Donald Trump taps retired Gen. Michael Flynn for national security adviser

Michael Flynn, the retired Army lieutenant general and intelligence officer who is Donald Trump’s pick to serve as his national security adviser, is a harsh critic of Muslim extremism and the religion itself, calling “radical Islam” an existential threat to the United States.

But that of Sessions as attorney general does, and he’s got baggage: racially charged comments he made in the 1980s and which once cost him a chance for a job for life as a federal judge. He’s questioned whether terrorism suspects should get the protection of the USA court system, opposes closing the detention center at Guantanamo Bay and has highlighted concerns about voting fraud, which the Obama administration sees as a non-issue. “They haven’t yet but if that ever happens it would be thanks to the complete idiocy of people like Donald Trump and Michael Flynn”.

Flynn’s career, capstoned by his recent foray into politics with the Trump camp, has been riddled with controversy, though he’s credited with overhauling the country’s counterterror strategies in Afghanistan.

This alignment of views, coupled with his outspokenness, could make Flynn a particularly useful ally to Trump and counterweight to those senior military officers who have been leery of deeper USA involvement in the Middle East as well as those convinced that Russia’s aggression in Ukraine demands a harsher US response. He was touted to be the vice president running-mate for Trump in 2016.

So, will Sessions face deja-vu in the senate all over again?

Meanwhile, for many foreign-policy experts, the most important question is who will be Trump’s choice to be the United States’ lead diplomat: secretary of state.

There could be some hurdles for Sessions, even with Republicans in control of the chamber. But Democrats and liberal groups are sure to focus on Sessions’ controversial past.

Unlike the other two nominees announced Friday, Flynn’s appointment does not need approval from the Senate. Politico reported that he called this proposal, “radical” and said he “railed against it for about 30 minutes” during the committee hearing.

Lt. Gen. Flynn, however, has also come under fire for tweets he’s sent out under his name.

Flynn, whose inflammatory rhetoric about Islam, apparent reverence for Russian Federation, and questionable ties to foreign governments has drawn ire from his critics, has always been assumed to be the likely candidate for the national security adviser spot.

Flynn will follow in the steps of such previous national security advisers as Susan Rice, Condoleezza Rice and Henry Kissinger.

In strident speeches and public comments, including a fiery address at the Republican National Convention, Flynn has aggressively argued that Islamic State militants pose a threat on a global scale and demanded a far more aggressive USA military campaign against the group.

Trump named Flynn to his cabinet on Friday after the former military intelligence leader acted as the top military advisor to Trump’s presidential campaign. Flynn himself has claimed that he was sacked because of “the stand I took on radical Islamism”.

“Fear of Muslims is RATIONAL”, he Tweeted in February.

The selection of Lt. Gen. Flynn as national security adviser is further troubling evidence of President-elect Donald Trump’s lack of judgment in filling the most important national security positions in the US government.

Pompeo, a 52-year-old Wichita Republican, was elected to Congress in 2010 as part of the wave endorsed by the tea party and backed by Republican mega-donors Charles and David Koch.

Tom Fitton, head of Judicial Watch, obtained documents from the State Department in March 2015 that contained damning evidence that “top aides for then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton … knew from the outset that the Benghazi mission compound was under attack by armed assailants tied to a terrorist group”.

Pompeo has gotten backlash from past remarks about Muslims after saying on the House floor in 2013 that Islamic leaders failed to widely condemn the Boston marathon bombing – and appeared “complicit” in the attack.

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Flynn said he would not rule out killing the wife and children of suspected Islamic extremists.

MIKE POMPEO: It casts doubt upon the commitment to peace by adherents of the Muslim faith. He has been regularly interacting with the agency because of his work as a member of the House Permanent Subcommittee on Intelligence.