Former Obama National Security Council adviser urges Biden to fire national security adviser Jake Sullivan for the 'botched' withdrawal from Afghanistan and calls for White House to restructure its foreign policy team
The Obama administration's Director of Global Engagement is calling on Biden National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan to be fired over 'the decision to recklessly retreat from Afghanistan' and is pushing Joe Biden to shake up his foreign policy.
In a scathing Monday op-ed, Barack Obama's former adviser Brett Bruen said Biden's policies abroad are 'stronger on slogans than substance.'
'President Biden needs to fire his national security adviser and several other senior leaders who oversaw the botched execution of our withdrawal from Afghanistan,' the former diplomat wrote.
'Those he has chosen for key positions have repeatedly failed to challenge their own assumptions. It sadly led to the most unnecessarily embarrassing day in the history of the National Security Council .'
Ex-Obama adviser Brett Bruen said Sullivan and 'other senior leaders who oversaw the botched execution of our withdrawal from Afghanistan' should be fired
Bruen served as Obama's Director of Global Engagement from 2013 to 2015 and worked at the US embassies in Madagascar and Iraq some time before that
He called the Taliban's takeover the 'most unnecessarily embarrassing day' in NSC history
He accused the White House of putting national security at risk.
'The people, plans and processes the president has put in place to keep America safe are not working.'
Bruen complained the Biden administration is spending too little time worrying about global threats and too much time on 'the superficial,' adding that the problem begins with who the president has chosen to appoint.
'The White House has opted to pack political types into the most influential positions,' he wrote in USA Today.
Bruen said Biden treats ambassador appointments more like 'political party favors,' naming 'well-to-do' or 'well connected' elites to positions where delicate, experienced diplomacy is needed.
He pointed out that Biden only has one career diplomat as a senior official on his National Security Council - far fewer than under Obama.
'It means Sullivan and Biden are not getting advice from those with the most recent and relevant experience,' Bruen warns.
The 'avoidable ditches' of the border crisis and pitfalls with Saudia Arabia and Russia, he explains, are also symptoms of the same problem.
'Appointments across the national security structure are a reflection of the arrogance that has accompanied the arrival of this team. They came in largely ignoring the worries and warnings of institutional experts on several major international issues.'
Sullivan and Bruen worked together in the Obama White House.
Before becoming the youngest national security adviser in decades, Sullivan was an aide to both Hillary Clinton and Obama and quickly rose to key national security positions for the White House and then-Vice President Biden.
Bruen conceded the career government official was 'extraordinarily bright' but while he exceeded with the 'academic arguments in foreign policy' he lacked the 'overseas experience' necessary to do his job.
He argued that Sullivan should have done more to steer Biden onto a different path from what led to the chaotic exit attempt.
'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.'
And aside from firing Sullivan, Bruen called for an end to 'donors appointed to represent us abroad.'
'The stakes are just too high' at a time when the US needs to fix 'the extensive damage done to our reputation and credibility on the world stage,' he said.
After the world watched the Taliban take over Kabul on Sunday, Sullivan went on the defensive for Biden on a slew of Monday morning news shows.
Hundreds of people were still waiting to flee Afghanistan on Tuesday August 17th as the international airport at Kabul remains the only NATO-held territory left in the country
A man holds a certificate acknowledging his work for Americans as hundreds of people gather outside the international airport in Kabul
Taliban fighters patrol in Kandahar on August 17th. Jake Sullivan denied any comparisons between Kabul in 2021 and Saigon in 1975 on Monday morning
On both ABC and NBC the career official attempted to redirect blame from US forces amid their chaotic evacuation to the Afghan military, who he essentially accused of giving up in the face of a Taliban advance.
He also denied any comparisons of the US evacuation in Kabul to Saigon in April 1975, despite numerous images reflecting the fear and confusion of civilians while US aircraft fled through both events.
Bruen said the national security adviser had 'two jobs' - being Biden's closest counselor in the Situation Room during a crisis and implementing his political will as practical policy.
'Sometimes that requires speaking truth to power. On all of these scores, the current occupant of the office appears to have failed.'