Trump picks new tiol security adviser

Washington, Feb 21: US President Dold Trump has med Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster as his tiol security adviser, replacing Gen. Michael Flynn, who was last week asked to resign from the position. McMaster is a highly regarded military officer and soldier who is known for his roles in the Gulf War, the Iraq War and the war in Afghanistan. He also served as a special assistant to Gen. David Petraeus when he was commander of the US-led coalition forces in Iraq during the 2007 troop surge, CNN reported on Tuesday.

Trump called McMaster “a man of tremendous talent and tremendous experience” as he introduced his selection on Monday to reporters at Mar-a-Lago, Florida, where he has spent the holiday weekend interviewing candidates for the post. “I watched and read a lot over the last two days,” Trump said. “He is highly respected by everyone in the military and we’re very honoured to have him,” he added. McMaster is the first active-duty military officer in the post since Gen. Colin Powell.

McMaster — who called the appointment a “privilege” — takes over the position left by Flynn, who was asked to resign by Trump amid revelations that he misled Vice President Mike Pence on the ture of his contacts with the Russian Ambassador to the US.

Trump’s first choice for the job, Robert Harward, also turned down the position last week after a dispute over staffing decisions on the tiol Security Council, Time magazine reported.

Retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, who served as interim tiol Security Adviser for the week, will return to his post as Chief of Staff and Executive Secretary of the NSC, the White House said.

McMaster has a Ph.D. in military history from the University of North Caroli at Chapel Hill. He was tapped for tiol Security Adviser over several other filists for the position, including John Bolton, the hawkish Ambassador to the UN under George W. Bush who also served in senior positions in the administrations of George H.W. Bush and Rold Reagan.  (IANS)