I’m not sure what to make of Cohen’s analysis.
As a 65 year old grandfather, I’m happy to defer my flight-boarding to a strapping soldier who is sacrificing a lot more than I am.
As for the Jerusalem embassy, Cohen knows as well as I do (because I’ve seen it) that it’s a small satellite office where nothing takes place. The staff and decisions have remained in Tel Aviv.
My only question then is the same as Cohen’s — why would these career officers sacrifice their reputations for someone as willfully ignorant as Trump? I can’t figure it out either.
159
Why on Earth does this writer assume we will get out of the dentist chair in no more than 5 years? The constitutional order is crumbling, and Trump may never leave - or indeed be replaced by someone worse.
79
The military thrives on hierarchy. Even a bone-spurs draft dodger like Trump got the benefit of the doubt from military officers because he sits in the Oval Office. Having walked away from Obama’s Iran agreement (that Europe and the Russians had also signed), Trump’s reputation for being an inauthentic negotiator precedes him. A U.S. commitment to another nation no longer means what it used to mean under 44 previous presidents. No leader wants to engage with Trump for fear that either it will just be a show for the cameras or Trump will say anything but mean nothing. The stature of the U.S. on the world stage is now the equivalent of a corrupt banana republic, and the military saluted Trump all along the way. Shame!
214
"[T]he country could no longer appreciate as it once did the martial virtues, which are not unbridled ferocity but rather discipline, self-abnegation, perseverance and loyalty to a constitutional order rather than to a president."
And now we no longer call them soldiers, Marines, airmen, or sailors. We call them warriors. That plays right into the new narrative pure violence without discipline.
Just look at the new Soldier's Creed. Before W came along with his Excellent Adventure in Vietraq, it emphasized values such as "[b]ecause I am proud of the uniform I wear, I will always act in ways creditable to the military service and the nation it is sworn to guard."
The new version never once even mentions anything like this. It emphasizes being a warrior. To Hades with anything like "to restrain my Army comrades from actions disgraceful to themselves and to the uniform."
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soldier%27s_Creed.
We may not be able to rationally discuss with Trump, but we can junk the new creed and replace it with the one that got us through WW II and other wars.
99
Cohen. This is the foreign policy genius who helped saddle us with the Iraq War and pushed for overthrowing Iran and installing a pro-Western government, right? How do the Iraq War cheerleaders still manage to get featured so prominently in The New York Times and on MSNBC/Fox?
50
The constitution has been destroyed by the republican traitors. Never again will the constitution be thought to protect US citizens when there is a hostile republican party in power. The damage is complete.
113
Mister T has absolutely no idea of what it is truly like to serve in uniform. His tenure as the CINC will someday rank only a one-sentence mention in American history books. He is a disgrace to our country and and a violator of the oath of office he swore to.
a retired USAF lieutenant colonel
174
I don’t know that I’ll read the book but this paragraph of the review is perfect:
But Trump’s failure to comprehend America’s soldiers is not his alone. He arrived in office following several decades of uninformed adulation of the military by a population that knew very little about military life, and that now takes it for granted that strapping 21-year-old men with military ID cards should get precedence in boarding airplanes over 65-year-old grandmothers. Veering between mawkish sentimentality on the one hand and indulgence in video-game war porn on the other, the country could no longer appreciate as it once did the martial virtues, which are not unbridled ferocity but rather discipline, self-abnegation, perseverance and loyalty to a constitutional order rather than to a president.
And yes, I’m in the military.
195
What virtues do soldiers have except obeying orders?
Ever since Saddam had WMDs (right NYTs?) every US soldier has been committing crimes against humanity.
Trump is the CoC. Soldiers obey his orders, just like they did Bush and Obama. War criminals all of them.
18
Mr. Cohen:
What more confidence does the narcissistic Donald Trump need than the "open letter" of September 6, 2016 by 90 retired "general officers" (admirals included) who in their vision saw our president as an avenue toward some sort of militaristic and policy sanity?
Donald Trump rode the coattails of that full page ad endorsement and flung himself into a realm for which his only experience is military school where he rarely attended assemblies and bullied others as a poor substitute for leadership. Later, he spurred his way away from the draft while observing many of those retired general officers as "losers".
