A former senior official within the Central Intelligence Agency wrote that President Trump likes killing “celebrity” targets for “immediate gratification” and “headlines” in an opinion piece published Wednesday.
Douglas London, a former chief of counterterrorism for South and Southwest Asia, lambasted the president’s prioritization of threats to U.S. national security. London suggested that the administration’s actions against Hamza bin Laden, son of Osama bin Laden, former ISIS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, and former Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani are actions intended to obtain positive press rather than protect U.S. interests and personnel.
“When it comes to intelligence, like with so much else, President Donald Trump likes big names. It’s this focus on celebrity, headlines, and immediate gratification — versus substance, impact, and consequences — that so often motivates him. Partly because of this, as a senior CIA counter terrorist manager, my team and I often struggled in persuading the president to recognize the most important threats,” London wrote. “Now, with the killing of Qassem Soleimani, I worry that while Trump got a big name and lots of headlines, the long-term impact on U.S. strategic interests was not fully considered.”
All three terrorists were killed because of action taken by the Trump administration, but London views for the killing of these men were not consistent with the views of intelligence agencies.
London retired from the CIA at the end of 2018, working within the organization for two years during the Trump administration.
[Opinion: Trump was 100% justified in killing Iran’s Qassem Soleimani]
