One reason for Trump's foreign policy fiascoes -- his National Security Council is broken
National security fiascoes are piling up around President Trump. His summit with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un collapsed last week. In December, he announced a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, only to have his national security advisor publicly revise the plan. Last July, he endorsed Vladimir Putins assertion that Russia didnt interfere in our presidential election a stunning rebuke to the findings of U.S. intelligence services.
These are all signs that the National Security Council is malfunctioning. The NSC the nerve center for creating U.S. security policy over the last seven decades is intended to advise the president on strategies to prevent war, terrorism and economic disruption. The evident weaknesses of Trumps NSC are increasing the risk that security threats or intelligence will fall through the cracks, leaving the nation vulnerable.
Since its earliest years, the NSCs secret meetings in the White House have been the principal forum for presidents to discuss security and policy with military, intelligence and diplomatic officials. Chaired by the president, the council includes the vice president, the secretaries of State, Defense, Energy and Treasury but the president can add other federal officials as well. The councils staff can rise to as many as 200 employees.
The NSC is an advisory group, however, and its up to the president to make good use of it. Trump doesnt seem interested. Instead, he keeps belittling and contradicting the work of U.S. intelligence agencies. On Jan. 30, for instance, he tweeted: The Intelligence people seem to be extremely passive and naïve when it comes to the dangers of Iran. They are wrong! ... Perhaps Intelligence should go back to school! This hostility significantly undermines the NSCs ability to serve its historic function.
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-shinkle-nsc-20190308-story.html
Firestorm49
(4,032 posts)SWBTATTReg
(22,114 posts)clear and present danger to all of us, this country and others around the world. Congress and/or the cabinet officials of this country have a clear path identified clearly in the US Constitution and need to do their duty before it's too late.