Share this page!

Ben Rhodes Profile picture
Twitter logo
19 Mar, 10 tweets, 3 min read
1. The hold-up with Colin Kahl's confirmation is absurd for a lot of reasons. First, bc he's undeniably qualified: a leading defense intellect in the country, and a deeply experienced Pentagon and WH official (he was also Joe Biden's Nat Sec Advisor) politico.com/news/2021/03/1…
2. The reason frequently given by Republicans who supported Trump is Colin's tweets, which were hardly over-the-top and basically mainstream Democratic opinions shared by tens of millions of people. theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/m…
3. The real reason Colin's nomination is contentious is that he was a passionate and effective advocate for the Iran Deal and critic of Trump's disastrous decision to tear up the deal. jewishinsider.com/2021/03/colin-…
4. This has led to predictable charges from Republicans that he is bad for Israel, a view that is disputed by...Israeli military figures, given Colin's role in deepening security cooperation and ramping up the Iron Dome program that saved Israeli lives. jta.org/2021/03/18/pol…
5. Let's also remember that Colin (and I) were spied upon by Black Cube, the same private intelligence firm that spied on Harvey Weinstein's accusers. theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/m…
6. This included an operative approaching Colin's wife pretending to be interested in fund-raising for his kid's school. A real invasion of privacy that busts through norms of all kinds. nytimes.com/2018/05/07/opi…
7. So beyond wanting the best person for an important job, why does this matter so much?
8. Colin's nomination is in trouble bc he expressed commonly held views online, effectively supported the policy of the Democratic Administration he served, and has been subjected to the weaponized charge of being anti-Israel when Israelis themselves argue the opposite.
9. If his nomination is thwarted, it will fuel the worst aspects of the politics of national security, and validate the creeps who hired Black Cube to harass his family. Bad for national security. A tragic injustice to a guy who has paid too high a price for his public service.
10. If he is confirmed, the United States will have the benefit of the service of one of the smartest, nicest, and most committed public servants I have ever known. And no we don't agree about everything! There's another reason for him to get GOP votes.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with Ben Rhodes

Ben Rhodes Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @brhodes

Ben Rhodes Profile picture
2 Feb
1. Three years ago, I set out to write a book to understand what happened to the world, America, and myself as the undertow of history pulled us into the currents of nationalism and authoritarianism – and what we should do about it. I hope you’ll read it: penguinrandomhouse.com/books/609428/a…
2. I travelled the world to learn the stories of individuals – dissidents, opposition figures, and young people making sense of it all. I found that the same things were happening everywhere in ways that let me understand better what’s happening in America.
3. I talked to Russians like Alexei Navalny, who told me his story and what motivates him to risk his life for a Russia that isn’t corrupt, that speaks to the grievances that Russians feel in their bones without enriching a cabal that has hijacked Russian identity.
Read 12 tweets
Ben Rhodes Profile picture
7 Jan
1. People like Graham declaring that Trump lost the election doesn't merit an honorable mention in profiles in courage. What Romney said about leaders needing to tell the truth is more consequential. But what would that mean in practice? That's what Republicans must consider.
2. First, it means abandoning conspiracy theories that have been literally the foundation of the Republican Party for the last decade, the toxins that are spread constantly on Fox, talk radio, online, and mainlined into peoples' social media feeds through profit-driven algorithms
3. Could every Republican leader say these things? Barack Obama was born in the US. Russia intervened in the 2016 election to help Donald Trump. Joe Biden didn't intervene in Ukrainian politics to help his son. There is no cabal of child sex traffickers somehow running the world.
Read 12 tweets
Ben Rhodes Profile picture
29 Oct 20
1. There has always been a ton of smoke around the relationship between Trump and Erdogan, two of the most corrupt leaders in the world. Whatever happens in November, this has to be investigated and people held accountable.
2. There was the issue of Flynn being a paid representative of Turkey while he was advising Trump, focused on Erdogan's obsession with getting custody of the U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen. nytimes.com/2017/03/10/us/…
3. I was in meetings when Erdogan would demand that Obama send Gulen to Turkey. Obama would have to firmly and patiently explain that even the President cannot interfere in the US Justice system (norms! how quaint)
Read 11 tweets
Ben Rhodes Profile picture
20 Oct 20
1. It's hard to overstate what callous disregard this shows for the safety of our diplomats and intelligence officers, and how much the obsession with undoing Obama's Cuba policy while currying favor with Russia and China drove Trump's policy. nytimes.com/2020/10/19/us/…
2. Many of us who worked on Cuba in the Obama Administration suspected Russian involvement from the beginning. When I conducted secret negotiations with the Cubans, I was occasionally tailed by Russians.
3. This included being followed to a Canadian hotel where I had a secret meeting with Cuban officials in 2014, and being tailed by Russians in Havana.
Read 12 tweets
Ben Rhodes Profile picture
11 Jul 20
The collapse of governance during COVID-19 and corruption of democracy demands that we vote Republicans out up and down the ballot and support candidates who will put people first. Here are some good people to support and things to do, starting here: votesaveamerica.com
In Michigan (my adopted state!) here are three amazing Democrats with strong national security backgrounds and deep local roots: secure.actblue.com/donate/fp4m
Today I'm happy to be doing a fundraiser in support of exactly the kind of brilliant next-generation leader we need - Yassamin has already helped fight climate change at the global level and now she's gone home to make change in Phoenix: secure.numero.ai/contribute/yas…
Read 6 tweets
Ben Rhodes Profile picture
28 Jun 20
1. I have trouble believing it, but as someone who got the presidential daily briefing for more than 7 years the idea that a POTUS wouldn’t be briefed on a Russian bounty on US troops is even more alarming.
2. Given the hundreds of pieces of intel that would be briefed to him in this period, did the intel community think Trump wouldn’t care? That strikes at the heart of his responsibility as commander in chief.
3. Did they think he wouldn’t do anything in response or wouldn’t want to be bothered? That raises questions about whether he cares about our troops.
Read 9 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Like this author's thread?

Get emails when @brhodes has new unrolls!

Check out other threads from @brhodes!

Read all threads by @brhodes