America's So-Called National Security Adviser - NYT Editorial Board
By THE EDITORIAL BOARD FEB. 10, 2017
From the start, Michael Flynn, a retired army lieutenant general, was a disturbing choice as President Trump’s national security adviser. He is a hothead with extremist views in a critical job that is supposed to build consensus through thoughtful, prudent decision-making. The choice is now growing more unnerving every day.
A conspiracy theorist who has stoked dangerous fears about Islam, Mr. Flynn was fired by the Obama administration as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency and led anti-Hillary Clinton chants of “lock her up” at the 2016 Republican Convention. He raised eyebrows by cultivating a mystifyingly cozy relationship with Russia, which the Pentagon considers a major threat.
Now we have learned that in the weeks before the inauguration, Mr. Flynn discussed American sanctions on Russia, and areas of possible cooperation, with Moscow’s ambassador to Washington, Sergey Kislyak. They spoke a day before President Obama imposed sanctions on Russia for hacking the Democrats’ computers, probably in an effort to sway the election in Mr. Trump’s favor.
Mr. Flynn’s underhanded, possibly illegal message was that the Obama administration was Russia’s adversary, and that would change under Mr. Trump and that any sanctions could be undone. The result seems to be that Russia decided not to retaliate with its own sanctions.
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https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/10/opinion/americas-so-called-national-security-adviser.html?emc=edit_th_20170211&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=57435284
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