Amidst the chaos of another Trump Administration, we must take a moment to celebrate the exit of Brett McGurk, one of the most incompetent architects of U.S. foreign policy failures in the Middle East
Hell of a take on McGurk there Mr. Ali. I damn near agree with all you said of this character and his type. Everyone out there, have you ever known someone who was terrible at their job, then gets their ass run off? You say to yourself, what took so long? Six months later, you find out the bum got another high level job with better pay & benefits ( including a real pension). I have lived long enough to see some people advance with every worse FU that they do. Believe me, it happens! But Ali, you missed one thing though. This guy no doubt is a professional politician. What gets me (and pisses me off), incompetence and a total lack of understanding & empathy is rewarded with taxpayer funds. Well poor guy, guess he will have to get a private sector job as a lobbyist. Poor bastard, he will probably end up with a higher salary, better benefits, stock options and another pension. Probably write a book with a high dollar advancement guaranteed. Life is hell, ain’t it?
Thanks for the update there pal. What do you think of McGurk by the way. Did he do a good, mediocre, or bad job? I don’t think he has helped anyone but himself. He has only did a disservice to this country and harmed our standing in the world. I wonder what Joe B. thinks about him? I hope he realizes having folks like this around doesn’t help matters. But what do I know? Maybe McGurk will win the Nobel Peace Prize next year. Maybe I will hit the Mega Millions next year? It is all possible, I guess. Have a happy holiday season! 🤶
Julia Ioffe, Puck, wrote a more nuanced overview of McGurk.
The substance was largely the same, but he does have defenders for several policies (eg, negotiating the release of Iranian journalists and Hamas hostages).
Others point to Biden's immovable position re unwavering support for Israel.
That said, he worked under 2 presidents to craft the Abraham Accords, which ignored Palestinian human rights considerations. It's telling that McGurk resigned over Syria, but not Gaza.
It's too simplistic to point the finger at one man...the Middle East has been mismanaged by countless administrations.
McGurk is just a system of our flawed system. There are a lot of such people, going in & out of government, doesn't matter which party is in charge, perpetuating failed foreign policy, & we never seem to get rid of them.
No different to the UK then. I blame celebrity and winner takes all ‘culture’ as much as our education systems for a supine social response in the face of such blatant political dysfunction and corruption. Politicians seem now to be mere whores to the highest bidder or most brutal mobster of the moment.
Spot-on post. Neocon Brett McGurk, along with his partners in war crimes Jake Sullivan, and Tony Blinken, have been abject failures at their US government jobs and as members of the human race. Good riddance to them all!
This kind of reporting - naming names and demonstrating the lack of accountability - is awesome. Speaking truth to power. Just makes me sad of the impact and what could have been.
Our failures in the ME are legendary. It goes far back to CIA interference in Iran’s democracy that put the Shah in power. Question is what can we do. We need a viable plan. The Plan has to have Potential. I remain worried of our Democratic platform. I’m working on bits of it, but need help. I know that one brain is not enough. We could put that plan in the Platform.
A tragedy that one person’s incompetence, ignorance, and bigotry can have such a large negative impact on a whole part of the world and lead to the destruction and death of so many.
President Musk just ordered Republicans to pull finding for children's cancer research and you post this?? Trump is going to help wipe Palestine off the map and will build a golf course there. Maybe, just maybe my family in the military won't be sent over to help but who knows. Traitor.
I'm late to the conversation but I really wonder if McGurk really will be gone. He has been like the unflushable turd that keeps popping back up out of the outflow trap. I had heard he "manages up" better than some.
This all begs the question of does the U.S. have anyone who has knowledge of the MENA region, because I haven't seen any. I sincerely hope McGurk is truly history.
These are the kind of bureaucrats who gave us the Arab Spring-surviving MENA dictatorships and "Iran Nuclear Deal". But a new wind is blowing in the region. After a year of catastrophes, the IR in Iran is unraveling faster than anyone realizes: first abroad, then at home
Hell of a take on McGurk there Mr. Ali. I damn near agree with all you said of this character and his type. Everyone out there, have you ever known someone who was terrible at their job, then gets their ass run off? You say to yourself, what took so long? Six months later, you find out the bum got another high level job with better pay & benefits ( including a real pension). I have lived long enough to see some people advance with every worse FU that they do. Believe me, it happens! But Ali, you missed one thing though. This guy no doubt is a professional politician. What gets me (and pisses me off), incompetence and a total lack of understanding & empathy is rewarded with taxpayer funds. Well poor guy, guess he will have to get a private sector job as a lobbyist. Poor bastard, he will probably end up with a higher salary, better benefits, stock options and another pension. Probably write a book with a high dollar advancement guaranteed. Life is hell, ain’t it?
