Douglas Macgregor

Last updated

Douglas Macgregor
Douglas Macgregor in 2020.jpg
Macgregor in 2020
Senior Advisor to the United States Secretary of Defense
In office
November 11, 2020 –January 20, 2021
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Army
Years of service1976–2004
Rank Colonel
Commands 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry
Battles/wars
Awards Defense Superior Service Medal
Bronze Star (with Valor)
Meritorious Service Medal (4)
Army Commendation Medal
Army Achievement Medal
National Defense Service Medal (2)
Southwest Asia Service Medal (2 Bronze Stars)
Kuwait Liberation Medal
Kosovo Campaign Medal
Humanitarian Service Medal
French Meritorious Service Medal (Bronze Star)
Parachutist Badge
Ranger Tab

Douglas Abbott Macgregor (born January 4, 1947) is a retired colonel in the United States Army, former government official, author, consultant, and political commentator. [1]

Contents

An Armor Branch officer by background, Macgregor was a leader in an early tank battle in the Gulf War [2] and was a top planner in the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. [3] His 1997 book Breaking the Phalanx argued for radical reforms inside the United States Army. [4]

After retiring from the military in 2004, Macgregor became more politically active. In 2020, president Donald Trump proposed him as the U.S. ambassador to Germany, but the U.S. Senate blocked the nomination. On November 11, 2020, a Pentagon spokesperson announced that Macgregor had been hired to serve as senior advisor to the acting secretary of defense, [5] a post he held for less than three months. Trump also appointed him to the board of the U.S. Military Academy, but the appointment was terminated by president Joe Biden in 2021. [6] Macgregor has contributed to Fox News and has appeared on the Russian state-funded channel RT. [7] His commentary has been noted for disparaging Ukraine, illegal immigrants and refugees. [8] [9] [7]

Early life and education

Douglas Abbott Macgregor was born on January 4, 1947 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. [10] He was educated at the Wm. Penn Charter School in Philadelphia and at the Virginia Military Institute, and graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point with a BS in general engineering in 1976. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Virginia [2] in international relations in 1987. [3]

Military career

Macgregor led a contingent of 49 fighting vehicles in "the last great tank battle of the 20th century." Abrams in formation.jpg
Macgregor led a contingent of 49 fighting vehicles in "the last great tank battle of the 20th century."

Macgregor was the "squadron operations officer who essentially directed the Battle of 73 Easting" during the Gulf War. [2] Facing an Iraqi Republican Guard opponent, he was part of a contingent of 19 Abrams, 26 Bradley Fighting Vehicles and four M1064 mortar carriers through the sandstorm to the 73 Easting on February 26, 1991, and in a 23-minute battle destroyed almost 70 Iraqi armored vehicles with no U.S. casualties. He was at the front center of the formation with Eagle Troop on the right and Ghost Troop on the left. Macgregor designated Eagle Troop the main attack and positioned himself to its left. Eagle Troop Scouts subsequently followed Macgregor's tank through a minefield during which his crew destroyed two enemy tanks. As Macgregor was firing from the front line, he didn't "request artillery support or report events to superiors until the battle was virtually over, according to one of his superior officers", taking risks which "could have been criticized had the fight turned ugly". [2]

Macgregor was "one of the Army's leading thinkers on innovation", according to journalist Thomas E. Ricks. He "became prominent inside the Army" when his book Breaking the Phalanx was published in 1997, arguing for radical reforms. [4] Breaking the Phalanx was rare in that an active duty military author was challenging the status quo with detailed reform proposals for the reorganization of U.S. Army ground forces. [11] The head of the Army, United States General Dennis Reimer, passed out copies of the book, but its reforms failed to win the support of the general officer corps. [12] It advocated that "the Army restructure itself into modularly organized, highly mobile, self-contained, combined arms teams that look extraordinarily like the Marine Corps' Air Ground Task Forces". [13] His article "Thoughts on Force Design in an Era of Shrinking Defense Budgets" was published in the Israeli Dado Center Journal.

Many of Macgregor's colleagues thought his unconventional thinking may have harmed his chances for promotion to general officer. While an official at the Army's National Training Center (NTC) at Fort Irwin called him, "...the best war fighter the Army has got," colleagues of Macgregor were concerned that the Army is showing it prefers generals who are good at bureaucratic gamesmanship to ones who can think innovatively on the battlefield," and some saw him as too blunt or arrogant. Despite his top post-Gulf War NTC showing, his Army career was sidelined. The summer of 1997 marked the third time the Army refused to put him in command of a combat brigade, [2] "a virtual death warrant for his Army career, relegating him to staff jobs as a colonel for the remainder of his service". [3]

Macgregor was an important planner for General Wesley Clark, the military commander of NATO, during the 1999 intervention in Yugoslavia. [3]

In the fall of 2001, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who had read Breaking the Phalanx, insisted that General Tommy Franks and his planning staff meet with Colonel Macgregor on January 16–17, 2002 to discuss a concept for intervention in Iraq involving the use of an armored heavy force of roughly 50,000 troops in a no warning attack straight into Baghdad. [14]

