President Donald Trump has not yet conceded after the election that divided America in the middle, but Joe Biden has gone ahead with the first steps in government formation. Even as the Biden-Harris team is building the transition team, there has been criticism that dubious Washington insiders are staging a comeback.
Several key appointments so far give away the color of the incoming Biden administration, as per observers. Joe Biden has appointed to his transition team "an eye-popping array of corporate consultants, war profiteers, and national security hawks," says Global Research.
Hawks Return
One such appointment is that of Lisa Sawyer, who advocates aggression against Russia, an increase in US troop levels in Europe and resumption of weapons shipments to Ukraine, the report says.
Another appointment is Linda Thomas-Greenfield, an ally of former US national security adviser Susan Rice. The article argues that Rice pushed for war in Libya, supported the invasion of Iraq, and was involved in the decision to remove peacekeepers from the United Nations which enabled Rwanda genocide.
Multiple Biden-Harris appointees like Paula Garcia Tufro back regime change in Venezuela, the report adds. Derek Chollet and Ellison Laskowski, who are on Biden-Harris State Department group, championed a belligerent US and European posture toward Russia, the report adds.
Greg Vogle, the former CIA head of station in Afghanistan, is on Biden-Harris' intelligence team, the report says, adding that Vogle had cashed in on the conflicts in the Middle East by working for the military contractor named DGC International.
US Getting Into More Wars?
Antiwar.com also raised the issue last week when it carried an interview with US Army veteran Danny Sjursen on Biden-Harris administration's foreign policy priorities. The activist-journalist warned against the Biden administration getting swamped by the 'West Point Mafia' that sets the American political agenda in collusion with the military-industrial complex.
If Biden decides on policy continuity with the Obama administration and relies on top officials from the Obama era, the chances of the US getting into more wars around the world would increase, according to observers.
The policy hawks attached to the Obama administration were responsible for interventions in Libya and Syria, while they supported Saudi war as it attacked Yemen. They also supported aggressive drone warfare, Guantanamo detentions and prosecutions of whistleblowers, says CommonDreams.org.
"Some of these people have also cashed in on their government contacts to make hefty salaries in consulting firms and other private sector ventures that feed off government contracts," the report observes.
It then goes on to name high-ranking officials like Tony Blinken, Michele Flournoy, Nicholas Burns, Samantha Power, Susan Rice, Jake Sullivan etc.