Haris Tarin wrote this article.
Thanks for the update there pal. What do you think of McGurk by the way. Did he do a good, mediocre, or bad job? I don’t think he has helped anyone but himself. He has only did a disservice to this country and harmed our standing in the world. I wonder what Joe B. thinks about him? I hope he realizes having folks like this around doesn’t help matters. But what do I know? Maybe McGurk will win the Nobel Peace Prize next year. Maybe I will hit the Mega Millions next year? It is all possible, I guess. Have a happy holiday season! 🤶
Julia Ioffe, Puck, wrote a more nuanced overview of McGurk.
The substance was largely the same, but he does have defenders for several policies (eg, negotiating the release of Iranian journalists and Hamas hostages).
Others point to Biden's immovable position re unwavering support for Israel.
That said, he worked under 2 presidents to craft the Abraham Accords, which ignored Palestinian human rights considerations. It's telling that McGurk resigned over Syria, but not Gaza.
It's too simplistic to point the finger at one man...the Middle East has been mismanaged by countless administrations.
McGurk is just a system of our flawed system. There are a lot of such people, going in & out of government, doesn't matter which party is in charge, perpetuating failed foreign policy, & we never seem to get rid of them.
No different to the UK then. I blame celebrity and winner takes all ‘culture’ as much as our education systems for a supine social response in the face of such blatant political dysfunction and corruption. Politicians seem now to be mere whores to the highest bidder or most brutal mobster of the moment.
Spot-on post. Neocon Brett McGurk, along with his partners in war crimes Jake Sullivan, and Tony Blinken, have been abject failures at their US government jobs and as members of the human race. Good riddance to them all!
But what equally incompetent buffoon will replace him under the Trusk administration?
whoa, if tRump reads this he will be re-assigned to a higher position
That seems quite possible.
What is the deal with men named Brett? Kavanaugh, Favre and now this guy.
This kind of reporting - naming names and demonstrating the lack of accountability - is awesome. Speaking truth to power. Just makes me sad of the impact and what could have been.
There's an old Harvard Business Review study just about this - "getting along" is more important than success.
Of course, it's likely that Trump will usher in a new era - one where kickbacks and ass-lickig are more important than competency.
I’m guessing you meant in this position since it’s clear INcompetency is out of favor with anything in which DJT is involved.
Our failures in the ME are legendary. It goes far back to CIA interference in Iran’s democracy that put the Shah in power. Question is what can we do. We need a viable plan. The Plan has to have Potential. I remain worried of our Democratic platform. I’m working on bits of it, but need help. I know that one brain is not enough. We could put that plan in the Platform.
https://hotbuttons.substack.com/p/next-we-do-good-work?r=3m1bs
A tragedy that one person’s incompetence, ignorance, and bigotry can have such a large negative impact on a whole part of the world and lead to the destruction and death of so many.
Why haven’t we ever heard of him?
I thought it was just me.
President Musk just ordered Republicans to pull finding for children's cancer research and you post this?? Trump is going to help wipe Palestine off the map and will build a golf course there. Maybe, just maybe my family in the military won't be sent over to help but who knows. Traitor.
I'm late to the conversation but I really wonder if McGurk really will be gone. He has been like the unflushable turd that keeps popping back up out of the outflow trap. I had heard he "manages up" better than some.
This all begs the question of does the U.S. have anyone who has knowledge of the MENA region, because I haven't seen any. I sincerely hope McGurk is truly history.
These are the kind of bureaucrats who gave us the Arab Spring-surviving MENA dictatorships and "Iran Nuclear Deal". But a new wind is blowing in the region. After a year of catastrophes, the IR in Iran is unraveling faster than anyone realizes: first abroad, then at home
More info:
https://open.substack.com/pub/kavehsforge/p/an-empire-of-ashes?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=45p8fq