No "Shit Sandwich" for Decorated Navy Admiral

Robert Harward turns down Trump's national security adviser offer
5 hours ago
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Retired Vice-Admiral Robert HarwardImage copyrightREUTERS

Retired Vice-Admiral Robert Harward is a 60-year-old former Navy Seal
US President Donald Trump's choice for national security adviser has turned down the job offer.
Retired Vice-Admiral Robert Harward was widely tipped for the post after Mr Trump fired Michael Flynn on Monday.
A White House official said Mr Harward cited family and financial commitments, but US media said the sticking point was he wanted to bring in his own team.
Mr Flynn had misled US Vice-President Mike Pence over his conversations with Russia's ambassador to the US.
The latest setback emerged hours after Mr Trump robustly denied media reports of White House disarray, insisting in a news conference that his administration was running like a "fine-tuned machine".
The White House is expected to name its new communications director on Friday, and US media say the job will go to Mike Dubke, the founder of Republican media group Crossroads Media.

Mr Harward told the Associated Press the Trump administration was "very accommodating to my needs, both professionally and personally".
"It's purely a personal issue," added the 60-year-old former Navy Seal who is currently based in Abu Dhabi as an executive for US defence contractor Lockheed Martin.

Asked about reports that he had asked to bring in his own staff at the National Security Council, Mr Harward said: "I think that's for the president to address."
Mr Flynn, a retired army lieutenant-general, was ousted amid claims that before he was even appointed as national security adviser he had discussed sanctions with a Russian envoy.
This would have potentially breached a law banning private citizens from engaging in diplomacy.
Mr Flynn initially denied having discussed sanctions with Sergei Kislyak, Moscow's ambassador to Washington.
But on Monday, Mr Trump asked for his resignation following revelations that Mr Flynn had misled the vice-president about his conversations with the diplomat.

Leading Republicans have called for an investigation into intelligence leaks that led to Mr Flynn's resignation.

The BBC

Heyward supposedly called the job "a shit sandwich" after speaking with the Trump camp and his limited influence would have been worse than useless...

I might also add that this is fairily unprecedented....

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Originally Posted by Nickdfresh

the 60-year-old former Navy Seal who is currently based in Abu Dhabi as an executive for US defence contractor Lockheed Martin.

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Probably pays better compared to the government job.

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Originally Posted by Nickdfresh

Heyward supposedly called the job "a shit sandwich" after speaking with the Trump camp and his limited influence would have been worse than useless...

I might also add that this is fairily unprecedented....

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If you had the credentials and background Harward did, would you want to take your cues from the likes of Steve Bannon? Or be professionally associated with this administration in the state it is currently in?

As twona said, what he is doing in his capacity with Lockheed Martin is probably more to his liking.

Agreed it doesn't seem as if I can recall a president getting turned down by someone this early on in his administration. Citing family and personal concerns is the oldest canard in the book in terms of refusal rationales. Financial commitments might be closer to the mark.

Did Trump not say in his conference that one of the reasons he was happy to sack Flynn was that he had a great candidate lined up?

Also I'm no hippy but we don't get that long alive on this planet and I'm so glad I haven't spent any of mine selling weapons to dictators in the Middle East.

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Originally Posted by twonabomber

Probably pays better compared to the government job.

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Maybe he thinks living in Abu Dhabi is better that living in DC.

They should have left one piece of bread off and called it shit on a shingle.

Apparently (Ret.) Gen. Petraeus also doesn't want any shit sandwich either...

Petraeus couldn't even get a security clearance now after the whole "he passed classified info to his girlfriend" incident. He probably wisely thought better than to stir up that kettle of shit again.

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Originally Posted by cadaverdog

Maybe he thinks living in Abu Dhabi is better that living in DC.

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Either way, he's not living on welfare unlike SOME people.

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Originally Posted by FORD

Petraeus couldn't even get a security clearance now after the whole "he passed classified info to his girlfriend" incident. He probably wisely thought better than to stir up that kettle of shit again.

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He'd of gotten the clearance, and she was hot!

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Originally Posted by twonabomber

Probably pays better compared to the government job.

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Probably, but I doubt he's hurting for money with an admiral's pension. Nat'l Security adviser looks very good on the resume and would open up more doors...

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Originally Posted by FORD

Petraeus couldn't even get a security clearance now after the whole "he passed classified info to his girlfriend" incident. He probably wisely thought better than to stir up that kettle of shit again.

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Even putting aside the practicalities of Petraeus getting security clearance approval (as President, Trump can legally appoint Petraeus to the NSA position regardless of what Petraeus was convicted of and paid a fine for: if that appointment would lead to Petraeus getting cleared to handle classified information is also moot in that the NSA as an organization itself can and does grant clearances.In addition, Trump could simply issue an Executive Order which redefines the clearance process. In other words, if Trump wanted Petraeus in that particular position, Petraeus would be in), the issue that is seemingly inhibiting potential candidates is their prerogative to staff the organization they are heading in the manner they want to. The Trump Administration wants to exercise complete control over staffing and thus far has refused multiple candidates for various positions who criticized Trump on any level at any time during the campaign.

The Trump campaign insists on 100% loyalty up front to Trump as a prerequisite to being hired. Granted, ANY president should expect a high degree of loyalty to the office by hired staffers and appointed Department heads once they are in their positions. The canard in the Trump Administration's strategy is this insistence of a retroactive non-critical history in opinions of Trump prior to his even winning the election. This historical standard of reverence to Donald Trump that could only reasonably be expected by members of Trump's family.

As to Petraeus specifically, he has been long hailed as a savior by presidents as diverse as W Bush and Obama, but when I look at the track record of what Petraeus actually did when leading the military effort in the Afghanistan theater and later as CIA Director with respect to what happened in Benghazi and the results of his actions, the propagated myths of Petraeus aren't particularly impressive when contrasted to the record. Even with the Broadwell incident (and all of the fallout from that) to one side, I don't think the removal of Petraeus from a position of power or influence has been a particular loss for our country: I'm definitely not of the mindset that "were it not for Broadwell, Petraeus would be seen as a great or consequential figure in contemporary American life."

"A phony general for a phony war" (as someone once put it) sums up that man nicely for me.