Admiral James Stavridis, USN, Ret.
@stavridisj
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Vice Chair,The Carlyle Group; Chair, Rockefeller Foundation Board; PhD; ADM, USN(Ret.) fmr Supreme Allied Commander at NATO. @admiralstav.bsky.social
Washington DC / Florida
Joined October 2008
Very cool one minute video about “The Restless Wave“ my latest novel.
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This is no way for a government official or political candidate to conduct themselves on the sacred ground of Section 60 at Arlington. The final resting place of so many heroic Americans -- including some who died under my command -- is not a political prop.
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Pro-tip: If your ship is heeling over like this, check for leaks. (I know these things because I'm an Admiral.).
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To all the trolls who surface whenever I compare Zelensky to Churchill -- please know that I will always fight for your right to express your opinions (and your right to repeat Kremlin talking points) no matter how ill-informed they are. Just don't expect me to believe them.
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Hey @elonmusk, first those are not "our" bases. We are hosted by allies who provide access. Also, the graphic you posted is nonsense. We don't have access in more that a few, none in many of the countries you show. Truth matters.
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On the last night of her visit, Lorelei age 7 challenged Admiral Florida Man to a game of battleship. Tragically, despite all my years of combat experience in the fleet, I lost. Sometimes you just have to make a way for the next generation of military talent. Steely eyed killer
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We have an American aircraft carrier, airwing, warships off the coast of Israel - could be in combat any minute. But we don’t have a chief of naval operations confirmed. What’s wrong with that picture? Answer: Senator Tuberville. Lift the hold coach.
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I am a naval expert, General, and you are entirely correct. I will send you my Russian tank damage analysis soon.
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I don’t always agree with President Erdogan but in this case his call to restore Crimea to Ukraine is exactly right. This is a serious blow to Vladimir Putin.
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If Trump moves on to fire the head of the CIA and the head of the FBI, both true professionals and patriots, we are going to be in uncharted waters for the next 90 days. It all has terrible “burn it down” on the way out feeling. It is playing with fire with our nations security.
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Wreckage has been located but I agree with Coach T. Congress should get more info on the loss of this plane. Perhaps the Commandant of the Marine Corps could brief the Hill. oh, wait. there isn't a confirmed Commandant thanks to the Coach @SenTuberville.
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Tuberville says US can't take on China because "we've got people doing poems on aircraft carriers." Hey coach: Roses are red, carriers are gray, how come you dissing our military every damn day? @SenTuberville .
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Turkey blocking Royal Navy minehunters is a misuse of the Montreaux convention. Minehunters are entirely defensive. Their use allows Ukraine to keep its economy alive. As a NATO ally, Turkey should reverse course here and allow these ships to transit.
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From an AF General who was on my team at NATO In this aircraft that is designed to transport 102. The 800 on board have arrived safely. Thank you 816th EAS. American heroes all.
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I was in the Pentagon on 9/11 in my office on the side of the building that was hit by the aircraft, and I was lucky to survive. I remember the heroes of the day, especially the first responders both in Washington and in New York, on this day - and every day.
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The most well-deserved Time "Person of the Year" pick ever? Zelensky is the Winston Churchill of our times, standing with courage and nobility in the face of darkness and evil coming from Moscow. Slava Ukraini!
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Deeply surprised to learn that Navy has fired the Captain of carrier Roosevelt who is battling coronavirus in his 5,000 sailor crew in Guam. Want to know more given the Captain’s obvious concern for his crew to understand this decision.
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It is far past time to unleash Ukraine 🇺🇦 against Russia 🇷🇺. While I'm respectful of the risk of escalation, there will not be serious negotiation without more pressure on Putin. We should support Ukraine attacks of any kind within 300 miles of the border. We need to remember who.
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Actually, Vivek, it still makes perfect sense. Recommend you find someone who understands the military and ask them to explain it to you.
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I commanded dozens of major bases in Europe for 4 years as Supreme Allied Commander of NATO & Commander, US European Command. We had plenty of scares, but nothing that required this level of alert. Clearly there is a deep concern and that is consistent with everything I can see.
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Abruptly pulling 12,500 troops out of Germany (to put half of them in countries who spend LESS on defense) doesn't make sense financially, hurts NATO solidarity overall, and is a gift to Putin.
