The Coronavirus Is the Worst Intelligence Failure in U.S. History (1 Viewer)

[W_Heisenberg]

The Coronavirus Is the Worst Intelligence Failure in U.S. History

It’s more glaring than Pearl Harbor and 9/11—and it’s all the fault of Donald Trump’s leadership.

...Suffice it to say, the Trump administration has cumulatively failed, both in taking seriously the specific, repeated intelligence community warnings about a coronavirus outbreak and in vigorously pursuing the nationwide response initiatives commensurate with the predicted threat. The federal government alone has the resources and authorities to lead the relevant public and private stakeholders to confront the foreseeable harms posed by the virus. Unfortunately, Trump officials made a series of judgments (minimizing the hazards of COVID-19) and decisions (refusing to act with the urgency required) that have needlessly made Americans far less safe.

...By now, there are three painfully obvious observations about Trump’s leadership style that explain the worsening coronavirus pandemic that Americans now face. First, there is the fact that once he believes absolutely anything—no matter how poorly thought-out, ill-informed, or inaccurate—he remains completely anchored to that initial impression or judgment. Leaders are unusually hubristic and overconfident; for many, the fact that they have risen to elevated levels of power is evidence of their inherent wisdom. But truly wise leaders authentically solicit feedback and criticism, are actively open thinkers, and are capable of changing their minds. By all accounts, Trump lacks these enabling competencies.

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More continued at link:

The Coronavirus Is the Worst Intelligence Failure in U.S. History, and It's All Trump's Fault

 

[humbolt]

Nope. Clearly Wison's failure to prevent the Spanish Flu outbreak was magnitudes worse.

 

[ttwtt78640]

Yep, and all of those demorat congress critters in the know were busy having their states and districts gearing up for the coming pandemic - look it up.

 

[What if...?]

Nope. Clearly Wison's failure to prevent the Spanish Flu outbreak was magnitudes worse.

I'm sorry, did Wilson go on the radio at the beginning and tell the nation we would be down to zero cases very soon?

Or are you just carrying more trump water?

 

[Drawdown]

If the POTUS had put the entire country under martial law because of one case, people would have lost their ****.

 

[beefheart]

The cult isn't dealing well with the truth these days.

Surprised?

 

[apdst]

I'm sorry, did Wilson go on the radio at the beginning and tell the nation we would be down to zero cases very soon?

Or are you just carrying more trump water?

They didn't have national broadcast services in 1918. :lamo

 

[apdst]

The cult isn't dealing well with the truth these days.

Surprised?

The virus is all Trump's fault?

 

[Lutherf]

If the POTUS had put the entire country under martial law because of one case, people would have lost their ****.

The good news is that now, once a Democrat is in office, we can reasonably expect EXACTLY that response to the next potential virus.

 

[humbolt]

I'm sorry, did Wilson go on the radio at the beginning and tell the nation we would be down to zero cases very soon?

Or are you just carrying more trump water?

That has nothing to do with prevention.

 

[Drawdown]

The good news is that now, once a Democrat is in office, we can reasonably expect EXACTLY that response to the next potential virus.

How else are they going to pay off our student loans, give us free college, save the planet from carbon, make us all buy electric cars, and give us $30K a year in "Basic Income"? Nothing like an emergency. Never let one go to waste.

 

[southwest88]

Certainly a failure to execute laid out contingency plans

Nope. Clearly Wison's failure to prevent the Spanish Flu outbreak was magnitudes worse.

President Wilson? No, the federal government was only a shadow then of what it's become since WWII. & Wilson spent a lot of time & effort wrecking what federal government there was - resegregating & racially purging the federal bureaucracy, for instance. & microbiology was poorly understood @ the time, the tools & procedures simply weren't there.

One of the modern theories about that flu is that it arose in Kansas, I think it was. The US Army's casual movement of trainloads & shiploads of soldiers (packed together, living practically in each other's lap), from base to base, & overseas, exacerbated the spread of the flu, helping to turn it into a world pandemic. There was a lot of flailing about & useless - even dangerous mistaken efforts made to fight the disease. Eventually, we did learn to provide medical support to patients (we trained a lot of nurses on a crash basis) & wait out the course of the disease. But a lot of people died.

