‘2010 Called, It Wants Its Talking Points Back:’ Reporter Stuns Room In Confrontation With America’s Highest Ranking General

Military Times reporter Geoff Ziezulewicz pushed back against the U.S. military’s top general during a conference on Friday.

When Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the military was making progress in Afghanistan, Ziezulewicz criticized him for reciting old talking points.

The exchange comes amid frustration on the part of the Pentagon press corps over what it says is a lack of transparency about U.S. wars and military operations worldwide.

A veteran reporter lobbed a bit of journalistic skepticism at America’s highest-ranking general on Friday, pushing back when he offered a rosy assessment of the Afghanistan war effort.

The exchange came during Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford’s appearance at the annual Military Reporters and Editors conference in Arlington, Virginia.

In a Q & A session, Dunford said “security has not significantly deteriorated” in Afghanistan and the U.S.-led military coalition there is making “incremental progress over time.”

Those well-worn buzz phrases didn’t sit well with Military Times reporter Geoff Ziezulewicz, who interjected, “2010 called, and it wants its talking points back.”

Ziezulewicz’s response — an unusual bit of sarcasm from the defense press — was noted by many of the Pentagon reporters in the room.

At #MRE2018 journalism conference, @JournoGeoffZ challenges Gen. Dunford on Afghanistan, saying that “2010 called, and it wants its talking points back.” 1/2

— Dan Lamothe (@DanLamothe) October 26, 2018

.@JournoGeoffZ takes issue with Dunford’s positive characterization of Afghanistan fight in Q&A: “2010 called, it wants its talking points back.” https://t.co/sAT3q60Ikm

— Jack Detsch (@JackDetsch_ALM) October 26, 2018

Although Ziezulewicz himself did not comment on his exchange with Dunford, his frank retort likely stems from frustration among the Pentagon press corps about what it sees as a lack of transparency on Afghanistan and the military’s activity in general. Among defense reporters, there is a sense that top Pentagon officials, including Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, are closing off access to information that used to be provided as a matter of routine.

Since Mattis took over at the Pentagon, the military has stopped providing troop levels for Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, something it had done regularly in the past. The Pentagon also no longer publishes casualty and force strength data for Afghan security forces, key metrics in evaluating how the war effort is progressing.

Dunford says the information is being withheld at the behest of the U.S.-backed government in Kabul, but defense reporters suspect the Pentagon is using that excuse to obscure how the war is going. They have also complained about a lack of access to Mattis and other top Pentagon brass, who interact with the press far less frequently than in previous administrations.

Despite concerns about secrecy, reporters credited Dunford for his candor at the MRE conference, where he answered a wide range of questions about the military’s activities around the world.

“There is often frustrations of late between the Pentagon press corps and senior brass over a lack of access. They’re real,” Washington Post defense correspondent Dan Lamothe wrote on Twitter. “But I’ll say this: Gen. Dunford is taking pointed questions today at #MRE2018 and answering both directly and passionately. Hope others take notice.”

The military journalism conference occurs as the U.S. is directly fighting or supporting at least six wars on three continents, plus dozens of counterterrorism missions at any given time. Under Trump, the war in Afghanistan has stretched into its 18th year with no discernible end in sight, while Washington is preparing for a long-term military intervention in Syria.

In Yemen, the U.S. is supporting a Saudi Arabia-led coalition in its campaign to oust Houthi rebels from power. Washington’s involvement, which includes aerial refueling, surveillance and targeting assistance, is increasingly being questioned amid weekly reports of atrocities committed by coalition forces against Yemeni civilians.

https://dailycaller.com/2018/10/26/military-reporter-dunford-afghanistan/

Texas Democratic Party Leader Funded 'Voter Fraud Ring,' Says Government

Texas law enforcement officials have arrested four women for allegedly targeting elderly voters in the 2016 elections in a "voter fraud ring" that was funded by a Democratic Party leader, according to court documents filed this week by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

"The defendants were members of an organized voter fraud ring and were paid to target elderly voters in certain northern Fort Worth precincts in a scheme to generate large numbers of mail ballots, then harvest those ballots for specific candidates," NBC DFW reported.

A grand jury indicted Leticia Sanchez, 57, Leticia Sanchez Tepichin, 39, Maria Solis, 40, and Laura Parra, 24, on a cumulative 30 felony counts of voter fraud on Oct. 10 following an investigation by Paxton's office. Breitbart Texas reported:

The state’s newly filed notice of intent to introduce evidence in the Sanchez criminal case alleged that Stuart Clegg, then Tarrant County Democratic Party executive director, funded the alleged voter fraud ring’s criminal activities.

The Star-Telegram added that "after learning about a state investigation, Leticia Sanchez — one of four women arrested and indicted on voter fraud charges — allegedly directed her daughter to send a text message to others in the scheme, urging them not to cooperate with investigators, state officials say."

"The scheme was conducted when applications for mail ballot were proliferated in targeted precincts," NBC DFW added. "When ballots were mailed out by election offices, the fraudsters attempted either to intercept the ballots or to 'assist' elderly voters in voting their ballots to ensure votes were cast for the fraudsters’ choice. In most cases, the voters do not even know their votes have been stolen, the news release said."

The fraudulent applications used forged signatures and many of the voters that were targeted in the scheme "were forced to cancel their mail ballots so they could vote in person and some were forced to receive primary ballots for the political party supported by the harvesters, though it was not the party the voters supported."

In a statement, AG Paxton said:

Ballots by mail are intended to make it easier for Texas seniors to vote. The unfortunate downside is their extreme vulnerability to fraud. My office is committed to ensuring that paid vote harvesters who fraudulently generate mail ballots, stealing votes from seniors, are held accountable for their despicable actions and for the damage they inflict on the electoral process.

https://www.dailywire.com/news/37661/texas-democratic-party-leader-funded-voter-fraud-ryan-saavedra

Has anyone questioned why there was an ISIS flag stuck to one of these hoax bombs?

Black Conservative and Twitter Star ‘Melissa’ Gets Account Reinstated — Goes to White House, Meets President Trump

“Melissa” is a black conservative and Trump supporter with a huge following on Twitter.

(Melissa asked us not to use her full name because she has small children at home.)

Earlier this week Melissa announced on Twitter that she was attending the Black Conservative Summit in Washington DC this week sponsored by Turning Point USA.

Within an hour of posting her announcement on Twitter Melissa was suspended by Twitter.

This was the third account she created since coming out as a black female Trump supporter.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2018/10/black-conservative-and-twitter-star-melissa-gets-account-reinstated-goes-to-white-house-meets-president-trump/