The United States must stand in full solidarity with France, our oldest ally. It must do so unequivocally and offer all appropriate support to dismantle the networks now targeting French citizens on its own soil. #Nice

I am deeply concerned that the Trump administration has de-prioritized and largely dismantled the mechanisms built with allies to deter and detect terrorism and combat the ideologies that give it cover.

As a candidate, Trump exploited any terrorist attack around the world, warning about Muslim immigrants “pouring” into America and calling them a “Trojan Horse” for ISIS. This was outrageous, factually wrong, and used by ISIS in its own recruiting.

On his watch as president, the US saw the first foreign-planned terrorist attack on our soil since 9/11, killing three Navy sailors in Pensacola. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/18/us/politics/justice-department-al-qaeda-florida-naval-base-shooting.html

As a candidate, Trump said he had a secret plan for ISIS. As president, he carried forward the plan he inherited and then squandered it. Today, ISIS flags are back in areas of Syria that Trump abandoned without thought.

As a candidate, Trump banged a drum about “Radical Islamic Terror” and claimed all we had to do was say those three words. As a president, he dismantled the coalitions and partnerships essential for actually defeating ISIS and al Qaeda.

Worse, he has given presidential cover to countries and groups that nurture and exploit these ideologies. He may not do so knowingly, he just has no idea what he’s doing.

Combatting foreign terrorism should not be the top priority for our foreign policy. But if we lose focus then it risks blotting out other priorities as attacks rise and we’re driven into costlier and ineffective actions.

The sustainable, networked system, with nearly 80 global partners—built between 2014-2016 on top of the law enforcement and intelligence tools already in place—was working and effective. It required small US SOF deployments. Not a forever war.

Like most everything else in the US government that had been working, these partnerships, networks, and patterns of interaction—the day-to-day work that keeps us safe—have been eroded, de-prioritized, and in some cases abandoned altogether.

Much like the deadly pandemic still ripping through America, we may not see the full extent of internal erosion until it’s too late. Here’s the warning from those who know, including Trump’s former DNI, Joe Maguire. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/former-intelligence-chiefs-trumps-removals-of-experts-are-deeply-destructive-to-our-nations-safety/2020/03/20/b16e7e06-6ac3-11ea-abef-020f086a3fab_story.html

The horrific attacks in France over the past two weeks should be a wake up call to restore an appropriate level of focus and cooperation with allies who face this common threat. They can’t do it alone. Neither can we.

Yet none of that happens so long as Trump is president. In a second term, the trends identified by Maguire and others would only worsen. #VOTE