Three cheers for the new National Security Advisor, Robert O’Brien, who has set about reducing the NSC staff from 450 to 120. When it comes to an open society’s security, less is always better. US presidents need only so many advisors to make good decisions, because large bureaucracies invite dissension in the ranks. If the impeachment inquiries have exposed anything of value, it’s that Obama’s inflated NSC bureaucracy was neither efficient nor patriotic.
O’Brien justified his “modest” cuts by reminding Americans there were 12 NSC employees under President Kennedy during the Cuban missile crisis; arguably the most pressing national security threat in my lifetime. The NSC hiring binge understandably began after the 9-11 attacks in 2001 and – true to Deep State dogma – was amplified by “liberal dove” Obama. That was presidential malpractice in my tax-paying eyes.
Obama promised to reduce Islamic terror through appeasement, begging the question: why expand the NSC headcount? The guess here is the man was clueless. On one hand, Obama took his America Apology tour to the Middle East to advertise a USA that was less committed to Israel and willing to negotiate with Iran. On the other hand, he inflamed the Arab world by promoting regime change in Libya and Syria – after confusing Russia with the goofy Re-Set button.
O’Brien claims the NSC “became bloated during the prior administration.” His criticism is spot on: “a coordinating body” is not supposed to be a substitute for “interagency partners” (such as the CIA). According to The Washington Times, Obama transformed the NSC into a policymaking agency with staff members that spoke to field commanders in Afghanistan; thereby disrupting the military chain of command. Further, which NSC genius told Obama blankets and MREs were “essential” aid to Ukraine when anti-tank rockets were requested?
President Trump has many flaws, but seeing through the Washington BS is not one of them. In short, he knows Obama almost always did the wrong thing, and Obama holdovers cannot be trusted. To wit, even as president-elect, Trump was met with one harm-intended leak after another, prompting Devin Nunez (R-CA) to send 8 criminal referrals to the DOJ.
Former advisor Steve Bannon put it bluntly: “We wanted them out [and] would have avoided a lot of problems” by sending over 450 billets back to their agencies. One such “problem” was the hearsay whistleblower, as well as the other partisan snitches Adam Schiff introduced to his fellow citizens. Let me be crystal clear: it did not make the US more secure when partisans leaked tough-love conversations between the President and the leaders of Australia and Mexico, or when Colonel Vindman blabbed his “concerns” to Schiff’s committee.
Commanders in chief must be supported by competent patriots; citizens with experience and expertise infused with loyalty to the current (duly elected) president. Human nature inclines some to hang onto the old way; therefore, the new broom must sweep out the disgruntled unnamed sources. It is prudent to tighten up the operating system to ensure everyone is on the same page. Due to Trump’s outsider status, the purge has taken longer and generated more grousing than normal. So what?
Perhaps the strongest argument for Trump’s re-election is four more years of exposing and shedding pompous partisans, such as Sally Yates and James Comey. America’s national safety will benefit from what’s happening in the judiciary: political balance and intellectual honesty is in every American’s interest. Based on my firsthand experience with the Deep State, when left un-checked by elected governors, agents succumb to their basest inclination (we are just that right and you are just that wrong). The great swamp-drain is job #1.