Reports over possible Russian bounties for killing American troops in Afghanistan show the failures in the Trump administration’s national security process.
Bill Clinton campaigned and won on the slogan in 1992 „that it’s the economy, stupid.“ That comment should apply to the Trump administration’s National Security Council process. Except it is not the economy — it is the process, stupid — or one might reverse that and say it is the stupidity of the process.
That President Donald Trump is on his fourth national security adviser is an ominous sign. That the interagency process seems incapable of producing a coordinated and integrated policy on most anything, given the president’s reliance on Twitter to post his decisions, likewise is not good. And the failure to have a national strategy to cope with the coronavirus and economic recovery is inexplicable and further proof of a failing process.
The most recent piece of evidence demonstrating a failing NSC process is the ongoing saga over The New York Times stories in late June claiming the GRU was offering $100,000 bounties in Afghanistan to kill American and British troops. It turns out that Russia has been re-engaged in Afghanistan for nearly a decade with the possible intent of disrupting and even sabotaging U. S. efforts to end America’s longest war.
From a Russian perspective, U. S. support of the mujahedin during the 1980-89 Soviet War with weapons and intelligence ultimately forced Moscow to capitulate. While that was 30 years ago, Moscow may not be inclined to be helpful to the United States, especially after the imposition of sanctions against Russia following the 2014 annexation of Crimea.