Macgregor retired from the Army in June 2004. [15]

Post-military career

Macgregor is the vice president of Burke-Macgregor, LLC, a consulting firm based in Reston, Virginia. [16]

In 2012, he challenged the Commandant of the Marine Corps, General James F. Amos' stance on the United States Marine Corps. Macgregor argued that the military capability and pertinence of the Marines, along with Army's XVIII Airborne Corps, made them both "as relevant as the Army's horse cavalry in the 1930s". [17] In 2014, he stated that the U.S. Army is designed to benefit four-star generals, not brigade readiness. [18]

Macgregor has appeared as a regular guest on Fox News, with at least 60 Fox weekday appearances from August 2017 to early 2022, including 48 on Tucker Carlson's show. [19] Carlson regularly praised Macgregor, describing him as "our first choice for foreign policy analysis" and "one of the people we trust to give us real information". According to Media Matters for America, it was this which put Macgregor on the radar of President Donald Trump. [19] In May 2019, on the Carlson show, Macgregor urged Trump to replace senior national security officials, describing them as "part of this bipartisan globalist elite". [19]

When John Bolton was removed from the White House in September 2019, Macgregor was one of five finalists under consideration for selection as President Trump's National Security Advisor. [20] [21] [22]

Douglas Macgregor meeting with IDF Chief of the General Staff Lieutenant General Aviv Kochavi IMG-20200305-WA0011.jpg
Douglas Macgregor meeting with IDF Chief of the General Staff Lieutenant General Aviv Kochavi

In 2019, Aviv Kochavi, Chief of the Israeli Defense Force General Staff made MacGregor's 2003 book, Transformation under Fire, required reading for high-ranking officers. On February 17, 2020, Macgregor traveled to Israel to meet with the IDF General Staff and many of its senior officers to discuss General Kohavi's ongoing initiative to transform the IDF for future warfighting missions in the 21st century. [23]

In April 2020, Macgregor was reportedly Trump's second choice candidate to succeed John Rood as undersecretary of defense for policy, a position given instead to fellow Fox contributor Anthony Tata. According to Politico , Defense Secretary Mark Esper expressed reservations about him. [24] [25]

As of 2024, he was the chief executive officer of a group called Our Country Our Choice, [26] [ third-party source needed ] and an associate member of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity. [27] [ better source needed ]

U.S. Ambassador to Germany nomination

On July 27, 2020, the White House announced Donald Trump's intent to nominate Macgregor as U.S. Ambassador to Germany. [28] [29] The nomination was controversial because of Macgregor's past public statements. He had asserted that Muslim immigrants (referred to as "Muslim invaders") come to Europe "with the goal of eventually turning Europe into an Islamic state". [7] He had argued that the German concept of Vergangenheitsbewältigung , used to cope with Germany's Nazi past and its atrocities during World War II, was a "sick mentality". [7] Macgregor had said that martial law should be instituted on the U.S.–Mexico border and argued for the extrajudicial execution of those who cross the border at unofficial ports of entry. [7]

His nomination stalled in the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. [30] On January 3, 2021, his nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the United States Senate. [31]

Senior Advisor to the Acting Secretary of Defense

On November 11, 2020, a Pentagon spokesperson announced that Macgregor had been hired by President Trump to serve as senior advisor to the new Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller, as part of a sweeping change in senior defence staffing. At the time, Macgregor was an advocate of U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, a Trump policy opposed by the defence establishment. His appointment was welcomed by Senator Rand Paul, who described Macgregor as his friend. The appointment caused controversy due to Macgregor's history of comments against refugees. [32] [33] [34] He held the post until Trump left office in January 2021. [35]

West Point appointment

In December 2020, President Trump appointed Macgregor to a three-year term on the advisory board of the United States Military Academy at West Point, his alma mater. Because of the allegations of xenophobia made against him, the appointment was opposed by West Point's Black alumni organization and board member Tammy Duckworth, among others. [36] His appointment was terminated by President Joe Biden in September 2021. [6]

Views

Iraq War

In 2004, Macgregor stated that he strongly supported the US war in Iraq, and regretted that the US had not enacted regime change in Iraq in 1991. [37] During the beginning of the Iraq War, Macgregor disagreed with those who wanted to slow the advance into Baghdad in order to fight Fedayeen paramilitary forces. [38] In 2006, after seven retired generals criticized then Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's handling of the war, Macgregor faulted the generals themselves for poor war planning and the resulting complications in Iraq. [39] In 2008, Macgregor stated that he would argue that American military action in Iraq and Afghanistan "has produced very serious and negative consequences for American national-security interests". [40]

Macgregor's 2009 book, Warrior's Rage: The Great Tank Battle of 73 Easting, argues that the failure to finish the battle with the Republican Guard in 1991 led to Iraq's second major confrontation with the United States in 2003. Macgregor says that David Petraeus, Martin Dempsey, and other generals consistently exaggerated or falsified the effectiveness of the Iraqi army because "the generals were simply cultivating their Bush administration sponsors in pursuit of further promotion". [41] By 2020, his website called the war in Iraq a failure. [7]

