Thread by @kgosztola

President-elect Joe Biden announced his first batch of appointments.

As I've done throughout #BidenTransition, here's a thread on the national security elites and corporate consultants named to his administration.

Tony Blinken is Biden's pick for secretary of state.

In Obama's administration, he was deputy secretary of state. He was also national security adviser to Biden during Obama's first term.

From 1994 to 2001, he was part of President Bill Clinton's National Security Council.

Blinken is devout believer in American exceptionalism. He sees Biden as president who will put "globe back on its axis" after Trump.

To Blinken, world has little chance of survival if United States doesn't dictate its future.

He expressed this view at USGLC event on Nov. 10:

After US House of Representatives voted to arm so-called rebel groups in Syria in 2014, MSNBC's Joe Scarborough asked Blinken about concerns that arms "could end up in wrong hands."

Blinken brushed aside concerns and maintained US would vet and give arms to "the right people."

In March 2016, the Los Angeles Times reported "CIA-armed units and Pentagon-armed [militias] have repeatedly shot at each other while maneuvering through contested territory on the northern outskirts of Aleppo" in Syria.

latimes.com/world/middleea…

In October 2012, the New York Times reported the US supported Saudi Arabia and Qatar as they sent rifles and grenades to Syrian "opposition groups." They largely went to "hard-line Islamic jihadists."

Blinken likely knew this fact yet he still championed arming the "rebels."

After the Ghouta chemical attack in Syria on August 21, 2013, Blinken provided Congress with a briefing on the attack.

Blinken told press Congress would recognize, "Chemical weapons were used on Aug. 21 against civilians in Syria, and Assad regime is the one that used them."

Journalist Seymour Hersh reported on cherry-picking of intelligence. Officials overlooked evidence intel agencies knew that al Nusra, a group affiliated with al Qaida, had "mastered mechanics of creating sarin & was capable of manufacturing" it in Syria. lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v35/…

Blinken backed—and defended—Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who engaged in systemic torture against his political opponents.

On CNN, in 2011, months after secret jail was exposed, Blinken said Maliki did "many important, significant things."

minnpost.com/christian-scie…

On CNN in May 2014, Blinken said NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden "broke the law. He should come back to the United States to face the law. He can make his case here fully, freely. But he should come back & face consequences of his actions. And we would welcome him doing so."

Not only did this make Blinken a part of President Obama's war on whistleblowers, but it promoted ignorance.

Under Espionage Act, which Snowden was accused of violating, he is not permitted to defend himself by claiming exposing mass surveillance was in public interest.

Biden pledged during the campaign to end US support for Saudi Arabia's bombing of Yemen.

During the Obama administration, Blinken was involved in speeding up arms shipments to Saudi Arabia.

On April 21, 2017, days after WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was expelled from Ecuador embassy and arrested, Blinken said he would have loved to have seen Obama admin find a way to charge Assange.

The entire exchange on Trump administration indicting Assange is rather incredible because Blinken says:

(a) WikiLeaks "colluded" with Russia so that justifies prosecution (yet that's not part of the case)

(b) He'd rather focus on prosecuting Snowden, who is not a publisher

Blinken co-founded WestExec Advisors with Michelle Flournoy, a hawk. He cashed "in on his international connections" and "years of face time with Saudi, Israeli, and Chinese leaders."

Jonathan Guyer of The American Prospect reported on this in July: prospect.org/world/how-bide…

Avril Haines is Biden's pick for director of national intelligence (DNI).

She was principal deputy national security adviser to Obama. In 2013, she was appointed CIA deputy director.

If confirmed, she'll be first woman to run America's massive post-9/11 surveillance state.

When Gina Haspel was nominated for CIA director, Haines backed Haspel, who was directly involved in the CIA's torture program and implicated in destruction of evidence of torture.

thedailybeast.com/the-proxy-war-…

Haines is celebrated for taking interest in international law and advocating for changes to how Obama administration authorized drone strikes.

She played a role in giving Obama's assassination policy a shinier veneer of legality that could further entrench this killing in govt.

Haines worked under former CIA director John Brennan and is a Brennan loyalist, who came to his defense (along with several other former security officials) after Trump revoked Brennan's security clearances. politico.com/f/?id=00000165…

Haines was part of Palantir, a data mining company which was born out of the CIA and has been implicated in numerous human rights abuses.

The Intercept noted in June that the Biden campaign scrubbed this part of her record from their website:
theintercept.com/2020/06/26/bid…

Haines is on board of directors for Center for a New American Security (CNAS), which is funded by weapons manufacturers (Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon), big banks (JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America), and fossil fuel corporations (BP America, Chevron).

Oh, and this war industry-funded think tank is also funded by Palantir, the US National Intelligence Council, and the Office of Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).

Jake Sullivan is Biden's pick for national security adviser.

Sullivan was a senior policy adviser for Hillary Clinton's 2016 and 2008 presidential campaigns.

He was also a national security adviser to Vice President Joe Biden.

Sullivan is part of Alliance for Securing Democracy's Advisory Council, which includes Michael Chertoff, former DHS secretary; Bill Kristol, a neocon who pushed for Iraq War; Mike Morell, former CIA director; John Podesta, former Clinton campaign chairman. securingdemocracy.gmfus.org/about-us/advis…

The Alliance for Securing Democracy developed a "disinformation" tracker called Hamilton 68 that they claimed could identify Russian influence operations. It misidentified real people as Russian bots - even singling out Stars and Stripes newspaper.

https://twitter.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/914623741811937281

The "Podesta emails" published by WikiLeaks showed Jake Sullivan did not believe the Trans-Pacific Partnership had to have any particular environmental protections for Hillary Clinton to support the TPP. shadowproof.com/2016/10/12/cam…

On April 13, 2017, after Trump launched 59 missiles against a Syrian air base in response to an alleged chemical attack, Sullivan cheered the strike during an appearance on CNN.

