October 18, 2017
Questionable Calls
President Donald Trump has a talent for giving offense. Whether through mangled syntax or malicious statements, the president often finds a way to insult. So it is with Trump’s latest comments about his phone calls (or lack thereof) to the grieving families of four U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers killed in Niger earlier this month.
Contrary to the outraged hot takes of former White House staffers, Trump is right that presidents generally don’t call or visit the family of every U.S. service member killed in action. They often don’t have that luxury, since casualties are too numerous to grieve with each family. If Trump had clearly lied and said Presidents Obama, Bush, and others failed to ever call troops’ families, I’d be the first and loudest critic, based on my work as the Obama campaign’s veterans director in 2008. But Trump didn’t say that, exactly; he said he was following the precedent of calling when he could. Our outrage over what we heard Trump say is a reflection of our dislike for the man, not the truth of the matter. And this outrage is obscuring the far more important question of what, exactly, our troops are doing in the seemingly endless and expanding “forever war.” The energy now going into fact-checking Trump’s claims might be better spent asking what American Green Berets were doing in Niger at all.
Read the full op-ed in Slate.
More from CNAS
-
How DOD missed its opportunity to counter extremism in the ranks
Commentary
It is clear that extremism in the ranks still poses a challenge, and we are in desperate need of an administrative nerve center capable of addressing it....
By Samantha Olson
-
Jack Teixeira pleads guilty to leaking military documents
Video
Massachusetts Air National Guard member Jack Teixeira pleaded guilty Monday to leaking highly classified military documents containing national security secrets. Scott MacFarl...
By Katherine L. Kuzminski
-
The Ukraine war and the myth of a permanent all-volunteer force
Commentary
When Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, many heralded a new era of warfare. Short wars waged by small professional forces seemed to be the way of the future. Authoritarian actors,...
By Andrew Spafford
-
Countering Domestic Violent Extremism in the Ranks: Barriers to Recruitment Screening
Commentary
Lawful interaction with the technology sector, including social media platforms, is essential to effectively address national security threats, foreign and domestic....
By Carrie Cordero & Katherine L. Kuzminski