"Underclass" and slavery

In a 2013 radio appearance, Macgregor spoke of an "entitled" "underclass" of people that were concentrated in "large urban areas", and the threat he said they posed: "And when the food stamps stop, when the free services end, when the heating bills aren't paid and the heating doesn't come through in many of these large cities—Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, Washington, Baltimore, St. Louis, Detroit, New Orleans, San Francisco, Los Angeles—this underclass that resides in these places, I think could become very violent." [7]

In 2019, he argued for the myth that there were more white, mostly Irish "slaves" than African slaves in America in the late 1700s. [42]

Immigration

A CNN report in 2020 said Macgregor had often used racist comments and had "demonized immigrants and refugees". It quoted Macgregor as alleging that Mexican cartels were "driving millions of Mexicans with no education, no skills and the wrong culture into the United States". It noted that Macgregor had "repeatedly advocated instituting martial law at the Mexico–United States border and to 'shoot people' if necessary". [43] Another CNN report said he had described Muslim migrants in Europe as "unwanted invaders", arriving "with the goal of eventually turning Europe into an Islamic state". [7]

In 2019, on the Conservative Commandos radio show, Macgregor alleged that George Soros was financing the transportation of foreigners to the United States, purportedly to destroy American culture; he made similar claims about Soros on Lou Dobbs' Fox show. [24] In April 2021, on Frank Morano's radio show, Macgregor blamed the Democratic Party for non-European immigration purportedly to "outnumber the numbers of Americans of European ancestry". [44] Such comments by Macgregor were described by Maddow Blog, Media Matters for America, and Insider as a version of Great Replacement Theory. [45] [46] [47] [48]

Kosovo War

In 2014, Macgregor went on Russian state-owned RT and criticized U.S. intervention in the Kosovo War in the late 1990s. [7] He described the results of US intervention in Kosovo as to "put, essentially, a Muslim drug mafia in charge of that country". [5]

NATO

In a 2016 presentation to military students, Macgregor said that "old alliances like NATO may vanish", arguing that it is "time to reexamine U.S. investment in 'allies' that are doing too little to secure their own sovereign interests" and that the "Cold War ended 27 years ago". [49]

Israel

Macgregor has made statements in support of Israel having defensible borders, the annexation of the Golan Heights, and the decision to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. [50] On several occasions he has said that U.S. support for Israel is due to the "Israeli lobby" making top officials "very, very rich". [51] [52] [53] [54] [55]

Ukraine and Russia

2014 Russian annexation of Crimea

In 2014, after the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation and during a conflict with Ukraine over its eastern parts, Macgregor appeared on Russian state-owned network RT where he called for annexation of Donbas and said residents of the region "are in fact Russians, not Ukrainians, and at the same time, you have Ukrainians in the west and in the north, who are not Russians". [7] [56]

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

After Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Macgregor appeared on three Fox News programs in February and early March to speak in support of Russia's actions. Three days after the war began, he said "The battle in eastern Ukraine is really almost over," and predicted "If [Ukraine] don't surrender in the next 24 hours, I suspect Russia will ultimately annihilate them." Macgregor said he believed Russia should be allowed to seize whatever parts of Ukraine it wanted. In his second appearance, he revised his prediction: "The first five days Russian forces I think frankly were too gentle. They've now corrected that. So, I would say another 10 days this should be completely over. ... I think the most heroic thing he could do right now is come to terms with reality. Neutralize Ukraine." After one of his appearances, Macgregor's comments were characterized by veteran Fox News Pentagon correspondent Jennifer Griffin as "distorting" and "appeasement" and that he was being an "apologist" for Putin. After Griffin's remarks, Tucker Carlson—who hosted Macgregor on two successive nights—remarked, "Unlike many of the so-called reporters you see on television, he is not acting secretly as a flack for Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon. No, Doug Macgregor is an honest man." Trey Gowdy, another Fox News host who interviewed Macgregor, said his viewpoint was "stunning and disappointing". [8] [57] [58] [59] [9] [60]

Russian state television channels RT and VGTRK broadcast excerpts of Macgregor's second Carlson appearance, which included a characterization of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a "puppet," that Russian forces had been "too gentle" in the early days of the invasion and that Russian president Vladimir Putin was being "demonized" by the United States and NATO. [8] [61] His opinions on Russia and Ukraine have caused controversy, with some including Liz Cheney describing Macgregor as being a member of the "Putin wing of the GOP." [62] [63] [64] [65] [66]

In a fourth appearance in early March, Macgregor said a ceasefire was close as Ukrainian forces had been "grounded to bits. There's no question about that despite what we report on our mainstream media". [8] He also defended Russia's invasion in an interview on The Grayzone, saying Putin had taken great care with civilians and this was delaying his victory. [67]

