Dr. Steve Pieczenik – Bannon was appointed to the NSC as part of the ‘principals committee’. In the process, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Director of National Intelligence [DNI] were accordingly downgraded. The latter two would attend a NSC meeting “when the council is considering issues in their direct areas of responsibilities.” [NY Times, 1/30/17].
What happened after this particular announcement was a cacophony of discontent and anger. The Democratic operative, ex-Congressman Leon Panetta, a former WH chief of staff, defense secretary, and DCI said the following inane statement [not unusual for this California self-aggrandizer hypocrite]:
“The last place you want to put somebody who worries about politics is in a room where they’re talking about national security.” [NY Times, 1/30/17].
None other than the ineffectual National Cathedral, Brookings, mulatto beauty, Susan Rice, who failed to save 1 million slaughtered Tutsi/Hutu in the Rwanda Genocide [under POTUS Clinton] tweeted this message:
“Stone cold crazy!” [again, NYTimes]
This comment comes from a completely ineffectual national security advisor who lied publicly about the Benghazi, Libya massacre of our ambassador and other relevant overt/covert operatives. Rice supported her female boss, Hillary, in initiating a disastrous invasion of Libya to affect a regime change which went awry. This disaster fueled the spread of terrorism and refugees [over 4million] all over North Africa, right into the heart of Europe. Neither Rice, nor her bosses: Obama, Panetta, Bill/Hillary had ever been trained in warfare, crisis management, or regime change.
In contrast, I have written before about Stephen Bannon as a polymath individual who grew up in Norfolk, Virginia in a pro-Kennedy, pro-union working class family. He graduated from Virginia Tech and then received his master’s degree in National Security Studies Georgetown University. He went on to earn another master’s degree in business administration from the Harvard Business School [Magna Cum Laude].
As if that were not enough, he became a naval officer in the late 1970’s early 1980’s, serving as a “Surface Warfare Officer” on the destroyer, USS Paul F. Foster, part of the Pacific fleet. He was then appointed “special assistant to the Chief of Naval Operations.”
Bannon went on to become a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs and an Executive Producer of 18 different films in Hollywood. If the aforementioned accomplishments do not afford him the right to be on the NSC, then I do not know exactly what he would have do.
Historically, the NSC has been part of an informal group of individuals, created by POTUS Harry Truman because the US State Dept. could not deal adequately with the miscreant behavior of the Soviet Union in the late 1940’s- 50’s. In effect, the NSC is an executive branch of the USG responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. [Wikipedia].
From my experience over five presidential administrations, I found this body to be less than relevant to anything that I might have been doing. I never involved the NSC in my former work on counter-terrorism or regime change.The only time I was brought to the attention of the NSC was during my involvement with Panamanian Gen. Noriega where the WH found itself in the cross hairs of my attempts to take him out of power.
I conclude that Stephen Bannon is a brilliant political strategist who can serve his country in any position in he might select. POTUS Trump stated very clearly to the mainstream media: “Bannon is at the NSC not to become anybody’s buddy!”
The media’s insatiable appetite to stir confusion concerning the Trump administration is creating a fictitious narrative that detracts from the fact that Trump is building a solid team. Trump calls the mainstream media the “opposition party” and he’s right. There may be some mistakes but that is part of the process.
Lucretius, Roman poet/philosopher, wrote the following:
“Air, I should explain, becomes wind when it is agitated.”
SF Source Steve Pieczenik Feb. 2017