- The Russians invaded the US government. Iran has vowed revenge against America for the murder of one of its military leaders. However, Trump is handling the transition from the Pentagon to President Joe Biden badly, sources told Insider.
- “We need the next Biden government to be fully informed and ready to deal with these very dangerous issues facing NATO’s security,” said the official.
- Security sources are also unimpressed with some of the employees Trump is leaving behind.
- “The refusal to coordinate the transfer of the world’s most powerful military force in a united and responsible manner would be almost unthinkable,” a NATO source told Insider. “Except, of course, that it’s 2020 and we’re talking about the incredibly selfish and irresponsible idiot named Donald Trump.”
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The Trump administration’s refusal to coordinate the Pentagon transfer with Biden’s new team, as well as the last-minute stacking of civilian positions with marginal national security numbers, could not come at a worse time.
The United States and its allies are dealing with the consequences of the Russian invasion of US government computer systems, as well as rising tensions with Iran across the Middle East, according to two NATO officials and a former official defense of the Obama administration contacted by Insider.
“So there has been a historic breach of the main American government networks, US troops and NATO allies are fighting together in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and East Africa, and it is arriving on the anniversary of the assassination of [Iranian commander Qassem] Solimani, that Tehran has vowed revenge, “said a senior NATO official, who asked not to be named, criticizing an important ally. The source spoke on the same day that the US flew several B-52 bombers to the Middle East as a demonstration. force to stop Iranian action.
“The refusal to coordinate the delivery of the most powerful military force in the world in a united and responsible way would be almost unthinkable in the annals of history, except, of course, that we are in 2020 and we are talking about the incredibly selfish and irresponsible idiot named Donald Trump “said the official.
‘We need the next Biden administration to be fully informed and ready to deal with these very dangerous issues’
“From an ally’s point of view, we understand that this is a difficult situation for our American allies, but there is a significant security situation underway with Iran that could explode at any time, as well as clear evidence that many of the networks of Most secure computers in the US have been hacked by Russian intelligence, “said the official.
“We need the next Biden government to be fully informed and ready to deal with these very dangerous issues facing NATO’s security,” said the official.
See too: The United States brokered an unprecedented summit between Israel and Saudi Arabia as a reward for the murder of an al Qaeda leader.
The Pentagon held some meetings with Biden’s team, according to Sue Gough, a spokesman for the United States Department of Defense. Although one of these briefings – on the Russian invasion of the highest levels of the Trump administration – took place only on December 30, the day Insider requested comments.
“The Biden-Harris DOD Agency Review Team met with combatant commanders from the U.S. Cyber Command; U.S. European Command, which included NATO as an agenda item; and U.S. Central Command, which included discussions about Iran. ; as well as with Assistant Assistant Secretaries of Defense for Europe and NATO, and for Russia, Ukraine and Eastern Europe, “she said. “Today, the DOD informed ART about cybersecurity. In addition, the DOD provided ART with several responses to requests for information and a series of information documents, including in the initial transition books, which discussed current US relations with NATO and NATO member countries. “
The danger of chaos
In addition to the refusal to conduct the transition meetings for an organization with an annual budget of more than $ 720 billion and millions of employees, Trump also dismissed Defense Secretary Mark Esper in November. And Trump has started nominating loyalists for a number of key positions, including civilian oversight of special operations, as well as various technical advisory boards. Some analysts fear that this shows an intention to pile up the partisan department to interfere with the Biden government.
But a former Obama-era Defense official – who agreed to speak in the background to discuss US Department of Defense personnel issues – said concerns should be more focused on the danger of chaos, rather than a fifth column. coordinate left behind by Trump to continue his policies.
“First of all, Trump does not appear to have any defense policy, so there is no big plan here,” said the former official. “If any of these figures are loyal to Trump, it is as part of a cult attraction, not an ideological one, because there is no ideology.”
This is not to say that last-minute appointments – which include Anthony Tata, a former general who was appointed to the highest political position in November – are not a risk, the former official said.
“These marginal figures like Tata – who could never have come so close to the best jobs, because in [Tata’s] in case he is completely crazy – have a chance to fill his resumes with a title that can help them later get consulting jobs, “said the Obama era official.
Separately, the source said, a typical warning sign is when “you see them suddenly trying to follow or halt policies – withdrawal of troops, changes in Air Force priorities for the Navy – which are their personal ideological goals, or is basic corruption where they are promoting last-minute policies that will benefit clients of past and, they hope, future defense contractors. “
Trump’s Undersecretary for Policy Defense thinks Obama was a ‘terrorist leader’
The “insane” comment is a reference to Tata’s past. Prior to being Undersecretary for Defense for Politics, Tata maintained an animated Twitter feed, was a Fox News guest, and used to make comments that were not based on reality or reality. He once falsely accused former President Obama of being a Muslim and wrongly argued that Obama was a “terrorist leader”. He also said, without evidence, that Obama was a “Manchurian candidate” in the White House.
An Army investigation in 2007 found that a counterfeit legal document had been inserted into his alimony case, favoring his side. Tata told News & Observer, “we cleared it up immediately.” He also slept with two women while he was married to his wife, a crime under military law, reported News & Observer.
Before being first proposed to the Pentagon’s political post, Tata was such a minor figure in military affairs that Senator Jim Inhofe said the other senators “didn’t know enough about Anthony Tata to consider him a very significant at this point “. according to Defense News.
Insider called for a response to the Pentagon and Tata, and the DOD pointed to a statement by Jonathan Rath Hoffman, assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, made during a press conference on July 30, 2020: “General Tata has experience and success in leading large public organizations, public sector organizations and extensive experience in national security. He has been an effective undersecretary of Defense for Policy “.
The White House, which had previously praised Tata, has postponed comments to DOD.
Dealing with this will suck resources and attention from more important matters in the Pentagon
Given the penny-ante nature of Tata’s failures, the damage from a fundamental policy point of view would be minimal for the most part, the former official said. But dealing with this will suck resources and attention from more important and Pentagon affairs, which can end up being very risky, the source said.
“It’s probably going to be another half-assed mess that someone will have to clean up again, for Donald Trump and his gay bunch of idiots,” said the former officer. “Real risk is everything they are not looking at or helping to prepare Biden’s team as they run towards personal goals at the expense of taxpayers.”