Brett McGurkVerified account

@brett_mcgurk

Payne Distinguished Lecturer . Foreign Affairs Analyst /. Former Presidential Envoy. Served under Bush, Obama, Trump. Dad. .

Palo Alto, CA
cisac.fsi.stanford.edu/people/brett-m…
Joined April 2013
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  1. Pinned Tweet
    31 Dec 2018

    Today was my last day at the State Department. I wish my former civilian and military colleagues well as they work under extremely difficult circumstances to protect the interests of our great country. It was a privilege to serve alongside them.

    2,602 replies 6,341 retweets 36,854 likes
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  2. Nov 20

    That’s all in the last week. Ukraine is one piece of a dysfunctional foreign policy system under Trump. It’s disconnected from declared American interests. Diplomats can’t speak for our country even on established policies. Adversaries and competitors sense and seize advantage.

    13 replies 38 retweets 110 likes
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  3. Nov 20

    5. Back in the Middle East, as we hand military facilities to Russia (the other great power competitor) and Iran restarts its nuclear program, Saudi Arabia, recently attacked by Iran, reads the tea leaves and conducts joint naval exercises with China.

    8 replies 41 retweets 95 likes
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  4. Nov 20

    4. South Korea, confronted with the new reality of an unpredictable and unreliable United States under Trump, signs an unprecedented defense pact with China, our primary great power competitor as defined in Trump’s own national security strategy.

    3 replies 31 retweets 64 likes
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  5. Nov 20

    3. Canceled military exercises in South Korea, essential for our own readiness and aimed apparently to appease Kim Jong-Un, were only met with further defiance from North Korea. (That’s generally how appeasement works.)

    North Korea snubs Trump, saying he hasn’t earned a new summit to "brag about"
    1 reply 30 retweets 67 likes
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  6. Nov 20

    2. Trump’s own national security strategy was geared towards “great power competition,” yet we’re shaking down and alienating our closest Asia-Pacific allies, our main comparative advantage against China.

    1 reply 27 retweets 57 likes
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  7. Nov 20

    1. State/DOD IGs confirm what we already know: that Trump’s green light to Erdogan and abrupt withdrawal from Syria has been a total disaster that’s only getting worse, benefitting ISIS, Iran, and Russia.

    11 replies 78 retweets 128 likes
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  8. Nov 20

    The predictable result is a shambolic foreign policy and weakening of our country. In the last week alone, five examples, across two theaters:

    2 replies 19 retweets 39 likes
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  9. Nov 20

    Here is the entire essay, which is worth reading. The effectiveness trap, banishment of expertise, impugning the reputations of those who tell the truth, and the resultant chilling effect amongst serving officials, all read like modern-day lessons.

    4 replies 29 retweets 57 likes
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  10. Nov 20

    George Packer, in his brilliant “Our Man” about Richard Holbrook, cites a ‘68 essay by a former assistant who worked for years on Vietnam and described why officials so often refuse to speak up or throw red flags when they know they should. Seems very relevant today:

    10 replies 117 retweets 262 likes
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  11. Retweeted
    Nov 17

    Tonight 10pm ET tune into for the latest episode of with - - if you can’t join us live set your DVR.

    62 replies 403 retweets 804 likes
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  12. Retweeted
    Nov 16

    Massive attacks underway against the kurds in northern syria. No ceasefire. Total nonsenses there is. US military officials tell me they are ashamed, “sickened.” It’s cold now outside. What about the families, and kids, out of their homes?

    3,239 replies 35,011 retweets 56,180 likes
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  13. Nov 15

    Kobani is a predominantly Kurdish area and site of the turning point against ISIS in 2015. This military facility was later critical to the defeat of ISIS’s so-called caliphate. Unfortunately for the Kurds, there’s no oil in the area.

    215 replies 2,434 retweets 5,127 likes
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  14. Nov 15

    Today in Syria: Russia takes control of main U.S. military facility abandoned earlier this week by American forces on Trump’s orders. This area is south of Kobani and went to Russia under the Putin-Erdogan deal. Russia now also owns the airstrip we built.

    3,728 replies 19,560 retweets 23,779 likes
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  15. Nov 14

    Pompeo says the to defeat ISIS that formed in 2014 is “one of the most successful multilateral undertakings of the century.” Agree!

    .: This …has been one of the most successful multilateral undertakings of the century. We beat back a jihadist dream – a would-be terror state in the center of the Middle East – and we saved millions of people from tyranny. Watch here:
    52 replies 178 retweets 493 likes
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  16. Nov 13

    I worked with Amb Taylor. With his remarkable record of service, personal courage, and integrity, he was like an EF Hutton of diplomacy: when he spoke, best to listen carefully.

    1:18
    Amb. Taylor: "Following the call with President Trump, the member of my staff asked Ambassador Sondland what President Trump thought about Ukraine. Ambassador Sondland responded that President Trump cares more about the investigations of Biden, which Giuliani was pressing for."
    27 replies 647 retweets 1,967 likes
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  17. Nov 13

    Senior US officials keep trying to clean this up, claiming US troops are really staying in Syria due to ISIS, but the troops are there on Trunp’s orders, and he keeps saying this (“only for the oil”) — which is totally illegal.

    1:13
    Trump, with Erdogan next to him, on Syria: "We are keeping the oil. We have the oil. The oil is secure. We left troops behind only for the oil."
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    524 replies 4,426 retweets 8,180 likes
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  18. Nov 13

    At bottom: No NATO ally defies American values and interests like Turkey under Erdogan. Turkey is a great country, and its democracy will outlast its current leader. Until then, it’s best to be honest about what’s happening. None of it’s normal, and appeasement makes it worse.

    75 replies 367 retweets 873 likes
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  19. Nov 13

    15. Why do you continue to insist on expanding the influence of extremist groups known to harbor al Qaeda and responsible for war crimes? Are any of these groups now in NE Syria using American weapons? Do they operate under US-controlled skies?

    30 replies 349 retweets 802 likes
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  20. Nov 13

    14. Why did your state-backed media hail an “operation” to brutally murder a Kurdish woman until realizing it was (indeed) a probable war crime and then deleted any trace of the story? Has anyone been held accountable?

    Turkish state-backed media hails a “successful operation” to “neutralize” an unarmed 35-year old woman working to unite Arabs, Christians, and Kurds in NE Syria. Ms. Hevrin Khalef was reportedly dragged from a vehicle and shot to death. That’s a war crime.
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    21 replies 488 retweets 922 likes
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  21. Nov 13

    13. Why did you start making specific military threats against NE Syria — which culminated during your October 6 call with Trump — on the very day you took delivery of the S400 missile system from Russia? Was that a big coincidence?

    What a surprise! On the day Turkey takes delivery of advanced Russian missiles in defiance of NATO, it renews threats to US personnel and its partner forces in NE Syria. This has always been a cynical game in Ankara. Now transparent.
    12 replies 316 retweets 678 likes
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