Cybersecurity & Defense - WestExec Advisors

Lisa Monaco quoted in The New York Times article, “Esper Says He Saw No Evidence Iran Targeted 4 Embassies, as Story Shifts Again”

“'If indeed the strike was taken to disrupt an imminent threat to U.S. persons — and that picture seems to be getting murkier by the minute — the case should be made to Congress and to the public, consistent with national security,' said Lisa Monaco, a former senior F.B.I. official and homeland security adviser to President Barack Obama. 'Failure to do so hurts our credibility and deterrence going forward.' "Intelligence officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-01-16T21:58:50-05:00January 12, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Michèle Flournoy quoted in Task and Purpose article, “The Missiles Have Stopped Flying But Iran Isn’t Done Yet”

"The immediate crisis may be over, but Iran is likely to 'resume provocations' unless it gets some relief from the United States' maximum pressure campaign, said Michèle Flournoy, who served as Under Secretary of Defense for Policy from February 2009 to February 2012. "'I think those are most likely to be either covert or clandestine or through proxies or directed at others in the region,' said Flournoy, now managing partner of WestExec Advisors, a strategic advisory firm in Washington, D.C. 'I [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-01-16T22:05:28-05:00January 11, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Michèle Flournoy on Bloomberg’s “Wall Street Week”

"Michèle Flournoy, former Under Secretary of Defense of Policy, reflects on recent escalations between U.S. and Iran with former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence H. Summers and Roger Ferguson, TIAA chief executive officer..." Watch the full interview here: Full Interview

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-01-16T22:06:56-05:00January 10, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Michèle Flournoy featured on NPR’s “Morning Edition”

"'From one tweet to the next, from one day to the next, you never know what he's going to say or what his approach will be. And I think for adversaries who are trying to figure out where the line is, it's very difficult to establish deterrence for them. For allies, it makes them very uncertain.' "... Flournoy says Trump's approach isn't strategic—it's tactical, transactional, impulsive. "'I actually think [Trump's] an interesting mix of, on the one hand, wanting to appear [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-01-16T21:10:23-05:00January 9, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Linc Bloomfield and Dan Shapiro quoted in CNBC article, “It Isn’t Over — Iran’s Promise of Revenge Could Take Months or Years to Play Out, Analysts Say”

"'Since there were no casualties, President Trump seems to be taking the opportunity to say this is the end of this round. That’s a hopeful sign, (but) it doesn’t mean this is the end of this conflict,' said Daniel Shapiro, who was the U.S. ambassador to Israel between 2011 and 2017. "He warned that the supposed a deescalation in tensions could be 'fragile.' “'It’s very likely that the Iranian response to the death of Qasem Soleimani will play out over weeks, [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-01-16T22:04:04-05:00January 9, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Michèle Flournoy interviewed on CNN’s “New Day”

"'The fact that there were no casualties gives President Trump the opportunity to throw the circuit breaker on this particular cycle of escalation,' ex-Under Sec. of Defense for Policy Michèle Flournoy says after Iran attacked Iraqi bases housing US troops..." Watch the full interview here: Full Interview

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-01-16T21:16:19-05:00January 8, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Nick Rasmussen quoted in Bloomberg Government article, “Iran Threat Response Seen as Weakened by Trump Migrant Focus”

“'The focus on immigration to me has meant the senior leadership could not possibly have as much of an in-depth feel for the terrorism and counterterrorism set of issues,' Nicholas Rasmussen, former director of the National Counterterrorism Center who worked on the issue under the last three administrations, said in an interview. 'When you get into crisis mode, you can’t just acquire that experience.' "Rasmussen and some former DHS officials and security specialists applauded aspects of the department’s response, however, pointing [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-01-16T21:17:36-05:00January 8, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Michèle Flournoy quoted in the Financial Times article, “Iran Fallout Exposes Rifts Between Trump and Pentagon”

“‘The whole question of are we leaving Iraq or not speaks to absence of a normal, rigorous [National Security Council] co-ordination process [and] lack of any consideration of the second or third order effects,’ said Michèle Flournoy, a former senior Pentagon official under Barack Obama, now at WestExec, an advisory firm in Washington...” Read the full article here: Full Article

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-01-16T21:09:00-05:00January 7, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Michèle Flournoy quoted in The New York Times article, “A Strategy for the Mideast That Has Even Trump’s Allies Scratching Their Heads”

"Michèle A. Flournoy, a former under secretary of defense under President Barack Obama who turned down a chance to serve as deputy defense secretary for Mr. Trump, said the chaotic nature of the current foreign policy stemmed from an 'impulsive, inconsistent' president without a functional national security process that would ensure that 'second- and third-order consequences' were fully considered. "There is 'no real strategy or shared framework,' she said, 'so tactical decisions are made in a vacuum or untethered from broader [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-01-16T21:12:56-05:00January 7, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Michèle Flournoy interviewed on PRI’s “The World”

"Marco Werman spoke with Michèle Flournoy, former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, to understand the details of the decision-making process that lead to Soleimani's death..." Read the full transcript here: Full Transcript

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-01-16T21:14:34-05:00January 7, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense|