The former Pentagon insider believes “negotiation leverage is more likely the rationale,” pointing out that the Department of Defense (War) has been cleared of enough senior military leaders who could try to shape or constrain the president’s decisions.
Rather, okaying the Tomahawks’ transfer would benefit the military-industrial complex “by accelerating missile production,” and Washington could even attempt to incorporate the Tomahawk threat into negotiations on a new missile treaty with Moscow, Kwiatkowski says.
“Trump likes to trade and bargain, and game the system – unfortunately he is surrounded by neocons and warmongers, much as in his previous term, and they do tend to try to mislead Trump as to both US capabilities and foreign policy priorities for their own political and financial ends,” she summed up.