"US Army Lt. Gen. Herbert Raymond McMaster is a highly accomplished officer, who has served twice in Iraq and in Afghanistan. He is a known strategic thinker and he has got a reputation for standing up to authority," he told Sputnik.
Michael Maloof further noted that US Army Lt. Gen McMaster is well-known for his famous book Dereliction of Duty which explored the military's role in the policies of the Vietnam War and harshly criticized high-ranking officers of that era for their failure to provide a successful plan of action.
"Nobody actually criticized then President Lyndon Johnson and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara for their strategy of the Vietnam war," Michael Maloof told Sputnik.
"That book today is a must read for all military officers and as a consequence he brings to the office that ability to stand up to the president if he thinks that he is wrong," he added.
The former senior security policy analyst then elaborated on the role of the national security adviser, which is, he said, is to bring together the opinions of the secretary of defense, the secretary of state, the leadership and the intelligence community on a particular issue. Then the adviser presents options to the president to choose from.
"Therefore, you need someone with leadership capabilities to be able to do it. And he has it," he said, referring to McMaster.
"His notion is let's send in the troops and get the job done and hold it. And it suggests to me that we may be seeing a strategy recommendation to the president where we might be introducing more troops into Iraq and potentially Syria if they can get all the arrangements made," he then stated.
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