February 22, 2018
Uncivil Military Relations?
We had many indications during the 2016 campaign that a Donald Trump presidency would be bad for civil-military relations. The candidate hurled insults at prisoners of war and Gold Star family amembers, said America’s generals had been “reduced to rubble” under Presidents Bush and Obama, and signaled that he would neither respect civil-military norms nor bring with him into office any adherence to longstanding American foreign policy views.
It’s clear now that these signals failed to fully prophesize how bad civil-military relations would become under President Trump. Few laws constrain the president in this realm: He must do what he (or someday she) believes is right for the nation’s defense, its military, and society. Unfortunately, as both Jack Goldsmith and I have noted, Trump has shredded one civil-military relations norm after another. These include, but are not limited to, appointing a disproportionate share of senior military officers to high posts; blaming the generals for a risky raid in Yemen that Trump himself ordered; politicking before military audiences; battling with the intelligence community (which is inextricably intertwined with the military through defense agencies like DIA and NSA); deploying his chief of staff (retired Marine Gen. John Kelly) to attack a Congresswoman over handling of a bereaved Army widow; tweeting uncoordinated orders banning transgender troops; and encouraging troops to join the political fray on Trump’s side. And now, to top it all off, Trump now wants a military parade, something that will politicize the military even more.
Read the full article in Lawfare.
More from CNAS
-
State Veteran Benefit Finder
Reports
In the post-9/11 era, a “sea of goodwill” made up of organizations in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors has formed to support veterans, servicemembers, their families...
By Carole House, Emma Moore, Brent Peabody & Kayla M. Williams
-
From Sea to Shining Sea
Reports
In a new online tool, Carole House, Emma Moore, Brent Peabody, and Kayla Williams catalogue benefits for the veteran community offered by each state so that stakeholders can e...
By Carole House, Emma Moore, Brent Peabody & Kayla M. Williams
-
Kayla Williams Discusses Veterans Issues on Washington Post Live
Video
On Wednesday, November 6, Kayla M. Williams joined Elliot Ackerman and Washington Post reporter Alex Horton on Washington Post Live for a conversation about issues facing Amer...
By Kayla M. Williams
-
End harassment at VA hospitals
Commentary
When I ran the VA’s Center for Women Veterans, one of my highest priorities was changing the culture throughout the organization to be more welcoming of women veterans, who ma...
By Kayla M. Williams