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What should we do to Russia if they offered bounties to kill US military in Afghanistan? Publicize our intel widely; no G7 membership; cut diplomatic relations broadly; sanction Putin and Lavarov personally; use cyber to retaliate. This is big casino if true. Must step up.
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Dr. Fauci says 400K Americans may die from COVID-19 if action isn't taken this fall and winter. To put that in perspective: 400K is the total # of Americans buried at Arlington National Cemetery since the 1860s. We can do better. We must do better.
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Plus the extension cords are not long enough.
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Hint: you don’t use heavy artillery in street to street battles.
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Congrats to @maddow @JoeNBC @StephenAtHome @Sethmeyers . and @BarackObama among 500 Americans joining the rest of us already proudly banned from travel to Russia.
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This kind of foolish appeasement was attempted in the 20th century and you can drop a plumb line to the rise of fascism and the Second World War. Never a good idea to give in to liars and bullies like Putin.
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Ukraine is hardly a medieval country (nor is Haiti.) What IS medieval: poisoning political opponents, rape by military invaders, killing innocent children in their strollers at train stations. Look in a mirror, Vlad.
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Don't forget. The French Revolution began with the storming of a prison, the Bastille.
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Ukrainian spring offensive is turning out to be the longest telegraphed punch in history of warfare. Worth noting. this is an enormous battle front -almost 900 miles.Think New Orleans to Chicago — so maneuver will be key. Don’t bet against Ukraine. (Typo in earlier tweet sorry)
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Glad to see @realDonaldTrump and President Erdogan buried the hatchet. Too bad it was right in the back of the Kurds. We can do so much better in working with our allies, partners, and friends. It should be the key to our strategy.
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Plenty of blame to go around in the fall of Kabul. Afghan government showed zero leadership, Taliban stepped up and performed, capitalizing on their support from Pakistan, and US military to include myself failed in our mission to build an Afghan security force that would fight.
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A Finnish general reacting to Putin’s threats if Finland joins NATO: “You are most welcome here to join the 200,000 Russians that are already in Finland buried a few meters in the ground after your last attempt in 1939.".via @bopinion.
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Extended deployment. They have already been away from family and friends for over 6 months, and now will probably remain on station for some months to come. We ask so much of our sailors and Marines.
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A wonderful gift on Veteran's Day.The Kremlin put me on their sanctions list! I stand second to no one in my lack of regard for Putin & co. Now I have a Kremlin "Blue Check" verifying my contempt.Congrats to fellow honorees like @ianbremmer @MarkHertling.
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See if you can spot the subtle message in the background sent by the Ukrainian parliamentarian interviewed by @AliVelshi on @MSNBC this morning.
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Putin may decide that his invasion has failed, and instead he will decide if he can’t “take it, he will break it." That is a war crime.
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Once again I’ve been edged out for a big award. I will keep trying
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A gulag for children? I repeat: Russia is a terrorist state.
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CORRECTION. Earlier reports suggesting that Russian conscripts get only one day of training before being sent to front may be incorrect. New report says they get ZERO days.
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Colin Powell was the North Star to a generation of senior American military officers including me. First call I made for advice as NATO commander was to him. Godspeed and open water to a General for the ages.
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I like and respect Ambassador Dan Coats our Director of National Intelligence and head of the US intel community. But I am Not sure how he goes to work tomorrow -- knowing that his boss values his assurances no more highly than those of Vladimir Putin.
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Adm. Stavridis: ‘This is the moment’ to reconsider giving Ukrainians ‘tactical war-fighting jets’ via @msnbc.
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New ad makes strong case for military aid to Ukraine. It is economical - just 5% of our defense budget helped destroy 50% of Putin's army -- and geopolitically sensible. It weakens China and NK as well. And no US boots on the ground! Both US political parties should take note.
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All of my signals are blinking red in terms of the potential for a terrorist attack against American interests in the U.S. or abroad in the next few months. The chance to disrupt the US election may be irresistible to our enemies.
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Good decision POTUS to walk-back plan to hold G-7 at Doral. When I was commander of US Southern Command in Miami, we often held events at Doral because it was cheap, often empty and not owned by our boss. Now if only he could undo the disastrous decision on the Kurds as well.
