Pentagon Just Accused White House Of Kushner Security Breach
In a serious breach of protocol that might have put President Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner’s life in jeopardy, senior White House officials revealed he was headed to Iraq before he was actually was on the ground.
That brought an admonition from the Pentagon that, by not waiting to announce his trip until he had landed as per usual procedure, the White House had raised “security concerns,” according to the Washington Post.
When senior White House or elected officials travel to a dangerous place like Iraq, the Pentagon quite rightly sees it as a high-risk mission. That is why such trips are kept a top secret to avoid alerting enemies who might shoot the aircraft down or begin a large assault where the plane is to land. A U.S. delegation is seen as a tempting target for enemy combatants.
Colin Kahl, who was a senior official under President Obama, told The Washington Post, “Given how dangerous Iraq is, and the likelihood senior U.S. officials could be targeted, the Obama administration always waited to announce any high-level visit until the official was on the ground. Political imperatives may incline some to advertise these trips – but in life-and-death situations, safety of our officials comes first.”
Compounding the problem, it appears the breach of protocol was caused by those same unnamed senior White House officials. When reporters first called to check out rumors that Kushner was on the overseas trip with military brass, the White House confirmed the visit and said Kushner was already on the ground. They even provided a timeline for the trip, which was wrong.
When asked about the mistake today, a White House official said their timing was “slightly off” on the logistics of the trip.
That slight mistake could have made Ivanka Trump a young widow and left her three children fatherless.
These kind of careless, amateur mistakes are a sign of the ineptitude and arrogance of the Trump White House, where it apparently is alright not just to lie and obscure even scientific facts, but also to be sloppy about important details and logistics — even when it can be a matter of life-and-death.