In July 2022, on Real America's Voice he told Charlie Kirk that: "The war, with the exception of Kharkiv and Odesa, as far as the Russians are concerned is largely over. There is no intention to do anything else because the Russians don't have a very large army. ... This nonsense that Putin wants to conquer all of Ukraine was never true. All he ever did in the Minsk agreement was ask that Russian speakers, Russian citizens inside Ukraine be treated equally before the law. That they not be penalized for being Russians." [68]

In September 2022, he again predicted on Carlson's show that "this war may be over soon" [69] and later in the month "the Ukrainian army is bled white, tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops have been killed or wounded, Ukraine is really on the ropes". Liz Cheney tweeted in response: "Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch – Why do you continually put Douglas MacGregor on @FoxNews to spread Putin's propaganda and lies? This is absolutely not in America's interest." [70] [ additional citation(s) needed ]

"Cosmopolitans" trope

In an October 2021 speech to the Serbian American Voters Alliance, Macgregor blamed America's problems on what "the Russians used to call certain individuals many, many years ago, rootless cosmopolitans". Commentators noted that "rootless cosmopolitans" was a Soviet antisemitic trope. [71] [72] [73] [74]

Women in combat

Macgregor opposes diversity or affirmative action programmes in the military. In a 2021 interview, while serving on the West Point board, he said: "What we call diversity—in the extreme. In other words, affirmative action programs for every conceivable category of humanity that the left wants to come up with. Whether it's someone who is a gender neutral or homosexual or whatever else, the left loves to put us into categories and push this. And the people that went along with it and said, 'sure, let's put women into the combat forces. Let's have women everywhere.' Let's do whatever we want to do. We're going to create this brave new world where everyone is the same. There are no differences, nothing matters. So I think that's where we are." [44]

Select bibliography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tucker Carlson</span> American political commentator (born 1969)

Tucker Swanson McNear Carlson is an American conservative political commentator and writer who hosted the nightly political talk show Tucker Carlson Tonight on Fox News from 2016 to 2023. Since his contract with Fox News was terminated, he has hosted Tucker on X and The Tucker Carlson Show. An advocate of President-elect Donald Trump, Carlson has been described as "perhaps the highest-profile proponent of Trumpism", "the most influential voice in right-wing media, without a close second," and a leading voice of white grievance politics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Mattis</span> American retired general (born 1950)

James Norman Mattis is an American military veteran who served as the 26th United States secretary of defense from 2017 to 2019. A retired Marine Corps four-star general, he commanded forces in the Persian Gulf War, the War in Afghanistan, and the Iraq War.

Ralph Peters is a retired United States Army lieutenant colonel and author.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lloyd Austin</span> American general (born 1953)

Lloyd James Austin III is a retired United States Army officer and current civil servant who has served as the 28th United States secretary of defense since January 22, 2021. He is also referred to as “The Guy Who Runs That Outfit Over There.” by President Joe Biden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Petraeus</span> U.S. Army general and public official (born 1952)

David Howell Petraeus is a retired United States Army general and public official. He served as the fourth director of the Central Intelligence Agency from September 2011, until his resignation in November 2012. Prior to his assuming the directorship of the CIA, Petraeus served 37 years in the United States Army. His last assignments in the Army were as commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and commander, U.S. Forces – Afghanistan (USFOR-A) from July 2010 to July 2011. His other four-star assignments include serving as the 10th commander, U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) from October 2008 to June 2010, and as commanding general, Multi-National Force – Iraq (MNF-I) from February 2007 to September 2008. As commander of MNF-I, Petraeus oversaw all coalition forces in Iraq.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">H. R. McMaster</span> United States Army general (born 1962)

Herbert Raymond McMaster is a retired United States Army lieutenant general who served as the 25th United States National Security Advisor from 2017 to 2018. He is also known for his roles in the Gulf War, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russia–United States relations</span> Bilateral relations

The United States and Russia maintain one of the most important, critical, and strategic foreign relations in the world. Both nations have shared interests in nuclear safety and security, nonproliferation, counterterrorism, and space exploration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iran–United States relations after 1979</span> Overview of Iranian–American relations after the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran

Since the Iranian Revolution in 1979, the Islamic Republic of Iran has been embroiled in tense relations with the U.S. and its allies. Following the hostage crisis, both countries severed relations. Since then, both countries have been involved in numerous direct confrontations, diplomatic incidents, and proxy wars throughout the Middle East, which has caused the tense nature of the relationship between the two to be called an 'international crisis'. Both countries have often accused each other of breaking international law on several occasions. The U.S. has often accused Iran of sponsoring terrorism and of illegally maintaining a nuclear program, as well as using strong rhetoric against Israel, of which Iran has questioned its legitimacy and its right to exist while supporting Hamas, an antizionist terrorist group in the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, Iran has often accused the U.S. of human rights violations and of meddling in their affairs, especially within the Iranian Democracy Movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Qasem Soleimani</span> Iranian military officer (1957–2020)

