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With one stroke of the pen, Trump replaces the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Director of National Intelligence with Steve Bannon on the NSC Principals Committee
During Obama’s term as president the National Security Council (NSC) was officially described by his administration as “the President’s principal forum for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his senior national security advisors and cabinet officials. Since its inception under President Truman, the Council’s function has been to advise and assist the President on national security and foreign policies.”
With the stroke of a pen, Trump reshuffled the NSC on Saturday when he signed a memorandum replacing the Director of National Intelligence and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as permanent members of the Principals Committee with chief strategist, Stephen Bannon.
As CNN reports, “Trump’s order makes his chief strategist, Stephen Bannon, a regular member of the Principals Committee. The committee is Cabinet-level group of agencies that deal with national security that was established by President George H. W. Bush in 1989. Every version of it has included the Joint Chiefs chairman and the director of the CIA or, once it was established, the head of the DNI. The President’s chief of staff was typically included as well.”
Negative responses were swift, with former Obama National Security Adviser Susan Rice tweeting that Trump’s decision to reorganize the NSC in such a way that it removes the director of intelligence and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from always attending the Principals Committee is “stone cold crazy.”
This is stone cold crazy. After a week of crazy. Who needs military advice or intell to make policy on ISIL, Syria, Afghanistan, DPRK? https://t.co/Mmyc139w3M
— Susan Rice (@AmbassadorRice) January 29, 2017
She also retweeted a post by Twitter user, P.E. Juan, who said: “Trump loves and trusts the military so much he just kicked them out of the National Security Council and put a Nazi in their place.”
Trump loves and trusts the military so much he just kicked them out of the National Security Council and put in a Nazi in their place.
— Juan, P.E. 🇺🇸🇵🇷 (@jrivera64) January 29, 2017
She went on to speculate about the CIA, tweeting: “Chairman of Joint Chiefs and DNI treated as after thoughts in Cabinet level principals meetings. And where is CIA?? Cut out of everything?”
Chairman of Joint Chiefs and DNI treated as after thoughts in Cabinet level principals meetings. And where is CIA?? Cut out of everything?
— Susan Rice (@AmbassadorRice) January 29, 2017
Republican Senator John McCain expressed concern about Bannon’s role on the Principals Committee during an interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday.
“I am worried about the national security council, who are the members of it, and who are the permanent members of it. The appointment of Mr. Bannon is something which is a radical departure from any national security council in history,” he told CBS host John Dickerson, adding: “It’s of concern this quote reorganization.”
McCain went on the state that “the one person who is indispensable [to the committee] would be the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.”
Facebook resistance page “Americans Against Trump” posted an apt response and call to action, writing that: “Bannon has no government, intelligence, or high-level military experience; his experience is leading a propaganda outlet (Breitbart News) that peddles nationalist and white nationalist viewpoints.”
This would be deeply concerning in and of itself. But one of the jobs of the NSC is to oversee a secret panel that authorizes the assassination of “enemies of the United States Government” – including American citizens. These targeted killings are fully authorized by law under the Congressional military authorization act following 9/11. There is no trial, no due process, and no public record of the decision or the assassination itself.
Just to recap the absurdity: the President of the United States has appointed a known propagandist, nationalist, and white supremacist to replace the highest military advisor in the country on a council that authorizes secret, legal, targeted killings of American citizens (and others) without due process.
They concluded their post, suggesting everyone:
- Call your Senators and Congressperson this week and demand that they publicly and legislatively oppose Trump’s appointment of Steven Bannon to the NSC.
- Spread the word about this news to your networks, since this is not getting a lot of coverage right now.
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