Description
Added on the 23/07/2019 20:30:04 - Copyright : Wochit
As lame duck President Donald Trump purges his administration, the Pentagon's top intelligence official has resigned in protest. According to Business Insider, Joseph Kernan, Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security, walked off the job on Tuesday. The Pentagon says Kernan's departure had been planned for months, but it notably comes the same day two other Department of Defense officials resigned. Kernan's announcement came one day after Trump fired Secretary of Defense Mark Esper by tweet, saying Esper had been 'terminated.' It also comes amid the resignation of the chief of staff to the Secretary of Defense Jen Stewart and acting Under Secretary of Defense for Policy James Anderson. Writing in a statement that 'it appears that chaos has now reached the Pentagon,' Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) was just one of many lawmakers sounding the alarm.
Just days before being canned by President Donald Trump, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper denied serving as the president's yes-man in the Pentagon. According to Business Insider, Esper told the Military Times he challenges the president more than any other Cabinet-level leader. President Donald Trump fired Esper Monday, providing no reason. However, the president has previously purged officials for a perceived lack of loyalty. Esper and the Commander in Chief have locked horns on numerous issues, most notably over Esper's order to cease flying the Confederate flag on US military bases. Also, Esper also tried to distance himself from a politically-charged photo op, in which Trump awkwardly clutched a Bible in front of a church near the White House. Federal troops pepper-sprayed peaceful protesters in Lafayette Park, so the way would be cleared for Trump, Esper, and other officials to walk to the church.
US Defense Secretary Mark Esper says that the United States is not pulling its forces out of Iraq, denying that there is a signed letter from the US side announcing an exit. "Our policy has not changed. We are not leaving Iraq," Esper tells reporters. SOUNDBITE
Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin says that the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip was an Israeli operation and his visit to Israel was not aimed at setting a timeline for the conflict. SOUNDBITE
Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin calls on the Iran-backed movement Hezbollah to avoid provoking a wider conflict amid near-daily skirmishes along the Israel-Lebanon border since Israel's war with Hamas. SOUNDBITE
Poland's President Andrzej Duda swears in former European Council president Donald Tusk as the country's new prime minister, putting an end to eight years of right-wing populist rule. Tusk, who previously served as prime minister in 2007-2014, has pledged to restore Poland's position in the European Union after rule-of-law infringements strained Warsaw ties with Brussels. IMAGES
|
Support : Technical 
- Content 
- Editors 
