Michael McMaster's Defense: A Breakdown of His Strategy

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McMASTER TO THE DEFENSE : T he member of President Trump’s White House with arguably the highest credibility, Lt. McMaster, was sent out to explain the president’s sharing of. The three-star general’s reputation as an apolitical figure and student of military thinkers like Clausewitz and Thucydides lends his defense of Trump credibility. It is, at its core, a McMaster document. The fact that these three documents — National Security Strategy , National Defense Strategy, and Multi - Domain Battle Concept — share not just ideas but the language to describe them, is not just the product of what we’d call “good staff work” in the Pentagon. Using declassified documents and interviews to trace the origins of the quagmire in Vietnam, McMaster became convinced that the generals of that time caved to political pressure and supported a war strategy they knew could never prevail. Lieutenant General H. McMaster speaks about his time as President Trump’s National Security Adviser, American mistakes during the Vietnam War, and his belief in learning from the past to help to think strategically about the present. Writing in his widely read book Dereliction of Duty , McMaster showed the extent to which the unity of an entire country can suffer when politicians and commanders in Washington make bad. In Tal Afar , McMaster made humane treatment of detainees and respect for Iraqi culture and religion central to his strategy. He will be a valuable addition to a White House that appears tone deaf about how much al-Qaeda and ISIS gain from the perception that the United States is making war on Islam in general, rather than jihadists specifically. “Monday Musings” are designed to get quick, insightful thoughts based around three questions from those interested in strategy , from the most experienced and lauded, to our newest thinkers/writers. 1 — Who had the greatest impact on you intellectually (whether through writing, mentorship, etc.)? McMaster , U.S. Army, ret., a former national-security adviser and the Fouad and Michelle Ajami Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution discusses his latest book,.