Democrats and their cheering squad in the mainstream media are aghast at the “scandal” engulfing National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, arising out of his inadvertent inclusion of journalist Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, on a recent Signal chat in which classified military plans for U.S. strikes in Yemen were discussed.
Let’s stipulate that Waltz made a mistake, and it should never have happened.
He has learned from his mistake. He has taken responsibility for it and has taken steps to ensure it will not happen again. It’s time to move on.
But his critics will not let go.
Criticisms of Waltz include claims that he put American lives at risk, compromised the mission and undermined our relationship with Israel by potentially exposing their sources and methods. Thus, he should resign or be fired.
Each criticism is more hypocritical and dishonest than the next.
As it relates to putting American lives at risk, fortunately, the Waltz misstep did not risk American lives. That seems irrelevant to Democrats and the irresponsible media calling for his ouster.
Compare that reaction to the response of Waltz’s critics to the deaths of 13 U.S. service members in a 2021 terrorist attack at what was then the Hamid Karzai Airport in Kabul during the catastrophic surrender in Afghanistan. A still unidentified person gave the order to put the Taliban in charge of the security of American forces during the evacuation. Whoever gave that order is, at a minimum, guilty of criminal negligence and is directly responsible for those American deaths. Yet not a single Democrat demanded that there be any consequence for such criminal incompetence. No one lost their job. To date, there has been no accountability.
Similarly, throughout former President Joe Biden’s administration, Iran and its proxies launched multiple and repeated attacks against U.S. service members deployed in Syria and Iraq. Not only was there never a meaningful response to those acts of war, but when an attack against an enemy position was undertaken, it wasn’t carried out until after Iran and its proxies were warned that a U.S. response was imminent.
It did not require a leak of American intelligence to warn our enemies; we just told them.
Let’s be clear: Waltz’s critics are not fighting to protect American lives. Their only motivation is to embarrass and undermine the Trump administration. Cynically claiming they care about American lives does not alter that reality.
Waltz may have inadvertently disclosed classified information, but at least he was advocating for and implementing the right policy. In so doing, he was saving American lives and safeguarding the homeland.
Moreover, while Waltz was able to course correct, no amount of reality would cause either the Obama or the Biden administrations or their fellow Democrats to learn from their mistakes.
Whether it was the laughable Russia reset or the ill-conceived Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (better known as the Iran nuclear deal), appeasement was a core tenet of the Obama and Biden administrations. Their Neville Chamberlain-like philosophy of foreign policy led to such ignominious American failures as the Russian invasion of Crimea; then-President Barack Obama’s refusal to enforce his “red line” in Syria; Obama’s misguided and failed response to the “Arab Spring”; Obama’s and Biden’s obsession with facilitating Iran’s march to a nuclear weapon and its hegemonic goals in the Middle East; the catastrophic surrender in Afghanistan; Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Anyone who cannot take a step back and see these catastrophes for what they are—a series of American defeats—is in no position to criticize or demand Waltz’s resignation. He is a solid public servant who is motivated by nothing more than wanting America to succeed.
Perhaps the most laughable of “concerns” expressed by Waltz’s critics is the pretense that they care about protecting Israel. They claim that some of Waltz’s posts may have disclosed Israeli sources and methods in intelligence-gathering on the Houthis. That is a supposition and has not been confirmed. Even if true, let’s ask the Israelis who provides them more security: a Trump White House with Waltz vs. an Obama or Biden White House with Susan Rice and Jake Sullivan as national security advisors. The question answers itself.