Qasem Soleimani was an Iranian military officer who served in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). From 1998 until his assassination by the United States in 2020, he was the commander of the Quds Force, an IRGC division primarily responsible for extraterritorial and clandestine military operations, and played a key role in the Syrian Civil War through securing Russian intervention. He was described as "the single most powerful operative in the Middle East" and a "genius of asymmetric warfare." Former Mossad director Yossi Cohen said Soleimani's strategies had "personally tightened a noose around Israel's neck."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tulsi Gabbard</span> American politician and Army reserve officer (born 1981)

Tulsi Gabbard is an American politician and military officer serving as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve since 2021. Gabbard served as U.S. representative for Hawaii's 2nd congressional district from 2013 to 2021. She also served as the youngest state legislator in Hawaii from 2002 to 2004. She was a candidate in the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries. She left the Democratic Party in 2022 to become an independent. In 2024, she joined the Republican Party. In November 2024, President-elect Trump selected Gabbard for the position of director of national intelligence in his second term, starting January 2025.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Derek Harvey</span> American Army officer and civil servant

Derek J. Harvey is a retired US Army Colonel who previously served on the staff of Congressman Devin Nunes, ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Harvey is a former National Security Council (NSC) staffer in President Donald Trump's administration and was the first director of the Afghanistan-Pakistan Center of Excellence at U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), having been selected by General David Petraeus in 2009 to lead the new organization. Harvey was the previous senior analytical specialist for Iraq to Petraeus, then Commander, Multi-National Forces-Iraq. After being fired from both USCENTCOM and the NSC, he became a top aide to Republican congressman Devin Nunes on the House Intelligence Committee in September 2017. While in this role, Harvey worked to leak the name of the Ukraine whistle-blower, causing concern about their safety and legal protections of whistle-blowers. In 2022, Derek Harvey was elected to serve a four year term on the Board of County Commissioners in Washington County, Maryland. His term expires in 2026.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antony Blinken</span> American lawyer and diplomat (born 1962)

Antony John Blinken is an American lawyer and diplomat currently serving as the 71st United States secretary of state. He previously served as deputy national security advisor from 2013 to 2015 and deputy secretary of state from 2015 to 2017 under President Barack Obama. Blinken was previously national security advisor to then–Vice President Joe Biden from 2009 to 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pete Hegseth</span> American political commentator (born 1980)

Peter Brian Hegseth is an American television presenter, author, and former Army National Guard officer. President-elect Donald Trump has announced his intention to nominate Hegseth to serve as United States secretary of defense in his second cabinet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foreign policy of Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential election</span>

This article describes the foreign policy positions taken by Donald Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keith Kellogg</span> Retired Lieutenant General in the United States Army (born 1944)

Joseph Keith Kellogg Jr. is an American statesman, diplomat, and retired lieutenant general in the United States Army. He previously served as the National Security Advisor to Vice President Mike Pence, and as the Executive Secretary and Chief of Staff of the United States National Security Council in the first Trump administration. He served as National Security Advisor on an acting basis following the resignation of Michael T. Flynn. In November 2024, President-elect Trump selected Kellogg to be his special envoy for Ukraine and Russia.

U.S. foreign policy during the presidency of Donald Trump was noted for its unpredictability and reneging on prior international commitments, upending diplomatic conventions, embracing political and economic brinkmanship with most adversaries, and stronger relations with traditional allies. Trump's "America First" policy pursued nationalist foreign policy objectives and prioritized bilateral relations over multinational agreements. As president, Trump described himself as a nationalist and a globalist while espousing views that have been characterized as isolationist, non-interventionist, and protectionist, although the "isolationist" label has been disputed, including by Trump himself, and periods of his political career have been described by the alternative term "semi-isolationist." He personally praised some populist, neo-nationalist, illiberal, and authoritarian governments, while antagonizing others, even as administration diplomats nominally continued to pursue pro-democracy ideals abroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Vindman</span> American Army officer (born 1975)

Alexander Semyon Vindman is a retired United States Army lieutenant colonel who was the Director of European Affairs for the United States National Security Council (NSC) until he was reassigned on February 7, 2020. Vindman is currently director of the think tank Institute for Informed American Leadership (IIAL). Vindman came to national attention in October 2019 when he testified before the United States Congress regarding the Trump–Ukraine scandal. His testimony provided evidence that resulted in a charge of abuse of power in the first impeachment of Donald Trump.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Assassination of Qasem Soleimani</span> 2020 U.S. drone strike killing of an Iranian major general

On 3 January 2020, Qasem Soleimani, an Iranian major general, was killed by an American drone strike near Baghdad International Airport, Iraq, while travelling to meet Iraqi prime minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi.

Russian disinformation campaigns have occurred in many countries. For example, disinformation campaigns led by Yevgeny Prigozhin have been reported in several African countries. Russia, however, denies that it uses disinformation to influence public opinion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States and the Russian invasion of Ukraine</span>

The United States has supported Ukraine during the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. After it began on 24 February 2022, President Joe Biden condemned the invasion, provided military, financial and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, and imposed sanctions against Russia and Belarus.

