Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., has called for the removal of Jake Sullivan as national security adviser.
Blackburn made her demand in a Friday letter to President Joe Biden, which made clear that Sullivan has "routinely misled the entire government about the status of security threats around the world."
"Just eight days before Hamas launched their barbaric surprise attack against Israel, he [Sullivan] stated, 'the Middle East is quieter today than it has been in two decades,'" Blackburn wrote.
"Yet, to date, over 1,200 Israelis have been killed, over 150 hostages have been taken from the safety of their homes, and at least 27 Americans lives have been lost, with at least 14 Americans still missing. This is Jake Sullivan's perception of a quiet Middle East. This is unacceptable."
Blackburn, a member of the Senate Veteran's Affairs Committee, also told Biden that Sullivan "has been dead wrong on how to engage with Iran since his first day" as national security adviser.
"His policies of appeasement toward Iran have only emboldened the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism," Blackburn wrote. "Sullivan had direct influence in establishing the remarkably flawed 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly referred to as the Iran nuclear deal.
"Thankfully, this decision was later reversed, sparing the world from an expanded Iranian influence under this misguided policy that allowed Iran to continue to fund its terrorist proxies and build up its ballistic missile program.
"We have since seen Mr. Sullivan reinstitute many of the mistakes from the failed JCPOA. Easing sanctions against Iran and refusing to enforce others is not an effective solution, and this attack is clear evidence of that fact."
Blackburn said Sullivan's "deleterious mistakes with respect to Iran and Iran-backed Hamas only build on his earlier involvement in the administration's disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan."
"We cannot have someone with his notable history of poor decision-making, and lack of critical insights, as the most senior advisor to the President on our nation's security matters," Blackburn wrote.
"Continuing to do so is misguided. You said it yourself, Mr. President — the United States must stand with Israel. Leaving Jake Sullivan in his current position hinders both Israel's, as well as the United States', national security posture."
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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