Equal Justice and National Security

Brigham Bechtel is a former CIA Chief of Station. He now works for Coverent and serves at Navigators Global as a Senior Strategist -Security, Defense, & Space. He is also the founder of Pelorus Consulting, LLC.

OPINION — America’s promise of equal justice before the law for its citizens always had a positive impact on its national security interests, but now our domestic failings are hurting our global ability to protect the nation. The events surrounding George Floyd’s arrest and killing are so devastating they are displacing news surrounding a pandemic which continues to claim thousands. Images of American police officers and uniformed military in clashes with our citizens–in scores of cases as they peacefully demonstrated–are framed with ugly images of looting and violence by some who take advantage of our shared pain. Our national skeleton is out of its closet once again and on full display for the world–and the world is watching.