Your condescension of Mr. Bergan and his reiteration of the facts is also as disingenuous as historians of lasting merit chronicle the events as I believe that he has in the earliest of readings of the work. History is indeed tricky. Shall we slam all historians for their reiteration because there is no new quake of revelation?
The book itself is not the dental chair: this presidency is a painful and unending abscess where this temporary filling flies out with a hard smack and the raw nerve explodes with each gasping breath of air.
And Obama was so terrible for the military: he sustained the wars, sent troops to over 150 of the 212+ nations of the world, and sanctioned the archenemies.
The overzealous former military leaders (and rocking-chair generals) got what they deserve in DJT. Are these the new LeMays who supported MacArthur and George Wallace?
23
It's difficult not to react to what I believe is the false equivalence of the Obama and the Trump foreign policy (or at least it's underpinnings). First of all, it assumes a shared world view, and Trump has demonstrated with great consistency that the concept is totally alien to him. While I believe that there is ample room for criticism of Obama in the realm of international relations, there seems to be a need on Mr. Cohen's part to believe that everything bad in that sphere started with the 44th president. It has always been my belief that if you want to criticize Obama's inability to successfully satisfy public sentiment to withdraw and the need to maintain a presence in the middle east, first admit that the conditions creating that dilemma were the work of his predecessor and the champions of the Freedom agenda. In short, admit that this ugly new world didn't begin in 2008. There is no question that Mr.Cohen is extremely knowledgeable, but he and many other conservatives are afflicted with a sort of Tourette's syndrome when the history of the first 2 decades of the 21st century is concerned. They exhibit an almost involuntary tic in the form of Obama bashing. That's unfortunate because it is distracting and irritating and undercuts what generally is incisive and well-expressed analysis.
138
How many of Obama's associates were convicted of crimes during eight years of his administration? Zero. How many of Trump's in just three years? Six : Michael Flynn, Michael Cohen, Rick Gates, Paul Manafort, George Papadopoulos and Roger Stone. Not to mention the revolving door of White House and cabinet officials resulting in an unprecedented number of acting appointments. Trump has managed to wreck America's foreign alliances and ruin America's reputation and he still has another year left in his term. Imagine what he can wreck with four more years!
158
Perhaps it is as simple as "the military" falling for adoration, no matter by who.
Never understimate the power of ego.
25
I don't think you can charge these generals with "ambition, wishful thinking and unfounded self-confidence" generally. Although not without their foibles, Flynn would be the only one with a clear record of these particular flaws. Even the worst president can be improved somewhat by good people. I would rather have Mattis, Kelly and the like than the arrogant self-promoters you get by default.
19
Just like the movie Marathon Man, our military leaders must be asking themselves, "Is it safe?" Only to feel the Trump drill hit that nerve again.
19
The first, and most obvious, thing to note about this “book review“ is that it is not a book review. By the end it’s still not clear what the gist and value of Bergen’s conclusions are, how they cohere as a single statement on the topic of Trump
and “his generals,” and how this may or may not contribute to previously existing debates on the topic of how previous American presidents have interacted with the military of which they were commander-in-chief.
That Bergen’s book seems to be an unexplored afterthought, however, is ultimately forgiven, since what Cohen writes is as powerful and insightful as I’d hoped he’d reveal the subject of his non-review to be.
To wit: “Trump’s failure to comprehend America’s soldiers is not his alone. He arrived in office following several decades of uninformed adulation of the military by a population that knew very little about military life, and that now takes it for granted that strapping 21-year-old men with military ID cards should get precedence in boarding airplanes over 65-year-old grandmothers. Veering between mawkish sentimentality on the one hand and indulgence in video-game war porn on the other, the country could no longer appreciate as it once did the martial virtues, which are not unbridled ferocity but rather discipline, self-abnegation, perseverance and loyalty to a constitutional order rather than to a president.”
Every individual on payroll at the Department of Defense should read these words. Twice. No, three times.
47
Please be aware that the reference to the fourth turning as being "kooky," which is supported by a link to a Business Insider article, is pretty misinformed if that article is indeed the basis. The linked article may accurately describe Steve Bannon's twisted obsession with this theory, but that is only a statement that BANNON is "kooky" not the theory itself. Indeed, even though the linked article contains a number of errors when summarizing the theory, it at least gets it right that the main proponent of the Fourth Turning has openly said that he does not agree with Bannon's interpretation.
