National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster has claimed his third ‘Bannonite’ scalp on the National Security Council – 31 year old Ezra Cohen-Watnick, a relatively low-level CIA-trained Defense Intel Agency (DIA) officer Mike Flynn brought into the White House to head up the NSC – a role typically chosen by the CIA and filled with seasoned career employees.
Cohen-Watnick met Flynn while training at the Defense Clandestine Service, after which he went on to train at the CIA’s “Farm” (AKA Camp Peary). Cohen-Watnick went on to work for the DIA in Afghanistan with a GS-13 rank, after which he returned to DIA headquarters where he worked closely with Flynn.
From the beginning of the Trump presidency, Cohen-Watnick’s meteoric rise from relatively low-level DIA asset to the head of the NSC – a key interface between the White House and intelligence agencies – infuriated senior members within the U.S. Intelligence community. When H.R. McMaster tried to fire Cohen-Watnick in March following the resignation of Mike Flynn, President Trump personally intervened to save his job.
Trump, Bannon, and Kushner reportedly took a strong liking to Cohen-Watnick after a February meeting in the White House situation room, and Cohen-Watnick in turn proved himself a fierce Trump-loyalist, credited with unmasking unmaskers for the President.
His loyalty to the president ran deep. When Trump claimed, without evidence, that President Obama wiretapped Trump Tower in early March, Cohen-Watnick combed through old intelligence intercepts, seemingly in an attempt to vindicate him. He even leaked some of them to a friendly Republican in Congress, Rep. Devin Nunes. –Vox
Cohen-Watnick’s firing comes on the heels of Gen. John Kelly joining the Trump administration as new Chief of Staff, replacing recently fired Reince Priebus. Kelly’s first order of business was to demand that everyone in the White House, sans Trump, report to him. This doesn’t bode well for Trump advisor Steve Bannon, who has reportedly been in an ongoing war with H.R. McMaster for months.
Cohen-Watnick’s firing comes about a week after Derek Harvey, the NSC’s top Middle East official, was dismissed despite sharing Trump’s hawkish views on Iran. It comes less than a month after Rich Higgins, a member of the NSC’s strategic planning office, was dismissed for writing a memo alleging that “Islamists ally with cultural Marxists because, as far back as the 1980s, they properly assessed that the left has a strong chance of reducing Western civilization to its benefit.” –Vox
Former Breitbart Journalist Jordan Schachtel, who is definitely in the Bannon camp, writes a bitter assessment in Conservative Review:
He has been described as an “Iran hawk” who wanted to revamp counter-Iran efforts in the Middle East, and sought to reform the intelligence community to rein in the “deep state” of unaccountable bureaucrats with rogue agendas.
Cohen-Watnick is the latest Trump loyalist to be fired by Gen. McMaster, whose security council continues to be overwhelmingly staffed with Obama holdovers (almost all of whom have retained their positions).
In the past, McMaster has refused to fire the Obama holdovers. Now-fired Middle East NSC director Derek Harvey compiled a list of Obama holdovers and took that list directly to the president, who requested that McMaster follow through with Harvey’s recommendations. McMaster outright refused.
While the firing of Cohen-Watnick has dealt a blow to camp Bannon and the nationalist platform he rode in on, it’s easy to see why he had to go… If Trump wants anything close to a functional relationship with the CIA, the unqualified 31 year old “Iran Hawk” from the DIA – no matter how loyal – had to go.
It is unclear who will fill Cohen-Watnick’s position, however H.R. McMaster interviewed veteran CIA officer Linda Weissgold to fill the role in March after his first attempt at cleaning house.
The White House issued the following statement:
General McMaster appreciates the good work accomplished in the NSC’s Intelligence directorate under Ezra Cohen’s leadership. He has determined that, at this time, a different set of experiences is best-suited to carrying that work forward. General McMaster is confident that Ezra will make many further significant contributions to national security in another position in the administration.
If you enjoy the content at iBankCoin, please follow us on Twitter
Makes perfect sense. This is why voters wanted Trump in. To rid the administration of all Trump loyalists and retain Obama holdovers. Thank you McMaster for doing such a great job fulfilling voters’ mandates. /sarc
Cohen-Watnick’s statement “Islamists ally with cultural Marxists because, as far back as the 1980s, they properly assessed that the left has a strong chance of reducing Western civilization to its benefit.” is quite interesting.
If one reads the history of Islam, it was initially anti-Aristocracy – hence Mohammed’s being chased out of Medina. After Mohammed’s death and later Hussein’s martyrdom, Islam fractured into Sunni and Shia.
But conversely the Aristorcracy of Sunni Empire (which today includes Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, and parts of Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon and North Africa) in fact co-opted Islam to as a tool to actually solidify their rule over the populace in an almost feudal way.
The largest and most influential Islamic nation, Saudi Arabia, founded by Abdul Aziz Al Saud in the 20th century, was indeed forged by the alliance of the Aristocracy and the most extreme and barbaric elements of Islam, the Wahhabis. It continues today.
OK. What am I trying to say? The Sunni history of Islam supports Cohen-Watnick’s statement and cultural Marxism is a very natural fit. Of course the story goes that after conquering the Arabian Peninsula, Saud had the most radical elements of the Wahhabis executed. No doubt this same fate will await the cultural Marxists once the new conquest is completed.
@Cricket: Just like the Catholic Church was in fact co-opted. According to Piers Compton, the Papacy was actually subverted by the Illuminati in 1958 when John XXIII became Pope. This was the culmination of a 200-year campaign to infiltrate and destroy the Catholic Church:
https://tinyurl.com/y8l6mlf2
@sarc I think that my only disagreement with Cohen-Watnick’s statement is that it is the Sunni Islam side to ally with cultural Marxism. I don’t think that the Shia (Iranian) Islam would be so inclined. Strangely we are allied with Sunni Islam.
Yes the Roman Catholic Church may be involved in the same cultural Marxist program too, especially with a Jesuit Pope.
@Cricket: the Catholic Church “may”? “May”? Vatican/Black Pope in fact is in on the cultural Marxist NWO establishing itself over humanity.
A person who uses only his initials for is first name shows how arrogant and full of himself he or she is. Especially a military man like myself. I think McMaster as others are actually jealous of this young man. And where should Trump’s loyalty to his people?
McMaster must go. What a mistake.
Thank you, GEN. McMasters, for figuring out Flynn, Harvey, et al. lacked the scholarly intellect necessary to best serve natsec.