When Trump sent over 5,000 military troops to the border right in the final days before the election to stop the “invasion” of asylum seekers, the left cried “political stunt” . General Mattis’s dismissive response to the outcry was simply – The military doesn’t do “stunts”. And now in this article from the The New York Times two former colonels and an international service scholar emeritus declare that Gen. Mattis is manifestly wrong.
They insist in the article that Trump’s ordering active duty military to the southwestern border was politically motivated. To use the troops to stand around unarmed or spend time rolling out barbed wire was, in their opinion, a gross abuse of his powers as Commander in Chief. They suggest that such abuse of the military lowers troop morale and prompts troops to question the ethics of their civilian leaders. They are not supposed to question orders. But when they are politicized as they were in this case, cynicism begins to set in.
According to Trump he sent the troops to protect the country from the dangers presented by the caravan, the band of refugees, whose arrival was two weeks away. Of course the military had to be sent early so that their appearance at the border could be captured on TV in time for the elections. (I am sure that Trump wished their could be greater synchronicity between the arrival of both groups. After all it was all about the optics not a true threat).
Since the election, Trump has dropped all pretense of dramatizing the dangers of the caravan or justifying the stationing of the troops there.. He has moved on to other issues. And as some of the refugees began arriving at the border yesterday, about 3,000 of them not surprisingly, some troops were ordered home.
Trump has come under criticism also for not have made one single visit to American troops who are fighting in combat zones in the two years of his Presidency.. His excuse was that he has been “too busy”. And then there was his decision not to honor American troops who died in WWI in France and to pass up any rituals to honor American veterans on Veterans’ Day to consider.
As veterans and military troops continue to observe how Trump – only seems to give two cents about them when it serves his political purpose, their approval of him as their President will continue to erode. Each of these pathetic examples of ignoring them or jerking them around will serve to carve away the troop’s admiration and support for this President. Let’s hope that Trump will not commit any more horrible gaffes with our military. Troop morale depends upon a Commander in Chief who treats them with respect. And we all have a vested interest in a military whose morale is high.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/19/opinion/president-trump-border-military-troops.html