Top Obama aide: Trump team not ready for foreign policy crisis

[DonViejo]

BY JOHN BOWDEN - 01/29/19 10:26 AM EST

A former deputy secretary of state to President Obama says that the Trump administration is unprepared for a major terrorist attack or other foreign incident that requires a U.S. response.

In an op-ed for The New York Times, Antony Blinken argued Tuesday that the administration has been rattled by high turnover and the president's disregard for policy.

"[N]o administration in modern memory has been less prepared to deal with a true crisis than this one," Blinken writes, while citing a reduction in the reported number of meetings of several White House committees including the National Security Council, headed by John Bolton, as a warning that policy is being made with little deliberation among advisers.

"Some combination of these committees typically met multiple times a day," he continues. "Now, it is reportedly once or twice a week at most. The result is greater control of the policy process for Mr. Bolton and fewer messy meetings in which someone might challenge his wisdom."

Blinken went on to argue that the Trump administration had no "plan B" for what to do if Venezuela's political crisis dissolves into violence.

"Take the meltdown in Venezuela. The administration deserves credit for leading the international isolation of the country’s illegitimate president, Nicolás Maduro," Blinken says. "But there is no evidence it has a comprehensive strategy to advance a peaceful transition — or a Plan B if Mr. Maduro digs in or lashes out."

more
https://thehill.com/policy/international/427424-top-obama-aide-trump-team-not-ready-for-foreign-policy-crisis

[ffr]

1. They are willfully unprepared. But that's been the plan all along, hasn't it Vladimir?