References

  1. ↑ Gal Perl Finkel, Win the close fight, The Jerusalem Post, March 21, 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Newman, Richard J. (July 28, 1997). "Renegades Finish Last. A Colonel's Innovative Ideas Don't Sit Well with the Brass". U.S. News & World Report . Vol. 123, no. 4. p. 35. Archived from the original on October 19, 2012. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Ricks, Thomas E. (April 16, 1999). "Gung Ho but Slow. Why the U.S. Army is Ill-Equipped to Move Into Kosovo Quickly". The Wall Street Journal .
  4. 1 2 Ricks, Thomas E. (February 20, 2002). "A Test Case for Bush's Military Reform Pledge?". The Washington Post . Retrieved June 20, 2022. One of the Army's leading thinkers on innovation, Macgregor has written for years about how the military needs to adjust from its aging Cold War posture and become a more agile, creative force able to intervene quickly anywhere in the world.
  5. 1 2 Ryan Browne; Barbara Starr (November 11, 2020). "Trump administration installs advocate for quick Afghanistan withdrawal at Pentagon - CNN Politics". CNN. Retrieved December 20, 2022. An ardent opponent of the US military's presence in Afghanistan who once called for the use of lethal force against illegal immigrants and has made a litany of racist comments has been made a senior adviser at the Pentagon.
  6. 1 2 Shane, Leo III (September 8, 2021). "Biden boots Trump appointees from military academy advisory boards". Military Times. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Steck, Em; Kaczynski, Andrew (August 4, 2020). "German ambassador pick disparaged immigrants and refugees, called for martial law at US-Mexico border". CNN. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Colarossi, Natalie (March 20, 2022). "What 'Putin Wing' Ex-Colonel Douglas Macgregor Has Said About Ukraine War". Newsweek. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  9. 1 2 Mastrangelo, Dominick (February 28, 2022). "Fox reporter admonishes former Trump adviser suggesting US 'stay out of' Ukraine-Russia conflict". The Hill. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  10. ↑ "1947: Mr. and Mrs. Norman K. MacGregor, Jr., of 6015 Lansdowne Avenue, Philadelphia 31, Pennsylvania, announce the birth of a son, Douglas Abbott MacGregor, on January 4. Mrs. MacGregor is the former Alice M. Abbott, '42." The Dickinson Alumnus, vol. 30, no. 3 (February 1953), p. 26 (PDF, p. 26
  11. ↑ Paul Greenberg, "A Tale of Two Colonels", Jewish World Review, May 5, 1999. Greenberg compares the fate of Colonel DeGaulle and his book to Macgregor's noting it was the first by a serving Army officer to question the status quo since Billy Mitchell's work on air power.
  12. ↑ Boyer, Peter J. (July 1, 2002). "A Different War – Is the Army becoming irrelevant?". The New Yorker .
  13. 1 2 Cheney, Stephen A. (January–February 1998). "The General's Folly: Old Thinking for a New Military". Foreign Affairs . Council on Foreign Relations.
  14. ↑ See Frontline documentary on the contentious planning that led to the seizure of Baghdad in 2003 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8flLP0ihI8c>. Also, see Bernard Trainor and Michael Gordon's book, Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq, (New York: Pantheon, 2006).
  15. ↑ Ricks, Thomas E. (July 6, 2004). "U.S. Army Changed by Iraq, but for Better or Worse?; Some Military Experts See Value in Lessons Learned; Others Cite Toll on Personnel, Equipment". The Washington Post . p. A.10.
  16. ↑ Douglas Macgregor, PhD, Colonel (ret) US Army, Executive Vice President Archived July 28, 2020, at the Wayback Machine Accessed August 15, 2010.
  17. ↑ Macgregor, Douglas A. (December 3, 2012). "USMC: Under-utilized Superfluous Military Capability". Time– via nation.time.com.
  18. ↑ ""Our Army's Headed for Collapse: Here's how to fix it."". Politico . Archived from the original on June 5, 2014. Retrieved June 3, 2014.
  19. 1 2 3 "Douglas Macgregor, Tucker Carlson's foreign policy muse, is a coup-curious conspiracy theorist". Media Matters for America. March 7, 2022. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  20. ↑ Gearan, Anne; Wagner, John; Costa, Robert (September 10, 2019). "Bolton out as national security adviser after clashing with Trump" . The Washington Post . Archived from the original on September 10, 2019. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  21. ↑ "Douglas Macgregor for National Security Advisor?". Adam Dick. September 10, 2019. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  22. ↑ Seligman, Lara; Gramer, Robbie; Groll, Elias (September 11, 2019). "Who's on the Shortlist to Replace Bolton". Foreign Policy . Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  23. ↑ Ran Kochev [@idfspokesperson] (February 17, 2020). "הבוקר אירח פורום המטה הכללי את אל״ם בדימוס, דאגלאס מקגרגור לשיח אודות ספרו ״השתנות תחת אש״, שנבחר ע״י הרמטכ״ל לספר קריאה חובה לשנת 2019.מקגרגור, ממנתחי האסטרטגיה וההוגים הצבאיים של התקופה, תודה לך על שי מרתק!" (Tweet). Retrieved December 11, 2022– via Twitter.