 

[dcaraz]

Nope. Clearly Wison's failure to prevent the Spanish Flu outbreak was magnitudes worse.

It is far too early for us to flatly say that. Sadly, we will wait weeks before possibly experiencing the peaks in reported infections and deaths.
But the key point of the OP that our president and Commander in Chief has falsely claimed this threat represents "a hoax" and that its severity was overblown can not be dismissed.
History will record the facts after the dust settles. But here in America's Covid-19 epicenter, we New Yorkers are counting bodies.

 

[jmotivator]

The cult isn't dealing well with the truth these days.

Surprised?

There is no truth in the statement, it is projection and presumption pretending to be fact of potential future outcomes. When we are on the other end of this feel free to talk about the actual numbers however you want, but this bull**** of passing WAGs as objective, reasoned fact doesn't hit the target your intended.

 

[dcaraz]

How else are they going to pay off our student loans, give us free college, save the planet from carbon, make us all buy electric cars, and give us $30K a year in "Basic Income"? Nothing like an emergency. Never let one go to waste.

Geez. All you can do at a time like this is blather about policy trial balloons? Most Dems are unwilling to support the litany of social concepts pushed by the left wing of the party.
Most Dems are happy to support a Biden campaign. Because most Dems are more moderate than the Sanders wing.
This disaster will hurt our nation. Not just blue, red or purple states, but EVERY state will be hurt and too many millions of Americans who can least afford.

 

[Erod]

The cult isn't dealing well with the truth these days.

Surprised?

Nope, the cult isn't dealing well with the truth that this is being handled brilliantly.

60% approval rating for Trump on the crisis. Now if only the big blue states would heed the warning and stop infecting each other in droves.

 

[Jack Hays]

The Coronavirus Is the Worst Intelligence Failure in U.S. History

It’s more glaring than Pearl Harbor and 9/11—and it’s all the fault of Donald Trump’s leadership.

Last September, I met the vice president for risk for a Fortune 100 company in Washington, D.C. I asked the executive—who previously had a long career as an intelligence analyst—the question you would ask any risk officer: “What are you most worried about?” Without pausing, this person replied, “A highly contagious virus that begins somewhere in China and spreads rapidly.” This vice president, whose company has offices throughout East Asia, explained the preventative mitigating steps the company had subsequently adopted to counter this potential threat.

Since the novel coronavirus has swept the world, I have often thought about this person’s prescient risk calculus. Most leaders lack the discipline to do routine risk-based horizon scanning, and fewer still develop the requisite contingency plans. Even rarer is the leader who has the foresight to correctly identify the top threat far enough in advance to develop and implement those plans.

Suffice it to say, the Trump administration has cumulatively failed, both in taking seriously the specific, repeated intelligence community warnings about a coronavirus outbreak and in vigorously pursuing the nationwide response initiatives commensurate with the predicted threat. The federal government alone has the resources and authorities to lead the relevant public and private stakeholders to confront the foreseeable harms posed by the virus. Unfortunately, Trump officials made a series of judgments (minimizing the hazards of COVID-19) and decisions (refusing to act with the urgency required) that have needlessly made Americans far less safe.

In short, the Trump administration forced a catastrophic strategic surprise onto the American people. But unlike past strategic surprises—Pearl Harbor, the Iranian revolution of 1979, or especially 9/11—the current one was brought about by unprecedented indifference, even willful negligence. Whereas, for example, the 9/11 Commission Report assigned blame for the al Qaeda attacks on the administrations of presidents Ronald Reagan through George W. Bush, the unfolding coronavirus crisis is overwhelmingly the sole responsibility of the current White House.

Chapter 8 of the 9/11 Commission Report was titled, “The System Was Blinking Red.” The quote came from former CIA Director George Tenet, who was characterizing the summer of 2001, when the intelligence community’s multiple reporting streams indicated an imminent aviation terrorist attack inside the United States. Despite the warnings and frenzied efforts of some counterterrorism officials, the 9/11 Commission determined “We see little evidence that the progress of the plot was disturbed by any government action. … Time ran out.”

