Republican frontrunner Donald Trump released his much awaited list of foreign policy advisors on Monday and each have distinct backgrounds in areas that vary from global oil distribution to international terrorism.
"Walid Phares, who you probably know. Ph.D., adviser to the House of Representatives. He's a counter-terrorism expert," Trump said. "Carter Page, Ph.D. George Papadopoulos. He's an oil and energy consultant. Excellent guy. The honorable Joe Schmitz, inspector general at the Department of Defense. General Keith Kellogg. And I have quite a few more. But that's a group of some of the people that we are dealing with. We have many other people in different aspects of what we do. But that's pretty representative group."
Dr. Walid Phares is an American author of Lebanese origins who has been warning the world of global Jihadism for over a decade. He teaches at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C. and has written numerous Op-Eds and books concerning the spread of Islam throughout the world.
Retired Army Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg is a former commander of the 82nd Airborne and led the invasion of Iraq in 2003 where he served as chief operating officer for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad.
Joseph Schmitz is a former Pentagon Inspector General and graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. He is co-author of the book Sharia: The Threat to America and has extensive experience with controversial groups such as Blackwater.
Carter Page and George Papadopoulos have backgrounds in international energy and affairs. Page is the founder of his own group, Global Energy Capital, and Papdopoulos is the director at the Center for International Energy and Natural Resources Law & Security at the London Center of International Law Practice.
There is no doubt that like Trump, there is a since of disenfranchisement in the minds of his advisors. More than likely, these are men who are not completely satisfied with the way the U.S. has handled foreign policy over the past decade and are looking to support the candidate who can right the wrong.
