As the United States' chaotic and tragic Afghanistan withdrawal continues, Brett Bruen, a former U.S. diplomat and ex-director for global engagement at the National Security Council, called out the haphazard exit operation as one harkening back to the previous administration.
America's withdrawal has been a "Trump-style process which we expected [the NSC] to avoid," Bruen told The Independent. He attributed the fallout to a "dearth of institutional expertise" at the NSC, which he said is what happens when "you put a bunch of political appointees into positions where you ought to have those with recent relevant experience advising the president." "They're not in the room," he claimed. "They're not being heard."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Trump hawks Teslas, slashes more federal jobsSpeed Read The Education Department cut its workforce in half ahead of an expected Trump order to shutter the agency
-
Ukraine agrees to ceasefire, ending US aid freezeSpeed Read Kyiv made peace with the Trump administration by agreeing to an immediate ceasefire in its war against Russian invaders
-
ICE arrests Palestinian advocate with green cardSpeed Read Recent Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil has had his visa revoked, despite his status as a permanent resident
-
Trump doesn't rule out recession as tariffs biteSpeed Read In an interview for Fox News, Trump acknowledges the economic turbulence caused by his tariffs but claims his policies will be worth it in the long run
-
Mark Carney selected next Canadian prime ministerSpeed Read The political novice will succeed outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
-
Trump eases Mexico, Canada tariffs again as markets slidespeed read The president suspended some of the 25% tariffs he imposed on Mexican and Canadian imports
-
Trump tells Cabinet they are in charge of layoffs, not MuskSpeed Read The White House has faced mounting complaints about DOGE's sweeping cuts
-
Rep. Sylvester Turner dies, weeks after joining HouseSpeed Read The former Houston mayor and longtime state legislator left behind a final message for Trump: 'Don't mess with Medicaid'
