Since at least last February, and perhaps since the beginning of March 2019, the United States has hidden intelligence, stating that Russia has paid rewards to fighters associated with the Taliban, in order to kill American soldiers in Afghanistan. As a result, many American soldiers were killed. To this day, the President of the United States has done nothing on this topic.
Instead of making any move, President Donald Trump essentially denied this information, considered it "unreasonable", and possibly other fabrications related to Russia, and possibly fake news "aimed at making Republicans look bad".
President Trump claimed that neither he nor his deputy Mike Pines were informed of this dangerous intelligence before it was published by the New York Times. If we put the issue of prosecution confirmation aside, then why did the president not publicly denounce any Russian efforts to kill American soldiers, and consider options for a quick and important response by the United States? But none of this happened.
As a former national security adviser, I think it's hard to believe that no one has told President Trump this intelligence. This information is said to have been present in the material conveyed to the President at his daily press conference, and most senior national security officials receive such information. Even if President Trump did not bother to read the articles of the daily press conference, others must have done so. And if senior advisers to the President like: Robert O'Brien, National Security Adviser, Richard Greenle, who resigned last May as interim director of National Intelligence, and Defense Secretary Mark Asper, as well as others, believe that it is not necessary to report to the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces about the killing of his soldiers, they are not worthy of These positions.
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White House officials claim that it is not appropriate to provide the President with such information until it is completely certain, and the response options of the United States are ready. However, the administration reiterated its reporting to the British government and the National Security Council that it had held a joint meeting between security officials in the two countries last March to discuss the intelligence work and its complexities.
In fact, from my experience, I can tell you what should happen in such cases. If I were the National Security Adviser, and I received such information that Russia is paying the militants to kill American soldiers, I will immediately go to the Oval Office, to inform The President on the topic.
And unlike what is happening these days in the White House, I will not wait until I have absolutely confirmed this information. I will tell him: “Mr. President, I want to make sure that you are aware that we have disturbing news, stating that Russia is paying money to the Taliban, to kill Our soldiers in Afghanistan. I will work with the intelligence community to ensure that the information is correct. Meanwhile, I will convene the National Security Team to present to you the options available for how to respond to this massive escalation of Russian hostilities. ”
But if the president decides, as Trump did, that he wanted to speak with President Vladimir Putin six times, within a few weeks, and invited him to join the Group of Seven rich countries, despite the opposition of his allies, I will throw the red flag, and tell him: “Mr. President, I want to remind you that we are We believe that the Russians are killing American soldiers. This is not the time to offer Putin's olive branch. Rather, it is the time to punish him. This was what would have happened in any previous administration, regardless of the party it leads.
This did not seem to be alarming, nor did it raise many questions. And if President Trump has reported on what the Russians are doing, why hasn't he responded? And if not, why does that happen? Are his senior advisors so incompetent? Are they afraid to pass on information to President Trump, especially about Russia? Is Trump leading a rogue foreign policy that has absolutely nothing to do with US national interests? If the answer is yes, then why?
A dangerous pattern persists that President Trump places the Russian interest above US interests. Let's remember that, in his 2016 campaign, President Trump urged Russia to piracy the e-mail of his rival Hillary Clinton, and praised WikiLeaks for publishing stolen documents.
Trump denied that the Russians interfered in the 2016 elections, after which he endorsed Putin's promises at the Helsinki meeting, as he worked to undermine the intelligence services, obstructed investigator Muller's investigations and tarnished their results. President Trump recklessly removed US forces from northern Syria, and allowed Russian forces to occupy US bases.
After that, Trump unilaterally invited Putin to the summit of the seven most developed countries in the world without consulting any of his allies, and Trump announced his decision to remove a third of the American forces from Germany, which is a sudden withdrawal that has no logical reasons, which weakened the relationship between the states The United States and Germany, and hurt NATO, while Russia benefited greatly from it.
Finally, we learned that even Russian efforts to kill American soldiers in cold blood did not upset this president. Trump has denied this information, evaded responsibility, took no action against it, and has not even lodged a diplomatic protest. Now President Putin knows that he can kill Americans with total impunity.
But what can be inferred from all this? At best, our commander-in-chief is completely neglected in his duties and heads a failed national security operation that puts our country and those who wear its military uniform at risk. At worst, the White House is run by a group of hypocrites, who are sponsoring a president who prefers Russia's sinister interests over our national interests.
Susan Rice is a former US National Security Adviser
Trump denied his knowledge of Russian efforts to kill American soldiers in cold blood, evaded responsibility, took no action against them, and even did not make a diplomatic protest. Now President Putin knows that he can kill Americans with total impunity.
If senior advisers to the President like: Robert O'Brien, National Security Adviser, Richard Greenle who resigned last May as interim director of National Intelligence, and Defense Secretary Mark Asper, as well as others, believe that it is not necessary to report to the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces about the killing of his soldiers, they are not worthy of These positions.