At the beginning of his administration, Donald Trump referred to the leaders in the Pentagon as "his generals." But it didn't take long for that relationship to sour. Consider the saga of General James Mattis. David Ignatius writes:
Trump initially saw Mattis as a man in his own image — awarding him the Trumpian nickname “Mad Dog,” even though the ascetic Mattis was closer to a monk than a mongrel. Over the two years Mattis ran the Pentagon, his relationship with Trump grew poisonous. The more Mattis tried to educate Trump, as in his widely reported July 2017 seminar in the “tank” at Pentagon, the more Trump became resentful.
Trump berated his generals at that gathering — with language that’s eerily similar to what was reported in the Atlantic this week. According to Philip Rucker and Carol D. Leonnig in their book, “A Very Stable Genius,” Trump said: “You’re all losers. You don’t know how to win anymore.”
Trump thinks American soldiers who went into battle and died were suckers and losers. He would prefer they be props in a military parade -- part of the cast of the Trump Show. Retired military men took to berating Trump after they last served as props for him -- in front of a church:
Retired Adm. Mike Mullen, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, denounced Trump for “politicizing the men and women of our armed forces.” Retired Gen. Jim Mattis, the former defense secretary, called Trump “the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people.” Retired Gen. John F. Kelly, a former Trump White House chief of staff, said he agreed with Mattis.
The generals have learned what New York businessmen learned long ago: "For all Trump’s talk of patriotism, he truly is transactional. Throughout his career, he has always believed that loyalty was for chumps."
You don't share a foxhole with him.
Image: dreamstime.com
11 comments:
Trump was lucky to get all those deferments. In Vietnam, they fragged leaders like him.
Cap
It would be a refreshing change of pace to hear a president pushing back against the disgusting hero worship of "the troops" if it wasn't for the fact that the source is Donald Trump and his narcissism, hypocrisy, stupidity and overall insanity.
I suspect that, if Trump had gone to Vietnam, he wouldn't have made it out alive, Cap. His own stupidity would have made him a victim.
Trump sees himself as a paragon of militarism, thwap -- which simply makes him more of a fool.
Said Master Corporal Heel Spurs
I know a fellow who served at an unfortunate forward fire base where his platoon was flagged for running patrols. They would go out of the wire, often wind up ambushed, and then collect their wounded and dead and retreat back inside the wire before dusk so they could go back and do it again. This fellow, who maintained he had advance knowledge of it but nothing to do with it, heard that some of the enlisted ranks were going to take out their overly ambitious captain. They waited until their man walked into the officers' latrine, gave him a moment to settle in, rolled a grenade into the stall and dived for cover. The CID types knew who was behind it but could never get enough evidence. No one was charged.They got a new officer. I knew this guy for a few years and, with the passage of time, I was increasingly less convinced he wasn't some part of it.
This is not a new story, Mound. Enlisted soldiers have long had a way to take out their incompetent leaders -- people like Corporal Bone Spurs.
Interestdingly enough the "Great Loser" was correct when he said, “You’re all losers. You don’t know how to win anymore.”
Clearly a blunder on Trump's part./s
Americans, War – Slow Learners
Thanks for the link, jrk. In the last fifty years, the American military record has been far from glorious.
.. Basically, it seems 'My Lai'syndrome has entered the domestic policing picture in North America.. what was once considered a shocking massacre is now in smaller daily scale simply 'society' today. And don't forget that the American Empire has boots on the ground in approx 72 countries.. plus military hardware. Why Canada has anything to do with this is a burning question
It's hard not to be affected by this stuff when Donald Trump is your next-door neighbour, sal.
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