General H.R. McMaster named Trump’s 2nd National Security Adviser

We Are Change

Following Flynn’s resignation over misleading VP Mike Pence over connections to Russia, President Trump has named Lt. General H.R. McMaster as his new National Security Adviser.

This announcement comes during President Trump’s stay at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. He noted that Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg – acting NSA since Flynn’s resignation, will remain chief of staff for the National Security Council.

Trump added: “That combination is something very, very special.” He regarded McMaster as: “a man of tremendous talent and tremendous experience.”

Trump’s initial choice, retired Vice Admiral Robert Harward, turned down the role, citing “personal reasons”.

Gen. McMaster is a currently serving Army officer. He served in the Persian Gulf War, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. He earned the nickname: “The Iconoclast General.”

As a career officer in the military, McMaster wrote a book heavily critical on the Vietnam War, and the Lyndon Johnson administration in 1997 labelled “Dereliction of Duty”. In 2006 a CNN story labelled the then-Col. McMaster as a “rising star”, calling his book “the seminal work on military’s responsibility during Vietnam to confront their civilian bosses when strategy was not working.”

McMaster has also been very critical of the Iraq war, and the fight against ISIS. In 2014 during an event for the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, McMaster stated efforts to train Iraqi troops against ISIS failed as the strategies didn’t consider the politics of the region.

Gen. McMaster thanked President Trump kindly for the newly given position on Monday, adding: “I would just like to say what a privilege it is to be able to continue serving our nation and I’m grateful to you for that opportunity.”

“I look forward to joining the National Security team and doing everything I can to advance and protect the interest of the American people.”

The White House claimed that President Trump considered many candidates for the position since Michael Flunn resigned from the post over a scandal around phone conversations with the Russian ambassador. Alonside McMaster, there was also Kellogg, former US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton, and Lt. Gen. Robert Calsen, superintendent of West Point.

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