Good Riddance to America's Bungling Maestro of Middle-East Mayhem

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

By Haris Tarin

As President Donald Trump regains the Oval Office, all voters of conscience should celebrate one product of his victory. Brett McGurk, an empowered parasite stuck to U.S. foreign policy, will vacate the Whitehouse. McGurk has been the Walter Mitty of American Middle East strategy for over two decades, empowered by every administration from Bush to Biden with a knack for being at the epicenter of failure. Holding a worldview that is deeply rooted in the failed post 9/11 Bush/Cheney war on terror, Mr. McGurk has failed at every step to see the need for a new policy approach to the region which has failed the American people.

Tasked with coordinating the American response to the Syrian civil war and the rise of ISIS, McGurk’s approach initially included familiar trademarks like a lack of foresight, poor strategic execution, and decisions that created lasting regional instability. His actions not only failed to achieve American objectives but left a vacuum that adversaries like Russia and Iran exploited to their advantage. Mr. McGruk most recently was coordinating with regional actors to reintegrate the Syrian dictator Bashar Al-Assad. A band of Syrian opposition groups just defeated Assad and Putin leaving Mr. McGurk shell-shocked without a plan. His incompetence led to the United States' withdrawal from the conflict by President-Elect Donald Trump in his first term.

McGurk’s career trajectory is the stuff of Washington legend; a study in the art of failing upward. After the invasion of Iraq, he was instrumental in the nation-building debacle that turned “Mission Accomplished” into a uniquely American punchline. Sectarian violence exploded under his watch, Iran-backed militias grew more potent, and the global threat of ISIS emerged. But rather than being ushered into obscurity, McGurk was perpetually promoted and handed a new portfolio to mismanage.

Under the Obama administration, he became the point man for Iraq, where his gift for short-term thinking reached its crescendo. Instead of addressing corruption or sectarian divides, McGurk opted for duct-tape diplomacy: patching things up just enough to declare “progress” and move on.

Then there was Syria.

McGurk’s role in managing the U.S. response to ISIS was less a strategy and more a grim exercise in trial and error - mostly error. He alienated allies and failed to anticipate the consequences of American troop withdrawals. Meanwhile, Russia and Iran swept in to fill the vacuum, ensuring that McGurk’s legacy would include destabilization and the erosion of U.S. influence.

When Trump entered office in 2016, McGurk initially hung on, only to resign dramatically over Trump’s decision to pull troops out of Syria which McGurk’s mismanagement arguably helped necessitate. His resignation was less about principle and more about salvaging his then-soiled reputation.

Despite the former, McGurk soon found himself back in the fray under Biden, this time as the National Security Council’s Middle East Czar. Here, he continued his greatest hits: empowering autocrats, alienating allies, and failing to make any progress on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Following the October 7th attack on Israel and the subsequent invasion of Gaza, McGurk has been incompetent in being able to bring about a ceasefire or contain the conflict, allowing it to rage in Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, and Syria.

The harsh truth is this: McGurk has been the architect of some of America’s worst policy disasters in the Middle East, but he has somehow managed to convince successive administrations that he’s indispensable. His most outstanding achievement may be his survival in a town where failure is supposed to have consequences.

Washington does have its limits, and Trump’s return offers an opportunity to close the book on McGurk’s career. His exit from government should be treated not as a footnote but as a cautionary tale and a study of how recycling bad ideas and rewarding mediocre performance can hobble a nation’s foreign policy for decades.

The Middle East deserves better. The United States deserves better, and Brett McGurk deserves a well-earned retirement.

Haris Tarin is the Vice President of Policy and Programming at the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC). He spent 10 years in the Government working in National Security and Homeland Security policy.