Who Sets U.S. Foreign Policy?

So now we know the identity of the infamous whistleblower!  (His name is not important.  It’s been revealed in plenty of other places online if you’re really curious.)  He’s a kid.  He’s 33 now, but all of this dates back to when he was in the Obama administration in 2015.  So he’s being used, in other words thrown to the wolves by the older, more experienced politicians and those of the so-called “deep state” who want to keep their hands clean…at least as clean as possible given that nobody is going to look good when this is all over.

Apparently, the kid works for the CIA, must’ve been some low-level wonk (“intelligence analyst”) probably recruited right out of college, perhaps dreaming he was going to be the next master spy like the fictional Jack Ryan of Tom Clancy novels.  Whatever.

In 2015 the CIA assigned him to the National Security Council (NSC) in the Obama administration working for Susan Rice.  He also worked for Vice President Joe Biden on Ukraine policy issues.  He was “held over” into the Trump administration and handled the “Ukraine desk” (whatever that is) at the NSC, and was eventually brought into the White House until his anti-Trump sentiments were revealed – which we can surmise made him persona non grata.  He has moved back to CIA headquarters…but not before meeting with Senator Adam Schiff (who heads the House Intelligence Committee) and agreeing to become The Whistleblower.  

Since this young man only claims to have second-hand knowledge about the phone call President Trump had with Ukraine President Zelensky, it stands to reason that the source of this second-hand information was U.S. Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who actually did listen in on the phone call and who says he had serious misgivings about what President Trump was doing because it…and this is what everybody says…it would jeopardize national security!!  That’s the catch-all, right?  If you make such a claim, who would…or could…prove you wrong?  Who could even question your motives?  I think it’s safe to assume that Col. Vindman and our young whistleblower must’ve talked.

But what Lt. Col. Vindman seems to overlook or conveniently forget is that it is THE PRESIDENT who sets our foreign policy…not Congress, not the Joint Chiefs, not the media, and certainly not U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonels, no matter how well-meaning.  We don’t have to (and won’t) question Lt. Col. Vindman’s patriotism or character.  But we can definitely say that he is off-base here in his testimony.  To him I would say “Sir, just let the president handle foreign policy; after all, he is your Commander In Chief.”