h/t InstapunditH.R. McMaster, currently under attack from conservative critics, is best known for writing a book about the Vietnam War in which he put the blame primarily on the Johnson administration officials, but also excoriated military leaders for failing to challenge policies they knew, or should have known, were misguided. So no one should be surprised that the national security adviser is not inclined to salute and carry out instructions from the Oval Office, but challenges President Trump on matters ranging from personnel decisions to Iran policy.
The two categories are closely linked, since personnel IS policy, and the ongoing purge of NSC officials clearly contains a political dimension, which has been extensively documented. McMaster has recently fired several senior NSC officials--Rich Higgins, Ezra Cohen and Derek Harvey--who reportedly favored a tougher line on Iran than McMaster does. Their replacements come from the CIA, which traditionally has taken a pessimistic view of chances for changing the nature of the Tehran regime.
The political conflict extends well beyond the narrow issue of Iran policy. McMaster has instructed his staff to avoid using the phrase "radical Islamic terrorism," and tried to remove it from the president’s recent speech in Warsaw, Poland (Trump put it back in). According to a recent rumor, the NSC declined to schedule a talk on radical Islamic terrorism by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, one of the country’s most respected authorities, reportedly because one of McMaster’s appointees, Mustafa Javed Ali, accused her of "Islamophobia." McMaster’s predecessor, General Mike Flynn, advocated waging ideological war against "radical Islamists," supporting moderate Muslims, and putting the United States firmly behind Muslim governments, such as Indonesia and Egypt, that fought the jihadis. McMaster does not agree.
Could be that Trump's sojourn in New York Military Academy left him with a bit of inferiority complex toward military men - and that impairs his judgment?
Related: Seattle Times - Trump counters criticism of his national security adviser
Related: Daily Beest - White House ‘Enemies List’ Drove McMaster-Bannon Feud