American Military General Worship, Redux
BY Herschel Smith
5 years ago
Via this piece, I was sent to this piece.
When John Bolton took over for McMaster in April 2018 and began appointing his own defense and foreign policy team, Mattis stopped receiving transcripts of Trump’s calls with foreign leaders, the kinds of sensitive conversations that are now at the center of the House’s impeachment inquiry.
Mattis’ patience began to wear especially thin in the spring of 2018 when Trump failed to consult with him on a host of big policy moves, from ordering the creation of a military Space Force to deploying troops to the U.S.-Mexican border, Snodgrass writes.
The surprise presidential decisions had grown for months, after beginning in earnest with a tweet from Trump in the summer of 2017 banning transgender troops from the military.
“Trump’s tweets created chaos in the Pentagon,” writes Snodgrass, who was detailed to work for Mattis early in his tenure. The damage from the transgender pronouncement “was a terrific example of how an ill-informed, and ill-considered, tweet from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue could result in a strategic defeat.”
[ … ]
Mattis also chafed at the president’s push for the Pentagon to deploy active-duty troops to the border to help stem the flow of illegal immigrants, a move the secretary considered an abuse of the military. “Mattis was now caught in his own graveyard spiral, expressing public support for a policy he didn’t agree with, bending his personal and professional beliefs to support the president,” the book says.
What in the name of all that is decent and sensible would make someone think it’s appropriate to consult a general for policy decisions or to care what the military thought of presidential orders? Does the civilian not still command the military in this country?
Why on earth would Mattis expect to receive transcripts of the president’s phone calls with foreign leaders? What world do I live in?
So did Mattis support transgender troops being in the military? This book makes it sound like he did.
Finally, the one, single, solitary duty of the armed forces under the constitution is to prevent and respond to invasion. And Mattis apparently rejected that mission in favor of foreign entanglements. Good Lord.
And good riddance.
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On October 24, 2019 at 11:54 pm, Georgiaboy61 said:
Genuine warrior-officers are rare in the peacetime military, since so few survive the grinder of PC and Congressional approval. Wartime and the ongoing damage from lost battles and engagements suddenly make those same warriors in the officer ranks highly-desirable, but usually not before good men have paid with their blood, their limbs and their blood. It’s been this way at least for a century, and nothing ever seems to change. In normal, peacetime conditions, the perfumed princes dominate, but in wartime, they get shunted aside by the warriors, the guys who know how to win battles.
General George Marshall was famous for keeping a pen and small notebook with him at all times in which he – or his aide – made notes about personnel and situations worthy of attention. When Marshall was impressed with someone, out came the notebook, and within a fairly short period of time, that officer vaulted over much more-senior colleagues into positions of command and responsibility.
Marshall had desired to be a combat leader, a general at the head of an army invading Europe or perhaps North Africa, but his skills as an administrator and “leader of leaders” doomed him to essential duties in the rear. Nonetheless, he exercised an outsized influence on the outcome of the war, one still under-appreciated even today.
Who will be the George C. Marshall of this era? Who will make sense of the chaos and rampant PC so evidence in today’s officer corps, and find the leaders our military needs?
On October 25, 2019 at 5:35 am, George said:
Mattis was also in favor of and oversaw the policy of women being included in every combat MOS in the military. Over rated general indeed.
On October 25, 2019 at 1:53 pm, ExpatNJ said:
Herschel wrote:
“Why on earth would Mattis expect to receive transcripts of the president’s phone calls with foreign leaders? What world do I live in?”
I hope not a Military Junta. But, such ‘”expectation” could certainly point in that direction. After all, FUSA is already akin to a ‘Banana Republic’. There may be leaders (in US .Mil ?) who have asked themselves, “Why not go “all the way”?
Yes, a military coup of FUSA *is* a possible post-CWII outcome. Many Patriot writers elsewhere have either deliberately ignored its potential (perhaps because they secretly-pine for such, to replace the ‘broken’ political system FUSA has now?), or, they have not believed a .mil coup to be realistic.
BTW, this post is NOT intended to impugn the integrity of US .mil who believe in and adhere to proper Chain of Command, Lawful vs Unlawful Orders, etc.
On October 26, 2019 at 11:35 am, Lee Marvin's Eyebrow said:
A salute to all the sergeants out there including my 80 year old pappy.
When they offered him lieutenant he just laughed out loud.
Generals are just future politicians who know what ass to kiss and what boots to lick.