3
This isn't a review of the book in question, it's essentially an Op Ed by the "reviewer," wanting to make his own points, even when the book itself does not.
Seriously, when you read (or reread) this, notice how most of what the reviewer says are ideas that he outright states the book never did. It was an interesting read, but it is not even *remotely* a review of this book! I get the impression from the opening paragraphs that toss off handfuls of anecdotes from the book while disparaging them as tedious that the reviewer really was never interested in the book itself in the first place, he just wanted the pretense to write his own treatise.
32
The veterans I have talked with detest Trump as a draft dodger, a coward, and a war criminal.
148
Wonder if the book was finished/published prior to trump's betrayal and the ensuing slaughter of our Kurd brothers-in-arms. That one story alone is at least worth a screen play for a future "dentist chair" movie experience.
48
Trump's reference for the military is the same as it is for his base.
False and phony. He's deathly afraid of losing their faux support. They know it and so does he. As a bully who's always seemed to get away with it, he's always been a coward, which is the antithesis of taking an oath to protect and uphold our constitution. Namely, putting one's country ahead of one's self or political party when it means the most.
62
These men to me are the straight shooters (figuratively and literally) that I never was -- the perfect scout, the all-American boy. Given the horrors of what they've seen, it's surprising to me that they're so easily rolled by a lazy, lying, opportunistic rich boy. I wonder why they haven't banded together and found a way to get rid of him.
33
@Tom J Because they're loyal to a US Constitution, not to mention a set of American values that posits civilian control over the military. You've just advocated a military putsch. We don't do that in the US. Signed, a retired Air Force lieutenant general.
35
Ultimately, like any playground bully, Trump has no stomach for war or real conflict.
For sure the American people are sick of war. This is one of the rare fortunate places where the interests of Donald Trump and the interests of the US Citizen intersect.
11
@Hugh G
Trump gutted the State Department. He threatened to abandon NATO if member countries didn't pay up. He abandoned the Kurds and pardoned war criminals.
His idea of diplomacy is boasting about the size of his bombs, like a playground bully with a nuclear arsenal at his fingertips.
74
Wow. Obama wasn't instinctively inclined to reach out to Russia for election help, didn't have a real estate deal preventing him from imposing sanctions or tossing Russian diplomats (or inclining him to hire an ancient ruble launderer for Treasury, a sanction ignoring oil exec for State). Obama girls were too young to have war-lords in Azerbaijian with hotel deals or spouses needing a couple billion from Saudis with bone saws. Otherwise, the same approach to foreign relations. We could tell that from the picture of Obama staring down at Vlad and not swooning.
210
"When, in one year or five, we finally get out of Donald Trump’s foreign policy dentist’s chair,"
I wouldn't be too sure he's ever going, since it will mean prosecution, conviction, and jail. He has been replacing oath-respecting Homeland Security and DOJ officials with sycophants while currying favor with the worst elements in the military. That is the usual process for preparing a coup.
Trump, an ignoramus, wouldn't know that. But Stephen Miller does.
76
According to published reports, Jim Mattis dislikes the “Mad Dog” nickname that apparently was Trump’s reason for selecting him as Secretary of Defense. I can’t divine the general’s reasons for taking the job but the hint that Trump liked and used that nickname should have given Mattis pause to consider what he was in for.
50
In other words, we just have to take your word for it that he has done damage to the country's reputation as well as that it was ego that drove these fine men to work for him. What nonsense. Reminds me of unconscious bias. How can you prove you don't have it when you can't know if you do or not?
3
An outstanding synopsis of a disconserting subject.
Our great mistake was not understanding that Trump is and was
Completely unfit to be president. He used racial and cultural tropes to divide the voters, many of whom because of their anger and ignorance, saw Trump as a leader.
29
The generals work for the nation, not for the President.
27
@Mike Murray MD
Yes Dr. Murray, and so do we.
101st
16
Donald Trump actually despises all military personnel, whatever rank or service. This is part of the reaction formation he unconsciously employs to counteract his shame at avoiding military service with multiple notes attesting to bone spurs from a doctor who was a tenant of Fred Trump's and was obviously doing his landlord a favor. So anyone who serves, particularly minorities and immigrants are squarely in his gunsights, as was the "loser" John McCain. That the absurd proclamation by Trump that he doesn't like soldiers who get captured wasn't enough for enough supporters to peel away is symptomatic of a deep seated lack of decency by a significant portion of Americans.
