Media top headlines August 16
In media news today, CNN gets accused of 'fear porn' for hyping story about Florida teachers who died from COVID without context, MSNBC's Joy Reid compares America's religious right to the Taliban, and Snopes catches its co-founder plagiarizing
An Obama administration adviser called on President Joe Biden to "shake up his national security team" after the Taliban quickly seized control of Afghanistan as the U.S. withdrew its troops.
Brett Bruen, who was director of global engagement in the Obama White House, penned a scathing opinion piece in USA Today headlined, "Ex-Obama adviser: Why Biden must fire his national security adviser for Afghanistan failure."
"President Joe Biden needs to shake up his national security team," Bruen wrote. "The disaster that unfolded in Afghanistan is illustrative of other major issues at the White House. The people, plans and processes the president has put in place to keep America safe are not working."
An Obama administration adviser called on President Biden to "shake up his national security team" after the Taliban seizing control of Afghanistan proved the current group has failed to keep America safe. (AP?Reuters)
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Bruen feels people chosen by Biden "have repeatedly failed to challenge their own assumptions" which has "sadly led to the most unnecessarily embarrassing day in the history of the National Security Council."
Armed Taliban fighters swept into Afghanistan’s capital of Kabul on Sunday as the Afghani president fled the country and his government collapsed. Scenes of chaos and panic at Kabul's airport have captured the globe's attention as the United States’ 20-year military presence in the country ends. Videos have shown people desperately clinging to the outside of airplanes as they take off.
"The national security adviser has two jobs. As the name suggests, they are the last and ideally closest counselor to the president in the Situation Room," Bruen wrote. "Their second duty is to translate the commander in chief’s decisions and direction into practical policies. Sometimes that requires speaking truth to power. On all of these scores, the current occupant of the office appears to have failed."
Bruen noted that he served with U.S. National Security advisor Jake Sullivan in the Obama administration. He called his former colleague "extraordinarily bright" but lacking in overseas experience.
"It can lead to the disconnect between ideas and implementation," Bruen wrote. "Yes, Biden wanted out of Afghanistan. It was on Sullivan to figure out how to achieve the president’s goal while ensuring we avoided potential pitfalls and problems. That’s clearly not what happened."
Sullivan on Monday acknowledged the security situation "unfolded at unexpected speed," while maintaining that Biden stands by his decision to withdraw U.S. troops.
"The president did not think it was inevitable that the Taliban were going to take control of Afghanistan," Sullivan told ABC News’ "Good Morning America."
"He thought the Afghan national security forces could step up and fight because we spent 20 years, tens of billions of dollars, training them, giving them the best equipment, giving them support of U.S. forces for 20 years," Sullivan added. "When push came to shove, they decided not to step up and fight for their country."
Bruen felt Biden’s mind was made up but Sullivan should have found a way to explain the "real risks" to his plan.
"Instead of just going along, the national security adviser needs to lay out safer options that could accomplish the same stated goals," Bruen wrote. "It's not just on the decision to recklessly retreat from Afghanistan. The Biden administration has been stronger on slogans than substance when it comes to foreign policy."
The former Obama adviser blamed Biden for packing "political types" into the administration’s most influential positions and said political allies have been rewarded with important jobs.
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"Indeed, there is only one career diplomat in a senior position on the National Security Council, the senior director for Africa. This is far fewer than under President Barack Obama. It means Sullivan and Biden are not getting advice from those with the most recent and relevant experience," he wrote.
Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
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