” responded in kind Thursday, repeating his original claim to the New York Times that the Republican nominee “doesn’t know a damn thing about military strategy.”

“I can’t wait to sit down with Mr. Trump and hear what he has to teach me about military strategy,” retired Col. Jeff McCausland’s statement, posted to the website of Dickinson College, where he is a visiting professor, begins.

“He never served in the military and never served the government,” it continues. “Mr. Trump also made it very clear that he had no understanding of the nuclear triad or nuclear strategy.”

Referencing Trump’s plan to “seize” old fields in Iraq, once one of the main sources of the Islamic State’s funding, McCausland writes that it “boggles the mind to imagine how many U.S. troops it would have taken to seize the oil in Iraq and how many U.S. casualties we would have suffered” in such an operation.

McCausland also takes aim at Trump’s frequent complaint that the Obama administration shouldn’t broadcast military plans ahead of time, including those pertaining to the current Iraqi military attack of ISIL-held Mosul.

“It is clearly the desire of the U.S. and Iraqi governments to eliminate collateral damage to the civilian population of Mosul. We do not want Mosul to look like Aleppo,” he writes. “[I]t’s impossible to mask the fact that you’re hiding thousands of troops in the desert outside Mosul as you prepare for the attack and secure bases in the area for logistical support.”

“I reassert my statement to The New York Times,” McCausland concludes. “Mr. Trump doesn’t know a damn thing about military strategy.”

Latest Livewire

Notable Replies

  1. Col.

    You will be waiting a long time.

  2. To this

    He never served in the military and never served the government

    I would have added

    and dodged the draft 4 times.

  3. Well, sure, he doesn’t know anything. But he’s obviously a bright man with a nimble and curious mind, so he should be able to pick up military planning in no time!

    Just like the myriad of other subjects he’s avoided thinking about in his narrowly led, narcissistic life, but that a President would have to, hmm, think about.

  4. WherE hiS can -do attituDe? If you CaN thiNk it, yOu can AchieVe it, LibTards.

  5. Trump: I will teach him Trump Grab; that is grabbing properly and efficiently. It will be free for Military, saving $$$billions.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

66 more replies

Participants

Avatar for slbinva Avatar for austin_dave Avatar for josephebacon Avatar for brooklyndweller Avatar for hobbitdave Avatar for leftflank Avatar for kufpu Avatar for skippykaos Avatar for irasdad Avatar for carlosfiance Avatar for psyclone Avatar for lastroth Avatar for progressiveoldman Avatar for hora_del_cafe Avatar for twowolves Avatar for khaaannn Avatar for jprfrog Avatar for dnl Avatar for darrtown Avatar for wagonmound Avatar for meta Avatar for dannydorko Avatar for albert911emt Avatar for maximus

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: