In 1990, when it became clear that the United States planned to push Iraq out of Kuwait, Saddam Hussein’s battle strategy was straight out of the World War I playbook.
Using a modern playbook, the US destroyed the Iraqi army and defeated it en masse with just 5 weeks of air bombardment and 100 hours of battle on the ground.
The strategy was dubbed “Shock and Awe;” it was magnificent.
Trump has adapted and applied the concept to his transition planning and rollout. Rather than acting as an emperor demanding fealty–pretty much the model adopted for his first term–, he is showing his strength by bringing in the strongest-willed and smartest people to run things and scaring the bejeezus out of establishment Washington.
Trump’s first transition didn’t go so well, whether it was because he was as surprised as anyone that he was elected or perhaps because he didn’t understand the ways that bureaucracies and political institutions can fight back. Trump thought that the majesty of the presidency would bring everybody to heel, and that was a mistake.
Remember how Trump played with Mitt Romney’s ego? Romney desperately wanted to be Secretary of State and Trump humiliated him. It was fun to watch but it didn’t move the ball forward.
Not this time. Trump is dropping personnel bombs and policy statements at a blistering pace. So fast, in fact, that everybody in the establishment is scrambling.
Duane just wrote about the appointment of Pete Hegseth to be Secretary of Defense–I know Pete a little bit, and he is what we call an “outside the box” choice.
The appointment has caused absolute outrage, captured perfectly in a POLITICO article:
Politico unintentionally building grassroots support for Pete Hegseth by leading with this quote on background from a defense industry lobbyist. pic.twitter.com/m9mduDg8iG
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) November 13, 2024
If the lobbyists are angry, that is a great start. They don’t know what to do because they have no idea what they are facing. As they have prepared their trench warfare defense, Donald Trump is dropping guided weapons on their heads and using maneuver tactics to go around the defense’s strong points.
Shock and awe.
Every clip of I see of Tom Homan in hearings and interviews makes me love this man more. Easily the best pick I’ve seen so far for any appointment. pic.twitter.com/7AXB1VktuN
— The artist formerly known as S😈ssy Semite ✡︎ (@bklyngirl42) November 12, 2024
Trump’s appointments have been awesome in the original sense of the term. They scare the crap out of the people who will be facing off with them. The bureaucrats are in disarray, the lobbyists are angry and frightened, and the media is left screaming. There are too many appointments to criticize effectively; where, exactly, do they direct their fire?
Sure, some of the shots will hit their mark, but Trump’s opponents can’t concentrate their fire enough. Their defenses will get overwhelmed, and the defense will end up with a lot of self-inflicted wounds.
Donald Trump’s plan to dismantle the Deep State.
1. “Immediately reissue my 2020 executive order, restoring the President’s authority to remove rogue bureaucrats.”
2. “Clean out all of the corrupt actors in our national security and intelligence apparatus.”
3. “Totally reform… pic.twitter.com/Xhg297uWCe
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) November 8, 2024
Trump’s people are also pushing out videos outlining Agenda 47, Trump’s actual plans for his term (not the overly demonized Project 2025), and they are scaring all the right people.
Holy shit.
He’s going for the endowments.
He’s going to not only tax, but confiscate the endowments of every university that the Department of Justice finds has engaged in illegal discrimination under the guise of “equity”.
Which is basically every university in the country,… https://t.co/HWJwXcHDdy
— John Carter (@martianwyrdlord) November 12, 2024
With over a century of accumulated mass, the establishment is deeply entrenched. If Trump fights a trench warfare strategy, the bureaucracy will be able to wait him out. There will be plenty of casualties, but on both sides, the bureaucracy will have a lot more mass to absorb those casualties.
BREAKING:
Absolutely Insane Fascist Dictator Calls For Freedom of Speech & Upholding The ConstitutionRadical tyrant Trump thinks he can give people unrestricted freedom of speech and remove institutional censorship! how can this attack on democracy continue?!
Makes me sick. pic.twitter.com/N1Hy8GFyjx
— Jay Anderson (@TheProjectUnity) November 9, 2024
Trump clearly understands this fact now and is sending his smart bombs directly at the strategic centers of power. He will decapitate the enemy through strategic firings, disarm them by going after bureaucracies and nonprofits, and put them on defense by challenging their “norms” and undermining their strategies.
I can’t say that Operation Swamp Storm will be as successful as Desert Storm–the Washington establishment is not the Republican Guard–but this strategy is much more likely to succeed than the one followed in the first Trump war. Trump has better generals, understands the battlefield, and he has the tools to do great damage to the establishment.
For all their power, most in the establishment are midwits–people of modest intelligence who have been handed incredibly powerful tools. Trump’s current team is not made up of midwits.
There will be some losses along the way, but I like our odds in this battle. I think the Shock and Awe strategy will work.
