There's everything -- well not quite everything -- I admire about Michele Flournoy in this statement. Like many people (not just women), I had hoped she would be the nominee. 1/ https://twitter.com/AaronMehta/status/1336426409787613193

Flournoy is a true defense intellectual -- but not only/merely. She's also been a tested and trusted policy leader, a mentor to hundreds of rising natsec/defense stars, an inclusive leader of men and women, and above all, someone who has applied rigor to decision-making 2/

in the no-good-options-just-some-less-bad-than-others school of proffering the DOD perspective in senior interagency councils. But this will not be her turn as SecDef, unfortunately. 3/

And now we come to Pres-elect Biden's choice, Gen Lloyd Austin (ret'd). Full disclosure: I'm not objective. Lloyd was Commander, USF-I, when I was running PRT Basrah as the senior US diplomat in southern Iraq in a particularly kinetic period. And he was an outstanding leader. 4/

His work in the end-game of US-Iraqi talks over the US mil presence - should it stay or should it go - was a masterful minuet; preparing for either contingency and executing a re-deployment of 50+k troops from Iraq under fire, at times. This while preparing for a scenario 5/

that terrified all but (some at) State -- that State would be responsible *on its own* for all diplomatic personnel in Iraq for the first time since the 2003 invasion. No US combat troops, just us civvies. Lloyd managed to support the civilian security infrastructure build-up 6/

seamlessly as he methodically drew down US forces, then accelerated to conclusion as US-Iraqi leaders agreed on no troop extension. A bravura performance, including a well-timed threat, a timely and successful shot across the bows, conveyed via the Iraqi govt to Tehran 7/

to call off militia attacks against departing US troops. Returning to DC to be DepAsstSecState for Iraq during that end-game, I much appreciated his tremendous support/ preparation for the mil-to-civ hand-off, unprecedented in scope and scale and complexity. All in a war zone.8/

We worked together again when he moved to CENTCOM and I was DepAsstSecState for the Gulf, then US Amb to the UAE. Again, outstanding leadership; but he also constantly weighed advice from his civilian colleagues in the field, who were charged with cross-walking DOD priorities 9/

with larger USG policies. Collaborative, inclusive, and always deeply respectful of civilian expertise and the different but critical and complementary role we civvies played. 10/

So do I support his nomination as SecDef? Yes, I do. Even as I much respect the counter-argument (see: @EliotACohen, @jimgolby). I also appreciate the views of those similarly concerned but who will hear out the argument for his nomination (see: @RepSlotkin, @Malinowski. 11/

I support his nom because of who he is, where he's come from, what he's done, how he leads, what he's ready to do. And notwithstanding the civ-mil issues that would normally bring me to object (see: today's twitter feed of @jimgolby). And above all because I'm confident 12/

he will know how to mentally doff the uniform and wear the mantel of a civilian official executing inherently "political" responsiblities. That's it. 13/13