Last week, the Washington Post reported on the steady drumbeat of coronavirus warnings that the intelligence community presented to the White House in January and February. These alerts made little impact upon senior administration officials, who were undoubtedly influenced by President Donald Trump’s constant derision of the virus, which he began on Jan. 22: “We have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China, and we have it under control. It’s going to be just fine.”


U.S. President Donald Trump looks on as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin speaks during a briefing about the coronavirus outbreak at the White House on March 17.
How Will the Coronavirus Pandemic Reshape the U.S. Election?
A major outbreak and looming recession in the United States has transformed the 2020 campaign—and could have major consequences for the future of great power politics.

By now, there are three painfully obvious observations about Trump’s leadership style that explain the worsening coronavirus pandemic that Americans now face. First, there is the fact that once he believes absolutely anything—no matter how poorly thought-out, ill-informed, or inaccurate—he remains completely anchored to that initial impression or judgment. Leaders are unusually hubristic and overconfident; for many, the fact that they have risen to elevated levels of power is evidence of their inherent wisdom. But truly wise leaders authentically solicit feedback and criticism, are actively open thinkers, and are capable of changing their minds. By all accounts, Trump lacks these enabling competencies.

--

More continued at link:

The Coronavirus Is the Worst Intelligence Failure in U.S. History, and It's All Trump's Fault

That's not an intelligence failure. It's a policy failure.

 

[bearpoker]

Nope, the cult isn't dealing well with the truth that this is being handled brilliantly.

60% approval rating for Trump on the crisis. Now if only the big blue states would heed the warning and stop infecting each other in droves.

You're quoting the Gallup poll from the 24th. Specifically on the Corona virus. His overall approval rating as of today is 44.6% on FiveThirtyEight. How Popular Is Donald Trump? | FiveThirtyEight It's possible that his overall rating is being propped up by popular approval of his handling of the Virus and would really be in the toilet without it. I don't think that's the case. People want to rally around the president in times of national crisis. If this were a normal president like, for example, George W, he would be getting 95% approval.

 

[dcaraz]

The Coronavirus Is the Worst Intelligence Failure in U.S. History

It’s more glaring than Pearl Harbor and 9/11—and it’s all the fault of Donald Trump’s leadership.

By all accounts, Trump lacks these enabling competencies.

--

More continued at link:

The Coronavirus Is the Worst Intelligence Failure in U.S. History, and It's All Trump's Fault

Sadly accurate. History will not be kind to American preparedness or the failures of our federal leadership.
We live in suburban Metro NYC, and I am glad our Governor Andrew Cuomo has been actively communicating, managing and lobbying for smart and immediate actions
to reduce infections and protect lives.

 

[Drawdown]

Geez. All you can do at a time like this is blather about policy trial balloons? Most Dems are unwilling to support the litany of social concepts pushed by the left wing of the party.
Most Dems are happy to support a Biden campaign. Because most Dems are more moderate than the Sanders wing.
This disaster will hurt our nation. Not just blue, red or purple states, but EVERY state will be hurt and too many millions of Americans who can least afford.

Those millions should have made better life choices.

 

[snakestretcher]

If the POTUS had put the entire country under martial law because of one case, people would have lost their ****.

Martial law or a very real potential you could die? Your choice.

 

[dcaraz]

That's not an intelligence failure. It's a policy failure.

It's a DEADLY failure. But rather than admit the real reason America is looking more like Italy's infection rate than South Korea's,
Trump supporters will somehow blame our misery on Schumer, Pelosi, Obama, or Clinton, or Biden or Sanders--ANYONE other than the current occupant in the White House.
The cult-like support for this president is hard to understand. But of course even in Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Russia there have always been solid supporters despite ample proof of wrongdoing.

 

[PoS]

The Coronavirus Is the Worst Intelligence Failure in U.S. History

It’s more glaring than Pearl Harbor and 9/11—and it’s all the fault of Donald Trump’s leadership.