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Now would be a great time for the Ukrainians to mass fires against the bridge connecting Crimea and the Russian mainland. Given the distractions of the invasion, this would be the right time to simply drop that thing. Cut off Crimea.
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Given Kremlin calls for retaliation against US media, I think it is time for all US media members to pull out of Russia. Otherwise, they could easily end up as hostages.
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Zelensky is the “center of gravity” in Ukraine which, in military terms means that about which all else revolves. His courage is undaunted and remarkable. We need to do everything we can to help the Ukrainians protect him.
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The British intelligence has consistently been spot on in their assessments. These numbers are simply shocking and overtime unsustainable for a demographically challenged nation like Russia. Eventually, Putin is going to have to find an exit.
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Hard to know where to start on this one. .
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This is simply ridiculous. We need a global coalition to destroy the Houthis capability to shut down shipping. Now.
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Ukraine is a tale of 2 wars…1 on the ground . 1 in the air.The Ukrainians are winning on the ground, but Russians are winning in the air and destroying Ukraine’s electric grid.We need to increase air defense to help win the 2nd war - doing that will break the Russian war effort.
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I want to our cemeteries as supreme Allied Commander of NATO sacred shrines to those who have given everything. The phrase: “shocking if true” is getting worn out. Lack of denial from my friends Generals Kelly and Mattis suggest the shock is well placed.
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I graduated from Annapolis exactly 30 years after Ensign Jimmy Carter did. He sailed True North through a long and productive life and I salute him on his 100th birthday. Go Navy!
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Cracks appearing in Putin’s wall of lies. Our greatest weapon is the truth — and ten million Ukrainians videotaping war crimes daily.
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In a sea of misjudgments, executing Americans would be in a class of its own. Think twice, Russia.
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This appears to me to be Russian sabotage. Hard to come up with another explanation. NATO must investigate quickly and fully -- and respond appropriately if this proves to be the Kremlin's work.
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If this is true, it will be a disaster, not just for Ukraine, but for the reputation of the United States and the entire global system.
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I wonder what these guys are smoking.
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Fair winds and following seas to my favorite, on-screen Admiral.
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Navy SEALS should have the final word on Gallagher's SEAL pin. My thoughts in TIME
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Ukraine and its friends are pretty good at cyber too, Vladimir. Six Russian government websites including Kremlin website down
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When all this is over -- the Navy should build another hospital ship like USNS COMFORT and MERCY -- and name it the USNS ANTHONY FAUCI.
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I recently criticized a dumb military-related post on X by @elonmusk.But now I feel bad because I’ve learned so much from him about business e.g. How to make a small fortune.Step 1: spend a large fortune buying Twitter. Step 2: rename it X VOILA! You now have a small(er) fortune.
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To my friends in Helsinki. I remember well the bravery and professionalism of your superb troops. In my view, you are most welcome in NATO
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I never thought, in a long life spent operationally in conflict zones, I would see scenes like this in DC in the USA. Our adversaries will be dumbfounded with their good fortune seeing this insurrection - Russia and China will be actively thinking how can they extend it.
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French soldiers fought bravely in Afghanistan under my command. Nothing I saw would suggest they would fold under pressure — quite the contrary. Vive La France 🇫🇷 .
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This is the worst kind of war crime, directly targeting civilians and especially children. Hard to imagine this kind of cruelty.
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Repeating offensive Kremlin talking points is an odd way to try to win votes in the USA.
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Asked on TV about the significance of a woman becoming CNO, I said it is a good thing but what really counts is that ADM Franchetti has been a destroyer capt., a commodore of a squadron of destroyers, commanded 2 carrier strike groups, and led 6th Fleet. Lots of combat experience.
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Congratulations to the kingdom of Norway, for becoming a nation designated by the Kremlin as “unfriendly." Can’t think of a better list for a nation to be on in today’s world
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Ukraine will come out of this war with the most battle-hardened military in Europe, & among the best equipped. It'll certainly be the most motivated having experienced the horror of war at home. We ought to welcome them into NATO sooner rather than later.
