US Army Tactician: Trump Must Sack Top Officials to Change Defence Policies

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - President Donald Trump needs to change his entire national security team to successfully carry out his new foreign and defence policies, pulling out of the wars in Syria and Afghanistan, leading US military tactician Douglas Macgregor told Sputnik.
Sputnik

"Trump needs to change his whole national security team to implement his new foreign and defence policies," Macgregor said.

Saudi Arabia Agrees to Finance Rebuilding of Syria - Trump
On Wednesday, the White House announced the United States would withdraw all troops from Syria within 60 to 100 days given that the Daesh* terror group had been defeated. Secretary of Defence James Mattis resigned the following day, citing the fact his views no longer aligned with Trump’s.

That same day, the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump had ordered the US military to withdraw some 7,000 troops from Afghanistan in the coming weeks.

Numerous US lawmakers, pundits and most of the corporate-owned media who have supported US wars and military interventions abroad sharply criticized Trump's decision.

Macgregor cautioned that Trump’s new policies, though bold could not be successfully implemented until he appointed new senior officials who were sincerely committed to carrying them out,  The current National Security Council (NSC) was as reactionary and anti-Trump as the Office of Secretary of Defense (OSD), Macgregor said.

"Without a clean sweep of both OSD and the NSC, disengagement from Afghanistan, ending the conflict on the Korean Peninsula and finding a way forward in the Ukraine Crisis will be very tough going," Macgregor said.

Ex-NATO Commander Questions Trump Rationale to Withdraw US Troops From Syria
READ MORE: Trump Aware of Russia, Iran's Stronger Position in Syria — Indian Observers

Under the US system of government, Trump already had the executive authority he needed to authorize such dramatic changes in policy, but he still lacked the cadre of officials that would be vital in ensuring they were implemented, Macgregor explained.

"In matters of foreign and defence policy the constitution confers extraordinary executive power on the President, but for a fundamental change in direction he needs a new national security team," Macgregor said.

*Daesh (ISIL/ISIS/Islamic State/IS), a terrorist group banned in Russia and a wide number of other countries.
Discuss