Last September, I met the vice president for risk for a Fortune 100 company in Washington, D.C. I asked the executive—who previously had a long career as an intelligence analyst—the question you would ask any risk officer: “What are you most worried about?” Without pausing, this person replied, “A highly contagious virus that begins somewhere in China and spreads rapidly.” This vice president, whose company has offices throughout East Asia, explained the preventative mitigating steps the company had subsequently adopted to counter this potential threat.

Since the novel coronavirus has swept the world, I have often thought about this person’s prescient risk calculus. Most leaders lack the discipline to do routine risk-based horizon scanning, and fewer still develop the requisite contingency plans. Even rarer is the leader who has the foresight to correctly identify the top threat far enough in advance to develop and implement those plans.

Suffice it to say, the Trump administration has cumulatively failed, both in taking seriously the specific, repeated intelligence community warnings about a coronavirus outbreak and in vigorously pursuing the nationwide response initiatives commensurate with the predicted threat. The federal government alone has the resources and authorities to lead the relevant public and private stakeholders to confront the foreseeable harms posed by the virus. Unfortunately, Trump officials made a series of judgments (minimizing the hazards of COVID-19) and decisions (refusing to act with the urgency required) that have needlessly made Americans far less safe.

In short, the Trump administration forced a catastrophic strategic surprise onto the American people. But unlike past strategic surprises—Pearl Harbor, the Iranian revolution of 1979, or especially 9/11—the current one was brought about by unprecedented indifference, even willful negligence. Whereas, for example, the 9/11 Commission Report assigned blame for the al Qaeda attacks on the administrations of presidents Ronald Reagan through George W. Bush, the unfolding coronavirus crisis is overwhelmingly the sole responsibility of the current White House.

Chapter 8 of the 9/11 Commission Report was titled, “The System Was Blinking Red.” The quote came from former CIA Director George Tenet, who was characterizing the summer of 2001, when the intelligence community’s multiple reporting streams indicated an imminent aviation terrorist attack inside the United States. Despite the warnings and frenzied efforts of some counterterrorism officials, the 9/11 Commission determined “We see little evidence that the progress of the plot was disturbed by any government action. … Time ran out.”

Last week, the Washington Post reported on the steady drumbeat of coronavirus warnings that the intelligence community presented to the White House in January and February. These alerts made little impact upon senior administration officials, who were undoubtedly influenced by President Donald Trump’s constant derision of the virus, which he began on Jan. 22: “We have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China, and we have it under control. It’s going to be just fine.”


U.S. President Donald Trump looks on as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin speaks during a briefing about the coronavirus outbreak at the White House on March 17.
How Will the Coronavirus Pandemic Reshape the U.S. Election?
A major outbreak and looming recession in the United States has transformed the 2020 campaign—and could have major consequences for the future of great power politics.

By now, there are three painfully obvious observations about Trump’s leadership style that explain the worsening coronavirus pandemic that Americans now face. First, there is the fact that once he believes absolutely anything—no matter how poorly thought-out, ill-informed, or inaccurate—he remains completely anchored to that initial impression or judgment. Leaders are unusually hubristic and overconfident; for many, the fact that they have risen to elevated levels of power is evidence of their inherent wisdom. But truly wise leaders authentically solicit feedback and criticism, are actively open thinkers, and are capable of changing their minds. By all accounts, Trump lacks these enabling competencies.

--

More continued at link:

The Coronavirus Is the Worst Intelligence Failure in U.S. History, and It's All Trump's Fault

LOL what a stupid article, as if we didnt have enough Jason Bournes to infiltrate the coronavirus HQ and foil their dastardly plans for a world pandemic...

 

[dcaraz]

Those millions should have made better life choices.

Sounds like Reagan trickel down economics 101...let them eat Taco Bell!

 

[snakestretcher]

Nope, the cult isn't dealing well with the truth that this is being handled brilliantly.

60% approval rating for Trump on the crisis. Now if only the big blue states would heed the warning and stop infecting each other in droves.

Approval means ****-especially when it comes from idiots supporting an incompetent moron. It's ok though, Trump says it's business as usual come Easter:lamo