Victor Davis Hanson offers
his take on President Trump and his generals in a piece in the Washington Times.
Donald Trump earned respect
from the Washington establishment for appointing three of the nation’s most
accomplished generals to direct his national security policy: James Mattis
(secretary of defense), H.R. McMaster (national security adviser) and John
Kelly (secretary of homeland security).
In the first five months of
the Trump administration, the three generals — along with Secretary of State
Rex Tillerson, the former ExxonMobil CEO — have already recalibrated America’s
defenses.
At home, illegal immigration
is down by some 70 percent. Abroad, a new policy of principled realism seeks to
re-establish deterrence through credible threats of retaliation. The generals
are repairing old friendships with allies and neutrals while warning traditional
enemies not to press their luck.
President Trump has turned
over most of the details of military operations to his generals. According to
his critics, Mr. Trump is improperly outsourcing to his generals both strategic
decision-making and its tactical implementation.
But is Mr. Trump really doing
that?
In his campaign, Mr. Trump
vowed to avoid new ground wars while not losing those he inherited. He pledged
to wipe out ISIS and radical Islamic terrorism without invading Middle Eastern
countries to turn them into democracies.
Those are wide but
nonetheless unmistakable parameters.
Within them, the U.S.
military can drop a huge bomb on the Taliban, strike the chemical weapons
depots of Syria’s Bashar Assad, or choose the sort of ships it will use to
deter North Korean aggression — without Mr. Trump poring over a map, or
hectoring Gen. Mattis or Gen. McMaster about what particular move is
politically appropriate or might poll well.
Other presidents have done
the same.
You can read the rest of the
piece via the below link:
Note: The top photo is of General McMasters. The middle photo is of General Mattis and the above photo is of General Kelly.
No comments:
Post a Comment