K.T. McFarland: An Anti-Muslim Putin Fan Who Supports Torture

K.T. McFarland: An Anti-Muslim Putin Fan Who Supports Torture

Reprinted with permission from Media Matters

President-elect Donald Trump has named Fox News analyst K.T. McFarland as his pick for deputy national security adviser, joining frequent Fox guest and fellow anti-Muslim Putin fan retired Gen. Michael Flynn on Trump’s White House national security team. McFarland has repeatedly advocated for war with Iran and misled about its nuclear program, expressed support for torture, and has made bizarre and incendiary statements about former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other topics.

McFarland: “Vladimir Putin Is The One Who Really Deserves That Nobel Peace Prize.” In a September 10, 2013 FoxNews.com column, McFarland credited Putin with offering Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry “a way out of the mess they’d crated” with a proposal to place Syria’s chemical weapons under international control. McFarland went on to say “the world knows that Vladimir Putin is the one who really deserves that Nobel Peace Prize” for saving “the world from near-certain disaster.” [Media Matters, 9/10/13]

McFarland Lauded Putin For Seizing Ukraine’s Crimea: “Winners Write History.”

McFarland Blamed Charlie Hebdo Terror Attack On “Political Correctness,” Called For More Profiling To Prevent Future Attacks.

McFarland’s Response To Brussels Terror Attack: “Political Correctness” By Not Discriminating Against Muslims “Is Getting Us Killed.”

New York’s Muslim Surveillance Program Failure Shows Profiling American Muslims Doesn’t Work. An April 2014 New York Times report on the shuttering of the NYPD’s Muslim surveillance program admitted that after years of collecting information on Muslims in the city, “the police acknowledged that it never generated a lead.” The extensive program had police mapping “communities inside and outside the city, logging where customers in traditional Islamic clothes ate meals and documenting their lunch-counter conversations.” [Media Matters, 11/19/15]

Since 2008, McFarland Repeatedly Claimed Iran Is A Year Or Two Away From Nuclear Weapons. In December 2008, McFarland claimed “Iran is probably two years away from a nuclear weapon.” In April 2010, McFarland said, “In a couple of months time — 6 months, 9 months — we’re going to be faced with this choice: bombing Iran or letting Iran get the bomb.” And in June 2012, McFarland said Iran is “on the verge of getting nuclear weapons.” [Media Matters, 2/21/12; 6/6/12]

McFarland In 2012: “Either Bomb Iran, Or Let Iran Get The Bomb.”

McFarland: “The Military Option Should Not Be Off The Table” For Dealing With Iran. On the October 11, 2011, edition of Fox News’ America Live, McFarland said:

MEGYN KELLY (HOST): I want to pick up on your point then that if this is, or can be considered, an act of war, what is that mean? Is that a decision that our government will make, whether to use that terminology, and if they do, does that not raise the stakes?

McFARLAND: It raises the stakes enormously. What are things that we might do other than sanctions? I mean, we can scold them, but that’s not very effective. We could put a blockade around Iran. You know, it’s certainly — if Iran continues with its nuclear weapons program and sort of thumbs its nose at the world, it lends credibility to the idea that the military option should not be off the table, for example. [Media Matters, 10/14/11]

Numerous Nuclear And Military Experts Supported Nuclear Deal With Iran. In August 2015, the nonpartisan Arms Control Association released a statement from nuclear nonproliferation specialists backing the Obama administration’s deal with Iran over its nuclear program, calling the agreement “a net-plus for nonproliferation.” The statement, which was signed by 75 experts, called the agreement “strong, long-term, and verifiable” and noted that it “advances the security interests” of the United States and its allies. Many retired generals and admirals also released an open letter in August 2015 in support of the deal, which they described as “the most effective means currently available to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.” [Media Matters, 8/18/15]

McFarland Defends Waterboarding: “Even If It’s Torture, It’s Probably Worth Doing”

McFarland Criticized Senate’s Publication Of Torture Report: It “Was Completely Political.”

Click here for the testimonies of numerous experts regarding how techniques like waterboarding are ineffective.

McFarland Said Of Hillary Clinton: You Have “Blood On Your Hands” From Benghazi Attack.

McFarland Claimed Obama Administration Made “Political Decision Not To Rescue” Americans Killed In Benghazi. [Media Matters, 10/10/12]

McFarland: Saudi Arabia Was Hiding Opposition To Iran Nuclear Deal Because “They’re Arabs” And Thus Dishonest.

McFarland: “We Should Eventually Take Our Troops Out Of Europe And Put Them On The Mexican Border.”

McFarland Claimed During 2006 Senate Run That Clinton “Had Helicopters Flying Over My House.” TPM Media’s Josh Marshall noted that during her 2006 attempt to run against Clinton for Senate in New York, “McFarland claimed that Clinton was so worried about her candidacy that she sent secret helicopters to spy on her house in the Hamptons and also cased her apartment Manhattan. ‘Hillary Clinton is really worried about me, and is so worried, in fact, that she had helicopters flying over my house in Southampton today taking pictures.’” [TPM Media, 11/25/16]

McFarland Fell For Obviously Fake Rudy Giuliani Twitter Account.

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IMAGE: Gage Skidmore

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