The retaliation was never legally justified.

Also, in the same CNN appearance, Sullivan said he believed Obama should've attacked Syria like Trump had done.

He also criticized Congress for "dragging" their feet on authorization for strikes in Syria.

Trump authorized the US Air Force to drop the "mother of all bombs" on an ISIS stronghold. This scorched earth attack resulted in the spread of disease, and it ruined the ability of nearby Afghans to grow crops.
tolonews.com/afghanistan/%E…

During the same CNN appearance in 2017, Sullivan said Trump appeared to have used the "Mother of All Bombs" appropriately.

"In principle, using this weapon for this kind of purpose is an appropriate step for the military to take."

Also from this CNN appearance in 2017—Sullivan backed then-CIA director Mike Pompeo's evidence-free claim that WikiLeaks is a “non-state hostile intelligence service often abetted by state actors like Russia.”

And urged Trump to "reinforce" what Pompeo said.

In same speech, Pompeo said Assange had “no First Amendment freedoms” because “he is not a U.S. citizen."

“We’ve had administrations before that have been squeamish about going after these folks under some concept of this right-to-publish," Pompeo added.

Much like Pompeo, Jake Sullivan is rather biased because WikiLeaks exposed emails he sent during Hillary Clinton's failed 2020 presidential campaign. That exposed him to unwanted scrutiny over matters that were of public interest.

Alejandro Mayorkas is Biden's pick for secretary of Homeland Security.

In the Obama administration, he was deputy secretary of homeland security and director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

Mayorkas was a senior DHS official in 2014 when Obama faced Central American refugee crisis.

As American Immigration Council documented, DHS "increased detention of women and children awaiting their asylum hearings, rather than release [them] on bond." americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/under…

The Obama administration, according to American Immigration Council, backed several policies intended to "send a message" to "Central Americans that the trip to the United States was not worth the risk, and they would be better off staying put."

Like Mayorkas declared in June 2014, "We are surging resources to increase our capacity to detain individuals and adults with children, and to handle immigration court hearings."

DHS engaged in "expedited removal," or deportations, of asylum-seekers. obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-offi…

Immigrant rights groups wrote a letter to Mayorkas and DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson in February 2016 that urged them to end family detention and halt fast-track processes that deprived asylum seekers of due process rights.
lawg.org/wp-content/upl…

Mayorkas was director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) from 2009-2013, and as documented by ACLU, USCIS oversaw blacklist of Arabs, Middle Easterners, Muslims, and South Asians who may apply for citizenship.
aclusocal.org/sites/default/…

As ACLU and other groups described in 2013, "USCIS has been blacklisting law-abiding applicants [due to] 'national security concerns' based on lawful religious activity, national origin, and innocuous associations."

👆 👆 👆

I really screwed this one up, and I'm going to add a correction to this thread.

CORRECTION: This quote is from April 2017, not April 2019. So that means Assange was still in the Ecuador embassy and had not been arrested. Blinken was responding to reports that Trump's Justice Department had found a way to charge Assange.

https://twitter.com/kgosztola/status/1331067888288010242?s=20

John Kerry is Biden's pick for special presidential envoy for climate.

Kerry, former secretary of state under Obama, is known as "architect" of Paris climate agreement.

It contained no enforceable mechanisms for ensuring countries met meager benchmarks for cutting emissions.

The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned pledges put us on path to "world that would have devastating impacts on food and water security, human health, displacement of people, & loss of biodiversity and degradation of ecosystem services." insideclimatenews.org/news/07112019/…

Kerry is a believer in carbon pricing, a "market solution" to climate disruption that is favored by neoliberals.

He is an adviser to a fund on the New York Stock Exchange launched by Climate Finance Partners, to "innovate" so-called carbon markets.

In September, Kerry declared, "The next Bill Gates, the next Sergey Brin, the next Elon Musk—there are plenty of people out there pushing curve on hydrogen fuel, pushing curve on turbines and wind, pushing curve on even better, cheaper solar panels."

bostonglobe.com/2020/09/20/bus…

Carbon pricing fuels the capitalist myth that markets can address the planet's climate crisis.

As this paper from National Academy of Sciences clearly outlines, the climate emergency is a result of systemic problems that markets will not solve. pnas.org/content/117/16…

In 2019, during interview for HEATED, Kerry maintained polarization is the problem and corporations that push for natural gas to be a "bridge fuel" for a "longer period" are actually meaningfully contributing to "healthy debate."

heated.world/p/a-conversati…

Interview came as he launched World War Zero, a centrist neoliberal project populated with Hollywood celebrities.

Affiliated representatives take no policy positions.

It grew out of American Security Project, which promotes fantasy of fusion energy. theconversation.com/conservative-n…

Linda Thomas-Greenfield is Biden's pick for US ambassador to the United Nations.

She was assistant secretary for the Bureau of African Affairs and oversaw policy toward sub-Saharan Africa in Obama administration.

She is leader of Biden transition's State Department group.

When Susan Rice was under attack for her record on US foreign policy toward Africa, Thomas-Greenfield defended her.

"Ms. Rice was tireless in her effort to bring peace to the region..."

Rice aggressively pushed for war in Libya, and the country is now a failed state.

Thomas-Greenfield is senior vice president for Albright Stonebridge Group's Africa section.

The corporate and opaque diplomacy firm takes advantage of a loophole that lets her—and others at similar firms—avoid registering as lobbyists. politico.com/news/2020/11/2…