167
Why is that the rank and file in the military, not the generals and admirals who took high level positions in the Trump administration, seem to support Trump? Is it just that he is commander-in-chief and therefore deserves respect and obedience, or is he admired for all the wrong reasons: his bluntness, his MAGA act, his cruelty, his adulation of "warriors?" I don't know.
52
@Steve A question that haunts me (as a retired USAF officer) Steve. His lack of ethics and morals are so glaring.
39
I’ve had a nearly lifelong extreme Dental Phobia, due to some poor treatment, even malpractice, as a Child. But I swear to all of you that I would happily endure the torture of Dental exams and treatments, DAILY, for the rest of my Life IF Trump leaves the White House before the Election. In ANY manner or circumstances.
I’ll take one for the team. Team USA.
110
Nothing lasts forever. The EU, in one century or five, will crumble. The US will not remain what it is, in some generations hence.
A shape of what's to come is in Bergen's book. The US military has an unmatched growth trajectory. It worried Eisenhower, and has barely paused. Power corrupts, absolute military power especially.
People concerned with foreign policy embraced Generals as wise men among clowns. Eliot notes, Generals are human. Political power strokes egos. How long before they believe they deserve the place?
We've learned Fox news is the Pentagon's soundtrack. The volunteer army, which draws from families often rooted in conservative South, strongly supports Trump.
The draft was hated, but democratizing. A volunteer military risks a Praetorian guard. Liberal youths who want to join think twice, if they'll be surrounded by authoritarians with conspiracy theories.
Eliot sees popular culture acquiesce to military prestige. It's odd to see a strong young person seated before a grandma. But how many of us don't feel a pang of guilt that our country sends kids to war on Jet Blue?
Most of us know the world is gray, not black/white. We understand that Pax American preserves the world of commerce. Those who oppose this are on a different path to darkness, autarky.
But even the right-wing doesn't want to pay for the military. That's the rub. Generals, like us all, follow money. Caesar will take power, in America, because he wants to get paid.
30
@Brian The paragraph about the draft is spot-on. I have long supported the notion of a draft, for, as the writer observes, it is democratizing. I certainly found it so when I was a draftee during the Korean War. Let's reinstate it so it's not only poor Southern boys and black city kids who defend us.
34
The unhealthy adoration many Americans have for their military is a topic most Establishment figures won’t go near, lest they “offend” the sort of patriotic pride one sees more often in military dictatorships than in democracies.
Cohen’s words open up an unexplored discussion of the huge damage military brass helped inflict in Afghanistan by supporting several myths which doomed our mission from the start. Most important: the absurd fixation with “counterinsurgency” and “nation-building,” neither of which civilians (at least the few who understood these concepts in theory and practice) could credibly challenge.
The first was doomed by an absence of a necessary, but insufficient, precondition for success: a credible local partner seen by a significant proportion of the population as a viable alternative to the opposition insurgents’ chosen leader. Hamid Karzai was never this person, as anyone paying attention to his patronage and corruption knew by 2004.
The second is both a pipe-dream and a misnomer. What we tried in Afghanistan (and Iraq) was “state-building,” through the creation of functioning administrative, judicial & security institutions. “Nation-building” is an organic process that takes place over centuries, involving language, religion, culture, the creation of a common literature and educational system, and many other critical elements of “national identity.”
As Gen. Lute said, “We didn’t have the foggiest notion of what we were undertaking.”
22
When faced with a person whose moment to moment mantra is heads I win, tails you lose, you should wisely expect that he or she is mainlining a lethal dose of fictional narratives, something that makes associating with this person a risky business.
Trump, the self promoter, labors like a cartoon duck to sell his services to the moment’s highest bidder. Stormy Daniels, the litigant and entertainer, at least reveals some art with the flesh. So what’s the appeal?
Those who enable this charlatan see in him an irresistible opportunity. He presents a manipulable delivery device for the promotion of their own fictional narratives. A grifter's dream.
