Why Fred Fleitz is the right man for the deputy at National Security Council

Originally posted on The Washington Times

Recently, President Trump and National Security Adviser John Bolton selected Fred Fleitz to be Mr. Bolton’s deputy at the National Security Council. Fred is the right man for this critical job, especially given the ongoing negotiations with Kim Jong-un of North Korea. Fred is one of the most experienced analysts in the U.S. and a true patriot who understands and supports the president’s agenda.

Mr. Fleitz represents another brilliant, winning personnel choice that will pay dividends for the president and Mr. Bolton. Much of my assessment of Mr. Fleitz rests on my 36 years of service in the U.S. Army, which included six years in the intelligence field with the Department of Defense and the CIA.

Before moving to the National Security Council (NSC), Mr. Fleitz served for 25 years in various jobs associated with U.S. national security. His background and experience in intelligence is impressive. He has worked at the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the State Department, and with House Intelligence Committee staff. His last position was senior vice president for policy and programs at the Center for Security Policy here in the nation’s capital. His commentary in op-eds, radio and TV programs is always enlightening and reflects an incredible grasp of today’s most complex issues, like the North Korean and Iranian nuclear programs. Fred’s experience gives him an advantage over the rest of the field of commentators.

When he speaks, it is abundantly clear that he is reflecting on his years of analysis and the briefing of upper echelon leaders in the U.S. government on issues of national intelligence. It is comforting to me to know that he has helped prepare the president for this trip to Singapore. There are many other important and relevant aspects of Mr. Fleitz’s career, but the factor supporting his appointment is that his experience aligns very closely with the greatest problems facing the United States today.

For example, he has two decades of experience working on and thinking about issues of nuclear weapons proliferation — including its financing across state lines. Of course, two of the greatest crises the world faces presently revolve around keeping the two most dangerous nations in the world, North Korea and Iran, from attaining and/or enhancing their nuclear weapons.

Like Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu, Mr. Trump and Mr. Bolton, Mr. Fleitz has been a vocal critic of the Obama foreign policy that did nothing to stop North Korea from acquiring nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles to use against the United States.