January 27 2017 - (picture by Kena Betancur/Getty Images) WASHINGTON — President Trump visited the #Pentagon Friday to charge his new Defense secretary with rebuilding the military and announce an #executiveaction to clamp down on #refugee admissions in the #UnitedStates. At a swearing-in ceremony for his Secretary of Defense #JimMattis, Trump called called the former Marine general "a man of action." Trump will call on him to implement a plan to boost the size and strength of #military forces while cutting unnecessary programs. "Our military strength will be questioned by no one, but neither will our dedication to peace," Trump said. The president then signed two presidential directives, one on military policy and another to "keep radical Islamic terrorists out of the United States of America." While the exact language of the order was not immediately available, but based on widely circulated drafts it was expected to include a moratorium of refugees from a list of predominately #Muslim countries. "We want to make sure we don’t want to admit into our country the very terrorists that our soldiers are fighting overseas," Trump said. Trump also received a briefing by military brass on plans to expand the pace and scope of the bombing campaign against Islamic State targets in #Iraq and #Syria will likely be one option presented to Trump. That could be accomplished by providing more aerial spy planes and other assets from the military and intelligence communities, said Scott Murray, a retired Air Force colonel who helped direct the effort to target ISIL fighters and their infrastructure. Commanders could also re-examine limits on the number of civilian casualties that the military risks when it hits ISIL targets, Murray said. Known as the “non-combatant value,” the rule restricts the number of civilians who can be put at risk in an airstrike. #news#militarystate#isis#war#racism#islamaphobia (at Πεντάγωνο)
