WHO IS IN DEFENSE OF OUR NATION?
As of this writing, 40 days remain in the Trump presidency. Changes are on-going. The firing of the top official for cyber security responsible for ensuring our nation remains free of foreign interference and fraud, and overseeing that our elections were not tampered with, is the most outrageous testament of who we have leading our nation. President Trump does not want to accept the election vote putting President-Elect Joe Biden in the White House, and he is apparently doing all he can to impact all defense positions by inauguration day. The replacement of Mark Esper as Secretary of Defense was an even more egregious action that threatens our national security.
The commander-in-chief makes the call regarding military engagements that may arise; a decision that should happen only after extensive consultation with his National Security team, one of whom is the Secretary of Defense. As his presidential term comes to a close, President Trump has been making more irrational decisions, throwing a hail-Mary pass rather than allowing for a peaceful transition. The timing of these cabinet changes adversely impacts our defense posture; and all just prior to President-Elect Biden being sworn in. These actions are alarming and indicate the time has come to invoke the 25th Amendment. This president has undermined all our democratic processes in-order to get what he wants; has placed only ‘yes’ men in the highest positions of our defense organizations yet maintains the keys of our nuclear arsenal.
When the president replaced Mark Esper, his Deputy David Norquist would be the expected replacement. Instead, Trump selected Christopher Miller, former National Counter-terrorism Center Director. Let us compare some of the qualifications between the best qualified candidate and the one who was chosen from the list of the ‘anything-you-say-sir sycophants’:
David Norquist’s education and expertise are in political science/public policy with a Master’s degree from Georgetown University in National Security. Further, he is a Certified Government Financial Manager for which he received the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service when serving as the Deputy Undersecretary of Defense in the Office of the Comptroller under President George W. Bush. For his leadership under President Bush, he was awarded the Secretary of Homeland Security Outstanding Service Medal. He was appointed Undersecretary of Defense (Comptroller)Chief Financial Officer in June 2017, then in July 2019 became the Deputy to Mark Esper. Norquist had three years at the battle-front of departmental decisions.
President Trump’s choice as “Acting” Secretary of Defense, Christopher Miller does not have the experience and expertise to manage a large organization, particularly one that encompasses over three million personnel with a budget of over $740 billion. Miller previously served with Special Forces and retired from active duty in 2014. He was commissioned as an Infantry Officer through R.O.T.C. and obtained the requisite diplomas that officers must complete for promotions. He seems to have been placed in positions of importance by his affiliates rather than working the forums to earn those coveted roles within the Defense Department.
On August 10, 2020, Miller was named Director of the National Counterterrorism Center. During his short tenure there, he sidestepped Secretary of State Pompeo by initiating (since aborted), diplomatic whim asking Qatar to help “buy off” senior leaders of an Al Qaeda’s affiliate in Somalia, who are committed to attacking the West. His scheme was initially sanctioned by Kash Patel, then senior official at the National Security Council, while not bringing in the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Another aware of the scheme was Robert O’Brien, Trump’s national security advisor. When Pompeo became aware, he shut down the operation, claiming it was, “Half-baked.” Now with Miller being elevated to Secretary of Defense, he is Mr. Pompeo’s equal for the remaining two months. Who is now Mr. Miller’s Chief of Staff? Mr. Patel.
In recent weeks Trump has requested to move forward with cutting a significant number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan and a smaller number in Iraq, counter to the opinions of his military advisors who remain concern the Taliban would be emboldened to continue to overthrow elements of the Afghan government. Following Mr. Miller’s announcement of reduction of forces, rocket attacks on Baghdad, Iraq, occurred in the heavily fortified Green Zone where the central government and the U.S. Embassy are located. Iraq’s foreign minister said on Wednesday that combat operations led by the U.S. coalition would cease once troop withdrawals begin. Miller also announced civilian leaders from Special Operations Command will now report directly to him, rather than through the normal chain of command. Although our elite fighting force is now elevated to the level of the rest of the military departments, it is worrisome having the command of 70,000 troops under Trump-placed nominees, none approved by Congress. The “Acting” assistant secretary of defense for special operations — the one who will now report directly to Miller, is Ezra Cohen-Watnick, originally elevated to prominence by General (retired) Michael Flynn, Trump’s former National Security Advisor. Cohen-Watnick was not removed from his job at the National Security Council because he was personally protected by Jared Kushner. Again, the level of expertise and experience matters! By the way, who is in the policy chief position? Anthony Tata, whose nomination this summer to be the undersecretary of defense for policy, was withdrawn due to bipartisan opposition. He reportedly made Islamaphobic and offensive comments and promoted various conspiracy theories.
Trump is also looking to cut U.S. Defense Attachés from embassies abroad. Having worked in this realm, I know attachés are the eyes and ears of what is happening in the country. Without them, policy makers are blind from on-the-ground truth, and impending conflicts are not reported for immediate response. Most recently, the President wanted to order a missile strike against an Iranian nuclear facility. He met with his national security team that warned such a strike against Iran’s facilities could easily escalate into a broader conflict for the last weeks of his presidency. Likely, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff asked for restraint since at this point, it would further impact military forces already on a chess board of military re-positioning and contribute to further regional destabilization. At this moment, among all the cabinet positions, the Secretary of Defense is the most critical. We need and deserve leadership and experience at the helm, not cowboys from the wild-wild-west.
In addition to putting our nation at peril with the removal of our top-tier defense officials, replacing them with unqualified individuals also means we are spending an enormous amount paying those in “Acting” positions. President Trump’s penchant for doling out the title “Acting” reveals the Senate’s weakness for allowing the President to place who he wants, when he wants, without congressional approval. This is a perilous time for our government and our system of checks and balances has been undermined by the Executive Branch. According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO, over the past 2,700 days (equivalent to 7.4 years) the President has ‘appointed’ 22 Cabinet and Cabinet-level positions. In this time of COVID impacting our population and our economy, more funds should be allocated for desperately needed support, yet the taxpayers are footing the bill for higher salaries for those in “acting” roles. As an example, “acting” White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, who was in the position for over 400 days, admitted he would suffer a $20,000 pay cut if his ‘Acting’ job were to become permanent. The individual who is now filling the Chief of Staff, Mark meadows is also in an ‘Acting’ capacity. The defense of our nation should not be led by individuals whose agenda is to please the President and not take into account the seriousness of their responsibilities.