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The US needs to wake up and build ships like this Russian armed icebreaker. Russia has dozens of icebreakers, armed and nuclear powered. We have one Coast Guard icebreaker. Both the US and NATO need to look north.
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This is still a rumor -- but if true it would likely be the highest ranking naval officer killed in combat since WWII.
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Adniral Florida Man is Ready for army navy game! Wearing my letter sweater down here in Florida. This is actually my replacement letter sweater because the first one was burned up during 911 in the Pentagon. Only the “N” survived.
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What call sign to we give the pilot who shot down the Chinese spy balloon? I'm going with "Bloony" but there are many possibilities. Also, are they painting a balloon on the side of that F-22?
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Perhaps you did not know that he was ALSO a former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO
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Zoos, no. Unlike some Russians, we are not war criminals. But I can think of a couple Russians who should be behind bars.
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Putin has mobilized the Russian people – they are moving toward the exits.
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I promise not to call football plays if @SenTuberville will quit making military (mis) judgments. Sports is full of big upsets, Coach. We'll call this one "The Miracle on Crimea" when the Ukrainians win. War Eagle. Slava Ukraini.
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I believe Joe Biden has much to be proud of – from his time in the Senate, as Vice President and President. His decision to step aside from the 2024 race is yet another example of his putting the interests of the nation first. He has my respect for taking this courageous action.
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Putin is clearly out to attack the undersea cables carrying vital internet comms in the Baltic. With the addition of Sweden and Finland to the Alliance, the Baltic is nearly a NATO lake -- but Russia wants to remind us they can play a spoiler role. NATO will have to protect its.
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Excellent news from Turkey. Now only Hungary is holding back membership for Sweden in @NATO. Hopefully, Budapest will do right thing shortly. This has taken far longer than it should have. Sweden & Finland will both be superb members of this alliance.
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Russians getting ONE day of training before being sent to war? Must be fast learners. In one day of training at US Naval Academy, all I learned was how to stand at attention. Maybe not the most relevant skill for combat in Ukraine.
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I have visited Finland many times because they have been very strong partners to NATO. I am thrilled to see their path to for membership finally approved. Congratulations Helsinki! Now it is critical to do the same for Sweden.
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Ukraine is a worthy cause on the side of freedom & justice. It is also exceptionally good value for the $. It is destroying Russian military capability that we'd otherwise have to be prepared to defend against.We must do more to explain this to the public.
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Proud of fellow sailor Senior Chief Petty Officer Malcolm Nance (USN, Ret.) @MalcolmNance who Russia thinks is Ukraine's secret weapon.
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I see Dr. Fauci is under attack (unfairly in my view.) So I thought it was time to re-up my tweet from March proposing that the Navy name a hospital ship for him when the current crisis passes. He is terrific — honest and direct.
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This is a remarkable achievement by Ukraine eliminating a very significant Russian military leader and many of his subordinates. I believe you have to go back to WWII to find other admiral killed in combat.
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Opposing using seized Russian assets to help Ukraine makes no sense. It is just one of several steps we should take to help Kyiv.
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The distant boom you hear is Vladimir Putin's head exploding in frustration as his world continues to unravel. Adding Finland 🇫🇮, and now Sweden 🇸🇪, are a pair of brilliant decisions by the @NATO alliance.
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The last time I was this mad was 9/11. That time Al Qaeda tried and failed to attack the US Capitol — the airliner destined for the Capitol was downed by real heroes. This time, a mob of supporters of Trump succeeded. Osama bin Ladin must be laughing at us in hell.
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This is a seminal moment in military history, like Agincourt or Pearl Harbor. As cheap drones go to sea in serious numbers, expensive manned surface warships will be threatened. We need to create effective countermeasures
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Even a hint of "delaying the election" will send a terrible signal overseas. Our adversaries, especially authoritarian China and Russia, will seize on it as validation for their own manipulations of "elections" in their country. Allies will see it as a wobble on our democracy.
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Go to it Mr President — use the weapons well in defending the freedom of your nation.
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Watch this chilling and Orwellian scene. Hu gets heave ho. Xi you later Hu.
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History being made in so many ways right in front of our eyes. As Supreme Allied Commander of NATO for 4 years, I never considered use of these “war reserve” equipment.
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