The easiest relationships are those between people who share the same delusions. Some relationships though, even for con artists, are simply not worth the ease. When the risks far outweigh the potential for gain, easy is not necessarily best.
19
The problem is that we all were taught that our constitution and institutions were so much better than any other countries things like the rise of an ignorant, authoritarian, self serving monster could not happen. Checks and balances and so on. Given that from first grade to West Point to combat to working in the White House might involve all sorts of in fighting and ideological challenges one would still be part of the great exceptional American experience. Trump has demonstrated that such a nation does not exist and that this great experiment can fail just like all others.
36
No matter what their motives, these generals are suspect, not to be trusted. It is not that I do not trust their loyalty, or their oath, ot their honorable intent (where applicable). But working in the Trump administration is an unpardonable lapse of judgement.
I would welcome their unfettered description of what it is like to try to have a conversation with Mr. Trump.
59
"Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel." Samuel Johnson's line was coined to describe William Pitt, but if anything seems far too restrained to describe the draft-dodgjng, tax-dodging narcissist Donald Trump who, I believe, has the role of Commander in Chief of the world's most powerful, if not most effective, military force. That this role is performed by a father-dominated coward seems appropriate. It seems to me that all men (and perhaps women) in these forces are constantly on the lookout for someone to tell them what to do. And here is Trump, who is clearly someone who has been trying all his life to avoid having to do so, with this very responsibility.
You couldn't make it up.
26
To be a general and be invited by your commanding officer to serve in the White House. That has to be tough to resist.
8
"....tells us that ambition, wishful thinking and unfounded self-confidence can afflict any of us...."
Speak for yourself, Eliot.
4
Patriotism cannot be unquestioning loyalty and adherence to the dictates of immoral leaders. Too often conservatives repeat the "my country right or wrong' mentality of the sixties. Blind obedience is not patriotism. If it were, Hitler's troops, many of whom slaughtered millions of Jews, would be considered heroic patriots, not war criminals. The Generals who have challenged Trump and his policies are the true Patriots.
42
He gives platitudes without personal suffering. For the low level soldier, he understands their plight without sharing their load. The ignorant are easily fooled by shining baubles.
23
As a former Infantry Officer with eight (8) deployments, I despise Trump. Truth, honestly, integrity and duty are personality metrics to which he has none. This is a common theme among those who I speak with from time to time...
210
But that's the crux, isn't? That the higher up you get, the more clouded your judgment and the more seductive proximity to power becomes. It's curious that the heroes mentioned, the diplomats and lower echelon soldier were the ones not swayed by the temptations that mostly the big guys can't seem to resist. And so it goes as well with Trump's enablers in Congress, all their souls sold cheaply to the devil.
69
As a veteran myself I am always fascinated by the military's support of the Republican party. It seems the Republican party, especially the chicken hawks, has significant responsibility for the majority of headstones recently added in our military cemeteries. That being said, Trump has simply gone too far. He has torn at the very fabric of the traditions and responsibilities I was taught at Annapolis. We must move on from this president and quickly if our republic is to survive.
I looked forward to reading this book.
80
The senior military members of Trump's administration were mostly conservative or critical of the established system. They obviously thought that this Republican President would rely upon them and enable them to shape the military to their preferences. Not one of them seemed to see that Trump is an entertainer and someone who plays to his audiences, and who could not be depended upon to listen to them.
42
Regarding why accomplished General Officers would associate with Trump, I will quote Napoleon, "Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever."
51
Please also explain to me why so many military veterans (both formerly enlisted and officers) so unquestioningly support the current occupant of the White House. Tulsi Gabbard's appeal as a combat veteran with “A Soldier's Heart” (as seen on billboards on I-95) and her promises to end foreign “warmongering” seems more comprehensible than a wealthy draft dodger who bought a physical exemption from military duty. Could it be our current CinC appears so contemptuous of the military's upper echelon which might coincide with a lowly enlisted solider's view of the chain of command? There's probably a lot more to it than that but despite promises, what has our president actually done for veterans?
19
Trump favors individuals - and institutions - that play well as figures in central casting.
He is to a great extent about appearances.
Thus, the US military and certain figures in the military.
The link between Trump essentially allowing the Saudi prince to escape responsibility for the murder of the journalist in Turkey and the Navy seal for violating the military code tells us a great deal about Trump’s worldview.
