Trump has made some dangerous appointments
AMERICANS WHO hope that incoming President Donald Trump will not upend long-standing U.S. alliances or embrace counterterrorism policies that violate civil liberties and human rights have reason to be disturbed by his first national security appointments. The choices of retired Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn as national security adviser and Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.) as director of the CIA could presage a harsh and counterproductive U.S. approach to the Muslim world, a dangerous turn toward Russia and the reembrace of tactics for handling terrorism suspects that violate international law.
Mr. Flynn, a close adviser to Mr. Trump during his campaign, has considerable experience fighting al-Qaeda and other extremist networks in Iraq and Afghanistan. As head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, he is reported to have correctly warned that the terrorist threat was not diminishing in the years after the killing of Osama bin Laden. More recently, however, Mr. Flynn has attracted attention with his rhetorical assaults on Islam and Muslims. He has described Islam as not a religion but a “political ideology” that hides “behind what we call freedom of religion.” He once tweeted that “Fear of Muslims is RATIONAL.”
Mr. Pompeo, who has an impressive academic, military and business record, is known as one of the more fanatical purveyors of conspiracy theories about the 2011 terrorist attacks in Benghazi, Libya, and Hillary Clinton’s alleged responsibility. He dissented from the Benghazi report prepared by his own Republican colleagues, which found no significant wrongdoing. More disturbingly, he has claimed that the U.S. government’s surveillance powers have been critically weakened by reforms designed to prevent abuses. He has called for the creation of a large database combining phone records with “publicly available financial and lifestyle information.”
Mr. Pompeo also has suggested that foreign terrorism suspects should be held for prolonged periods for interrogation by the military or CIA — a policy that would likely revive the Bush administration’s disastrous misuse of the Guantanamo Bay prison.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/mr-trump-has-made-some-dangerous-appointments/2016/11/18/e2b085d6-adb1-11e6-8b45-f8e493f06fcd_story.html?utm_term=.1705c3b10aac&wpisrc=nl_rainbow&wpmm=1