Former CIA Director Burns calls Trump's firings of American workers a 'war on expertise'

(Patria) - William Burns, former CIA director and experienced American diplomat, condemned the mass firings of federal employees by the Trump administration, saying these firings are aimed at stifling dissenting views and will harm the security of the United States, Reuters reported.

"Under the guise of reform, you have all found yourselves in the crossfire of a campaign of retribution - a war on public service and expertise," Burns wrote in a "Letter to Fired American Public Servants" published in The Atlantic magazine.

Burns was CIA director under former Democratic President Joe Biden and a foreign policy official. He served three Democratic and three Republican presidents. His career also included terms as US Ambassador to Russia and Deputy Secretary of State. Targeting the comprehensive dismissal of federal employees by US President Donald Trump, including State Department personnel and US intelligence officers, Burns said that civil servants recognize the need for serious government reforms.

"But there is a smart way and a stupid way to approach reforms, a humane way and a deliberately traumatizing way," he said.

"This is not about reform. It is about retribution. It is about breaking people and institutions by sowing fear and distrust in our government."

"This is what autocrats do," Burns said.

"They force public servants into obedience, thereby creating a closed system that is devoid of opposing views and inconvenient concerns."

Burns cited Russian President Vladimir Putin's "stupid decision" to launch his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 as an example of how the absence of different political views led to "catastrophic" results for the Kremlin.

The threat to the United States "does not come from an imaginary 'deep state' that is intent" on undermining Trump, he wrote, but rather from "a weakened state... that is no longer able to maintain the fence of our democracy or help the United States compete in a ruthless world."