76
I would hope that the next administration would quit using the military for political backdrops.
26
Not only are we "afflicted" with "ambition, wishful thinking and unfounded self-confidence" but, as this reviewer demonstrates, we routinely embrace the misinformation which serves our cherished pre-conceptions.
Who know that the Obama administration "discovered the virtues" of the TPP "only when it was too late to do anything about it"?
This is the secretly negotiated agreement, available to the Fortune 100 but not members of Congress or the public, which Democrats and Obama championed for years, and which Obama openly boasted he would pass in a lame duck session of Congress, when our elected officials (and Obama himself) wouldn't have to face the consequences of their votes.
With enemies of Trump like this one, who needs enemies?
Military will always support GOP presidents over any Democratic politicians. This is not about what Republican presidents do, but purely about them being Republican. Military reminds me of our lovely Southern red-belt states: no matter how much GOP-endorsed laws and regulations hurt citizens of those states, they always, always vote for the GOP. The lack of healthcare kills them, the lack of welfare bankrupts them, low minimum wage makes them work two jobs, and no gun control endangers their safety. And yet each election season they thank the Republican politicians for all the misery by overwhelmingly electing them. The military is exactly the same. Trump stripped them of dignity by berating generals, by making them abandon bases overseas, and by trying to limit the VA services. And yet I will never expect the military personnel to be more in love with a Democratic ex-soldier (Kerry, Buttigieg) than a Republican AWOL (sorry, Trump was not AWOL, he was just having his 'personal Vietnam' of avoiding STDs while grabbing women in New York).
133
We will never be trusted again. Even if we elect normal presidents for 20 years running, the possibility of another Trump will always exist, given the realities of the Electoral College.
137
There is this inordinate respect for the military in this country which is surprising because it has not won a war, of which we've had a few, since the war with Japan. Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan have at best had ambivalent outcomes and at worst were big defeats.
Its performance during 9/11 was downright embarrassing what with sending fighters up with no ammunition to look for hostiles over the ocean off the end of Long Island. Not a proud moment for North American Air Defense command.
And now we learn from accounts in the Washington Post, that the war in Afghanistan was considered unwinnable shortly after initiating it, mirroring similar assessments early on in Vietnam.
As to why so many otherwise sober generals were thrilled at the prospect of working directly for Trump, the Commander-In-Chief, the reason is no different than that of any other of those civilians that passed through positions close to the Oval Office, the ability to influence the most powerful man in the world. There's a stimulant that no pharmaceutical can ever match.
43
Washington Post has very recently released documents showing that military and political leaders (both parties) have deceived the public with regard to the intractable difficulties and false reports of progress of the Afghan War. Maybe Trump is quite correct in wanting to end American participation in these "endless wars".
4
He says he wants to.... But where is the plan? He keeps sending more troops to the Middle East.
24
Short indeed is the list of those who have served this administration but not been tainted by it during their service.
While Trump lies constantly about essentially everything, he does wear his character, or lack of it, on his sleeve.
Did Mattis (among others) imagine that he could provide adult supervision?
Why?
25
Good review. But Cohen fails to address why the common soldiers also like Trump, and why the officers who worked for Trump and then were fired or quit still decline to criticize the President. The situation is even more dangerous than Cohen suggests.
100
@CitizenJ The rank and file are disproportionately drawn from a certain demographic (rural, Southern, without college degrees), so it is not too surprising that they think and vote like otherwise similar persons who did not enlist. There may not have been much beyond that for Cohen to address.
39
@rella Non-Hispanic Whites are 62.6% of the U.S. population, but only 57% of enlisted military recruits.
5
@CitizenJ There is strong evidence that military personnel are subjected to Russian bots on computers and phones. Many of these military members have security clearances -- do we know if their Internet viewing is vetted?
13
Trump is not interested in history, law, foreign affairs, nor military affairs. It never was necessary in the life he chose for himself, celebrity, playboy, and above all the center of attention. What he is good at is studying the mass media to see what people want and he can use to achieve his goals. That tells him what President Obama understood about what the American people wanted.
But as any good leader knows, sometimes the people do not want what they think that they want because they do not appreciate the consequences, so good leaders sometimes do not follow the popular opinion as does Trump but act in ways that will likely bring about the better results.