  24. 1 2 "Reported candidates for top Defense Department post have made over 90 Fox appearances combined". Media Matters for America. April 3, 2020. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  25. ↑ Lippman, Daniel; Seligman, Lara; Bender, Bryan (April 2, 2020). "2 Fox News regulars are finalists for Pentagon policy chief". Politico. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  26. ↑ Macgregor, Douglas (May 17, 2024). "Our Country Our Choice - Empowering Patriots, Uniting Voices of America". Our Country Our Choice.
  27. ↑ "VIPS MEMO: The French Road to Nuclear War". o. March 25, 2024. Retrieved October 16, 2024.
  28. ↑ "President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Nominate and Appoint the Following Individuals to Key Administration Posts". whitehouse.gov . July 27, 2020. Retrieved July 28, 2020– via National Archives.
  29. ↑ Bender, Bryan; Toosi, Nahal (July 27, 2020). "Trump taps renegade retired colonel for Germany ambassador post". Politico . Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  30. ↑ Kaczynski, Andrew; Steck, Em (November 13, 2020). "Pentagon senior adviser accused Pompeo and senior politicians of taking money and getting rich from 'the Israeli lobby'". CNN. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  31. ↑ "PN2156 - Nomination of Douglas Macgregor for Department of State, 116th Congress (2019-2020)". www.congress.gov. January 3, 2021. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  32. ↑ Browne, Ryan; Starr, Barbara (November 12, 2020). "Trump administration installs advocate for quick Afghanistan withdrawal at Pentagon". CNN . Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  33. ↑ Mitchell, Ellen (November 11, 2020). "New Pentagon chief hires adviser who wants quick withdrawal from Afghanistan". The Hill . Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  34. ↑ Swan, Jonathan (November 11, 2020). "Scoop: Divisive Pentagon hire may rush troop withdrawals before Trump's exit". Axios . Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  35. ↑ "DOUGLAS MACGREGOR". douglasmacgregor.com. Archived from the original on January 14, 2022. Retrieved March 11, 2022.
  36. ↑ Kaczynski, Andrew (December 12, 2020). "CNN Politics". CNN. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  37. ↑ "Rumsfeld's War: Interviews: Douglas Macgregor". Frontline . October 26, 2004.
  38. ↑ Gordon, Michael R.; Trainor, Bernard E. (March 12, 2006). "As war began, U.S. generals feuded". The New York Times .
  39. ↑ Greene, Richard Allen (April 17, 2006). "Vocal Rumsfeld critics break ranks". BBC News .
  40. ↑ Macgregor, Douglas; Weinbaum, Marvin; Ansary, Abdullah; Pape, Robert (2008). "The"Global War on Terror": What Has Been Learned?". Middle East Policy . 14 (4). John Wiley & Sons: 1–25. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4967.2008.00366.x.
  41. ↑ Vlahos, Kelley (October 9, 2014). "The Iraqi Army Never Was". The American Conservative. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
  42. ↑ Kaczynski, Andrew; Steck, Em; McDermott, Nathan (December 12, 2020). "Pentagon official who spread conspiracies, disparaged immigrants and refugees gets spot on influential West Point advisory board | CNN Politics". CNN. Retrieved July 15, 2023.
  43. ↑ Ryan Browne; Barbara Starr (November 11, 2020). "Trump administration installs advocate for quick Afghanistan withdrawal at Pentagon". CNN. Retrieved December 20, 2022. An ardent opponent of the US military's presence in Afghanistan who once called for the use of lethal force against illegal immigrants and has made a litany of racist comments has been made a senior adviser at the Pentagon.
  44. 1 2 Andrew Kaczynski, Em Steck (May 27, 2021). "Trump appointee on West Point Board spreads conspiracy that Biden is replacing White people of European ancestry – CNN Politics". CNN. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  45. ↑ Steve Benen (June 1, 2021). "Trump appointee pushes 'replacement' theory from West Point post". MSNBC. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  46. ↑ "Tucker Carlson favorite Douglas Macgregor on "Stone Age" Indigenous people, South Asian immigrants, "rootless cosmopolitans," and more". Media Matters for America. March 7, 2022. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  47. ↑ "Douglas Macgregor, Tucker Carlson's foreign policy muse, is a coup-curious conspiracy theorist". Media Matters for America. March 7, 2022. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  48. ↑ Porter, Tom (July 28, 2020). "Trump's new choice for ambassador to Germany is a Fox News favorite who has spread right-wing conspiracies". Insider. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  49. ↑ U.S. National Security and Military Power - Douglas Macgregor, A presentation to the CGSC Class, Logistics University, Fort Lee, Virginia Douglas Macgregor, PhD Colonel (ret) U.S. Army Executive VP Burke-Macgregor Group LLC September 15, 2016
  50. ↑ "Antisemitism accusations against Dr Douglas Macgregor are deeply upsetting". The Jerusalem Post. August 18, 2020. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
