Robert Cardillo, former director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, speaks out against his old boss Donald Trump. If re-elected, he says, the nation will face “a true crisis.”
Cardillo served in his former position from 2014 to 2019 and spent nearly 40 years in the Intelligence community.
Robert Cardillo’s Op-Ed, Shortened:
In my nearly four decades of service, I had the privilege of serving under six presidents — four Republican and two Democrat. The constant across all of those administrations was the oath I took to “protect and defend” the Constitution against “all enemies — foreign and domestic.”
I know what it takes to succeed at the highest levels of our government — intellectual curiosity, the strength of moral purpose and a commitment to selfless service. Broadly speaking, I can personally attest that Americans were very well served by those they elected to fill critical national security positions.
There is one important exception to that statement — our current president.
I have briefed him up close — and I have seen and felt the effect of his faults on our nation’s security. Out of respect for the confidential nature of Oval Office conversations, I will not provide details. Suffice to say that the person you see presiding over COVID-19 press conferences is the same one in the privacy of his office. He has little patience for facts or data that do not comport with his personal world view. Thus, the conversations are erratic and less than fully thoughtful.
While it is natural for there to be tension between the intelligence community and senior policymakers, President Donald Trump’s decision to rely upon the word of dictators like Vladimir Putin is an unprecedented betrayal of his oath to the Constitution. Our current president bases his decisions on his instincts, and his instincts are based upon a personal value proposition — what’s in it for me?
As a Commander in Chief, President Trump comes up tragically short. He fails to protect our soldiers when bounties are placed on their heads by his friend Vladimir. And not only does he not respect their service, but President Trump also belittles combat heroes who were taken as prisoners of war.
As a nation, we were fortunate that a true crisis did not occur during his first three years in office…
This is not about the economy, taxes, health care or any other normal ballot considerations. This is about American lives unnecessarily lost. This is about businesses unnecessarily closed. This is about being guided by service to all Americans. This is about centering decisions on a higher morality. President Trump’s actions — and inaction — demonstrates that he is not concerned about any of this.
And as damaging as his faulty leadership has been, four more years would be devastating.
We must elect a thoughtful, moral, responsible, respectful leader on Nov. 3. Our current president is not that leader.
Source
https://www.denverpost.com/2020/09/25/donald-trump-fails-us-national-security-interests/
Photo: Public Domain
