Anonymous ID: 714416 Dec. 26, 2018, 8:47 a.m. No.4474121   🗄️.is đź”—kun   >>4133

Let's Not Forget Mattis and the Amazon Connections —-

 

"From January 2017 to February 2018, Donnelly was one of Mattis’ most-trusted advisers. She previously had run the D.C. office for the U.S. Central Command when Mattis ran Centcom in the Barack Obama administration. Her associate at SBD Advisors, Anthony DeMartino, joined her at the Pentagon. Both disclosed that SBD had been a paid consultant to Amazon. They helped craft messaging and marketing strategies in 2016 for potential Defense Department cloud-computing deals, Floyd said. DeMartino declined to comment.

Seven months into Donnelly’s 13-month tenure at the Pentagon, Mattis visited Amazon’s Seattle headquarters, where he met with Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos.

Three months later, the Pentagon indicated that it wanted its massive cloud contract to go to a single company. And once the formal solicitation appeared, it contained technical capabilities that only Amazon had achieved, such as having clearance to host secret data within six months of receiving the award.

 

But the dossier skips or plays down important facts, and misconstrues others. It assumes, for example, that Donnelly still had a stake in her company when she went to work for Mattis, based on her financial disclosure form showing she had received partial payment for it.

After subsequently receiving additional payments, she updated her disclosure form to reflect that. Donnelly also reported her past work for Amazon. She has now left the Pentagon and started a new consulting firm.

 

Because of their previous Amazon work, Donnelly and DeMartino would have needed conflict-of-interest waivers if they were going to be involved in decision-making on the JEDI procurement. They didn’t seek waivers, according to the Pentagon. Since Donnelly wasn’t involved in the project, her lawyer said, she never felt the need for a waiver.

The dossier also leaves out that Amazon had already won a $600 million cloud contract from the Central Intelligence Agency in 2013, showing that the Seattle-based company can manage and keep secure sensitive government data."

 

https://www.seattletimes.com/business/dirty-tricks-surround-bidding-for-pentagon-cloud-computing-contract/

Anonymous ID: 714416 Dec. 26, 2018, 9:15 a.m. No.4474394   🗄️.is đź”—kun   >>4401 >>4501

General Dunford, also retiring, was chosen because Obama knew him and liked him. From 10/2016 Military Times article discussing WL emails to Podesta.

 

"The current chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford, and the former uniformed leader of the Air Force were viewed as "great leaders but weak on strategic thinking," according to a Pentagon official detailed to the National Security Council.

Stolen emails released by WikiLeaks on Sunday revealed a March 30, 2015, email from Christopher Kirchhoff to top Clinton campaign aide John Podesta that offered stark opinions about the nation's top military leaders. At the time President Barack Obama was considering which officer to nominate as Joint Chiefs chairman.

In the hacked exchange, Kirchhoff uses his government email account to update Podesta on the pros and cons of the four finalists. Kirchhoff says Adm. James "Winnefeld is seen as the clearest thinker" but is "often too abrasive to military and civilian leaders." Air Force Chief of Staff Mark Welsh and Marine Corps Commandant Dunford, "meanwhile, are seen as great leaders but weak on strategic thinking," Kirchhoff wrote.

Strategic planning is crucial with the military involved in Iraq and Afghanistan.

 

On May 5, 2015, in the White House Rose Garden, Obama announced Dunford's nomination by saying, "I know Joe, I trust him." Obama said Dunford "has already proven his ability to give me his unvarnished military advice based on his experience on the ground."

 

The current chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford, and the former uniformed leader of the Air Force were viewed as "great leaders but weak on strategic thinking," according to a Pentagon official detailed to the National Security Council.

Stolen emails released by WikiLeaks on Sunday revealed a March 30, 2015, email from Christopher Kirchhoff to top Clinton campaign aide John Podesta that offered stark opinions about the nation's top military leaders. At the time President Barack Obama was considering which officer to nominate as Joint Chiefs chairman.

In the hacked exchange, Kirchhoff uses his government email account to update Podesta on the pros and cons of the four finalists. Kirchhoff says Adm. James "Winnefeld is seen as the clearest thinker" but is "often too abrasive to military and civilian leaders." Air Force Chief of Staff Mark Welsh and Marine Corps Commandant Dunford, "meanwhile, are seen as great leaders but weak on strategic thinking," Kirchhoff wrote.

Strategic planning is crucial with the military involved in Iraq and Afghanistan.

 

On May 5, 2015, in the White House Rose Garden, Obama announced Dunford's nomination by saying, "I know Joe, I trust him." Obama said Dunford "has already proven his ability to give me his unvarnished military advice based on his experience on the ground.

Anonymous ID: 714416 Dec. 26, 2018, 9:26 a.m. No.4474501   🗄️.is đź”—kun

>>4474394

Dunford served UNDER Mattis in Irag/Afghanistan —

 

"“Dunford has served under Mattis before in Iraq. That’s good because President-elect Trump is likely to be a bit suspicious of Dunford because he was promoted by President Obama,” Ricks said. “Mattis can disabuse him of that.”

Congress just passed legislation that will extend the terms for chairmen to four years. The language was part of the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act that was passed by the House on Friday and could go to the Senate this week. However, the four-year terms will not take effect until 2019, Cancian said.

Mattis and Dunford have a similar leadership style shaped by a no-nonsense approach to the Pentagon and a willingness to slice into its bureaucracy, retired Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Arnold Punaro said.

In 2010, Punaro worked on an initiative led by then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates to cut Pentagon headquarters positions to reduce spending. Punaro was a member of a panel that suggested cuts to U.S. Joint Forces Command, which Mattis was leading at the time. Mattis supported the decision.

“You will not find many military officers willing” to agree to cuts of their own commands, Punaro said. “That’s Joe Dunford and Jim Mattis.”

Retired Marine Corps Lt. Col. James Weirick said the combination of the two generals at the helm is likely to lead to more forces remaining in Afghanistan and Iraq. Dunford was the top commander in Afghanistan during Mattis’ final month as the commander of Central Command.

At the time, Mattis proposed keeping 20,000 forces in Afghanistan as the Obama administration transitioned from combat to a train-and-advise mission in late 2014. That same year, after Dunford’s Afghanistan tour ended, he told lawmakers during his Senate confirmation hearing to become commandant of the Marine Corps that he did not support the withdrawal of forces by 2017.

In July, Obama revised the drawdown plan and 8,400 troops are set to remain in Afghanistan after his presidency ends."

 

https://www.stripes.com/news/mattis-as-defense-secretary-could-prolong-dunford-s-stay-as-joint-chiefs-chairman-1.442788