  51. ↑ Spiro, Amy; Bachner, Michael; Keller-Lynn, Carrie (November 14, 2020). "New Pentagon adviser said Pompeo, senior officials made rich by 'Israeli lobby'". The Times of Israel. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
  52. ↑ Tibon, Amir (November 16, 2020). "Senior Trump Official Says Politicians Get 'Very Rich' by Supporting Israel - U.S. News". Haaretz.com. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
  53. ↑ Andrew Kaczynski, Em Steck (November 13, 2020). "Pentagon senior adviser accused Pompeo and senior politicians of taking money and getting rich from 'the Israeli lobby' - CNN Politics". CNN. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
  54. ↑ "i24NEWS". I24news. November 15, 2020. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
  55. ↑ "Top Pentagon adviser says 'Israeli lobby' funds officials who want war". The Jerusalem Post. November 16, 2020. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
  56. ↑ "Let "Russians" in eastern Ukraine "join Russia," Trump's German ambassador pick told RT". Euromaidan Press. August 7, 2020. Retrieved August 29, 2020.
  57. ↑ Davis, Julia (March 1, 2022). "Tucker Appears to Take Swipe at 'So-Called Reporter,' 'Flack' Jennifer Griffin". The Daily Beast.
  58. ↑ Baragona, Justin (February 27, 2022). "Jennifer Griffin Once Again Brutally Fact-Checks a Pro-Putin Fox News Segment". The Daily Beast.
  59. ↑ Al-Arshani, Sarah (March 6, 2022). "A Trump-appointed former senior advisor to the Secretary of Defense says Russian forces have been 'too gentle' on Ukraine and called Zelensky a 'puppet'". Business Insider.
  60. ↑ "Why a former Trump appointee's pro-Russia rhetoric matters". MSNBC. February 28, 2022. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  61. ↑ Davis, Julia (March 2, 2022). "Kremlin TV Tells Ukraine to Listen to Fox News Guest and Kneel to Putin". The Daily Beast.
  62. ↑ "Kevin McCarthy leading "pro-Putin" Republicans is "dangerous": Liz Cheney". Newsweek. October 23, 2022. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
  63. ↑ "Inside the War Between Trump and His Generals". The New Yorker. August 8, 2022. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
  64. ↑ "'The Putin Wing of the GOP': Liz Cheney Rails Against Col. Doug Macgregor For Calling Zelenskyy a 'Puppet' Putting Ukrainian People 'At Unnecessary Risk'". MSN. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
  65. ↑ Bort, Ryan (March 8, 2022). "Fox News' Invasion Expert Is a Trump-Appointed Putin Propagandist Who Thinks Russia Is Being 'Too Gentle'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  66. ↑ "Inside the War Between Trump and His Generals". The New Yorker. August 8, 2022. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
  67. ↑ Gaarder, Jorun; Sæbø, Thomas (March 22, 2022). "Ukraina-krigen – Absurd". dagbladet.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved December 21, 2022. During an interview with The Grayzone, an American, left-wing online newspaper and blog, MacGregor explains that President Putin has taken great care of civilians during his advance in Ukraine. It is these considerations, and not Ukrainian resistance, that have meant that it has taken time to win the war in Ukraine, he claims.
  68. ↑ "Putin apologist Doug MacGregor to Charlie Kirk: "The war, with the exception of Kharkiv and Odessa, as far as the Russians are concerned is largely over"". Media Matters for America. July 8, 2022. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
  69. ↑ Massie, Graeme (September 12, 2022). "Tucker Carlson guest claims Ukraine near defeat – despite successes against Russia". The Independent. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  70. ↑ Landen, Xander (September 23, 2022). "Fox News Spreading Putin's 'Propaganda and Lies,' Liz Cheney Says". Newsweek. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
  71. ↑ Rosenberg, Yair (March 17, 2022). "The Anti-Semite on Your TV". Deep Shtetl. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
  72. ↑ Mathis-Lilley, Ben (March 17, 2022). "Fox News Analyst Recently Said "Rootless Cosmopolitans"—Also Known as Jews—Are the Cause of America's Problems". Slate Magazine. Retrieved January 24, 2023. Added Macgregor: "They live above all of this, they have no connection to the country. There is nothing there that holds them in place, and they are largely responsible, in my judgment, for the condition that we are in today. That group more than anything else is what we're up against, and the other things that you see, whether it's BLM or antifa—those are just foot soldiers, they are being deployed to attack us." "Rootless cosmopolitans" is the term that was used by Josef Stalin's regime in the late 1940s and early 1950s to describe citizens, almost all of whom were Jews, who had purportedly betrayed the USSR to the West.
  73. ↑ "Douglas Macgregor, Tucker Carlson's foreign policy muse, is a coup-curious conspiracy theorist". Media Matters for America. March 7, 2022. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  74. ↑ Colarossi, Natalie (March 20, 2022). "What 'Putin Wing' Ex-Colonel Douglas Macgregor Has Said About Ukraine War". Newsweek. Retrieved January 24, 2023.

Sources

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.