College of William & Mary Professor Lawrence Wilkerson, a member of the Ron Paul Institute’s Academic Board since the institute’s 2013 founding, has provided some advice to the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign, according to an article by Michael Crowley in Politico on Thursday.
Crowley reports:
And in what may be a sign of the challenge Sanders has faced in finding Democratic experts unaligned with — or willing to alienate — Hillary Clinton, he has reached out to at least one former member of George W. Bush’s administration. Lawrence Wilkerson, who served as chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell — and who harshly criticized Bush’s 2003 invasion of Iraq — said that he has given Sanders his advice.
“Of late, I’ve been asked by quite a number of people or groups to advise on national security and foreign policy. The Sanders campaign has been one of these and I have spoken directly to the Senator on one occasion, at this point,” Wilkerson said.
Wilkerson helped prepare Powell’s famous Unite National speech accusing Iraq of hiding a weapons of mass destruction program, but became a hero on the left after turning against the Iraq War and saying in 2005 that he had unwittingly “participated in a hoax” against the American people and the world. He has also said that Vice President Dick Cheney should be “in jail for war crimes” and that some Republicans, including John McCain were “bordering on being traitors” for their opposition to President Barack Obama’s Iran nuclear deal.
Hopefully, Sanders, who is neck and neck with Hillary Clinton in the Democratic presidential primary, will heed Wilkerson’s national security and foreign policy insights.