Trump like people to think that he's a tough, street fighter. He's not a fighter of any kind. He looks out for himself while avoiding confrontations in which he will likely be hurt. No person interested in winning fights worries about being hurt, just about how hurt. Generals know as do privates, that soldiering is discipline and moral courage as much as physical courage, that combat results in death and destruction, and so results in damaged people and destroyed human works, survival is more important than glory, and obeying orders and retaining sanity requires following the rules. Trump hates following rules and so he just cannot relate to what soldiering requires.
29
I believe Mr. Cohen is spot on correct in his view that ambition is a driving force behind the retired senior officers who chose to serve in the current administration. No one who reaches three or four stars is nothing if not ambitious.
To be fair, we are also equally fortunate that our military's officers also have a strong sense of duty. See Lieutenant Colonel Vindman for a very recent, public and highly courageous example.
However, I'd hope that any retired officer with thoughts of seeking a position in this administration, out of ambition or a sense of duty, look no further than the experience of General Mattis. In two short years, Mattis went from being lionized as the "Mad Dog" by Trump to "the world's most overrated general" following his resignation as Secretary of Defense.
I know that our retired senior officers have declined, rightfully in most instances, to strongly criticize our civilian leaders. The supremacy of our elected leaders over the military has helped keep us from "banana republic" status
On the other hand, our president has damaged our relationships with our allies and destroyed political norms in ways that we could have never imagined. At some point, I hope that Generals Mattis, Kelly and McMaster will speak openly and honestly about their experiences and views of Mr. Trump.
Robert E. Lee once said that "duty was the sublimest work in the English language." Their duty to our country in this extraordinary moment in our history demands it.
26
Washington Post has very recently released documents showing that military and political leaders (both parties) have deceived the public with regard to the intractable difficulties and false reports of progress of the Afghan War. Maybe Trump is quite correct in wanting to end American participation in these "endless wars".
1
I worry that Trump may be re-elected on a combination of a healthy economy and successful foreign and military policy. So far, there's been no calamities, except to the country's reputation and of course to suffering Venezuelans, Syrian Kurds, and other victims who will presumably not count for much with voters.
Thanks to Dr. Cohen for his review.
Off-topic, the Johns Hopkins University Press is featuring a book on the Roman Republic's part-time citizen soldiers, who conquered the Mediterranean world. Perhaps good reading for people who take our National Guard and Reserves seriously?
3
Illusions are everywhere, it seems: “The notion of accepting responsibility is as central to the military’s ethic as it is alien to Trump’s”.
This is fantasy on the reviewer’s part. Consider the recent articles in the Washington Post about the lies used to promote the war in Afghanistan.
Yes, it was ultimately a Department of Defense inquiry that led to the facts being made public, but it was eighteen years late and a trillion dollars short. And it took some effort by the newspaper to get even that.
We should ask ourselves seriously why people like Donald Trump appeal to so many people in the armed services. Perhaps its actually the evasion of responsibility, and a fear of honest accounting for what they have done, obedience to orders not being quite enough justification for anyone who feels a genuine sense of moral responsibility.
8
I have tremendous respect for all of the military men and women I know, and, as my spouse was a Foreign Service Officer, we had many opportunities to meet people from the Embassy Marine Corps guards to higher ranking types.
So, I do not mean my one criticism to be taken as a blanket criticism, but merely to answer the question posed in this article. The military that I know is convinced that the public does not appreciate them properly. They are very sensitive on the topic of appreciation, to the point where they often seem ... whiny.
Trump elevates them publicly, and they like that.
Then, they get close to him and reality bites.
Everybody is human, even military heroes.
40
It will be illuminating when ( not if) these military members of Trump's regime will officially state what happened behind the scenes during their time in this administration. I look forward to reading the memoirs of Mattis and Kelly.
6
Great piece. But Cohen's last paragraph, regarding the "Generals'" willingness to hop aboard the Trump train, fails to land on the obvious answer. They love adulation of and fawning over the military; Trump brings that out in the general population daily. A military first mindset has a side benefit of being 180 degrees from the liberal mindset that landed on the opposition side over Vietnam. They may have graduated West Point, but it's not much different than a Trump rally. (Never mind the bone spurs).
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