'The worst national security team that I've ever seen'

[babylonsister]

‘The worst national security team that I’ve ever seen’
01/08/20 10:27 AM—Updated 01/08/20 11:15 AM
By Steve Benen


Andrea Mitchell, NBC News’ chief foreign affairs correspondent, sat down with Brian Williams last night and reflected on the White House team responding to the crisis in the Middle East. She characterized Donald Trump’s existing operation as “least experienced, the least effective, and the smallest” in recent memory.

Mitchell, a veteran journalist who’s covered a variety of Democratic and Republican administrations, concluded that the current president has “the worst national security team that I’ve ever seen.”

I think that’s unambiguously true, and to appreciate its accuracy, there are two broad angles to consider. The first is that Trump’s team, to the extent that it can even be called a “team,” is woefully incomplete. As Garrett Graff noted yesterday, the Trump administration does not currently have, for example, a Senate-confirmed director of National Intelligence or a deputy director of National Intelligence.

There’s also no Senate-confirmed Homeland Security secretary or deputy secretary. There’s no Senate-confirmed undersecretary for arms control and international security affairs or assistant secretary for arms control, verification, and compliance.

At the Pentagon, meanwhile, there’s been a scramble of top officials resigning, including six notable departures in the last five weeks.

For several of the aforementioned positions, the White House hasn’t even nominated anyone to fill the posts. As Trump’s presidency enters its fourth year, and as circumstances require a competent and experience national security team, it stands to reason that the administration wouldn’t still be struggling with vacancies and acting officials.

And yet, here we are.

more...

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/the-worst-national-security-team-ive-ever-seen

[tavernier]

1. Spoketh the lady

who skewered HRC at every opportunity.
Hey Mrs. G ... You asked for it, you got it, Toyota.

[Iliyah]

2. Frightening huh . . .

[Aristus]

3. Wasn't she a Trumpster?

Careful what you wish for there...

[underpants]

4. Well you know, there were the emails

She epitomizes the media covered that was THE major factor of getting us into this horrific mess.

[gristy]

5. This kind of mismanagement ought to be an impeachable offense

No CEO would have lasted after firing all the prior CEO's staff, then failing to fill half of the resulting openings, and those that did get filled are with woefully incompetent people.

[BKDem]

6. I don't think we can really trust Andrea Mitchell...

but she's absolutely right about this.