Five Generals and a Baby<\/p>\n
James Mattis<\/strong> \u2013 Secretary of Defense, General, US Marines (4 Star). Final military command \u2013 US Central Command<\/p>\n John Kelly<\/strong> \u2013 Chief of Staff, General of US Marines (4 Star). Final military command \u2013 US Southern Command<\/p>\n Joseph Dunford<\/strong> \u2013 Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General, US Marines (4 Star)\u00a0– still in service \u2013 prior command, Commandant US Marine Corps<\/p>\n H.R. McMasters<\/strong> \u2013 National Security Advisor, Lt. General, US Army (3 Star). Still in service- prior command, Army Capabilities Integration Center<\/p>\n Michael Flynn<\/strong> \u2013 Fired National Security Advisor, Lt. General in US Army (3 Star)\u00a0– final military command \u2013 Director, Defense Intelligence Agency<\/p>\n Donald J Trump<\/strong> – President of United States, attended New York Military Academy as high school. \u00a0Captain of A Company NYMA his senior year, was transferred to Admin Staff when hazing occurred under his command. 5 deferments from Vietnam Draft, never in US military<\/p>\n As the nuclear showdown between North Korea and the United States grows more intense, risking a war that could result in millions of casualties, two leaders are \u201cnose to nose.\u201d Trump and Kim are facing each other across the Pacific Ocean, determining the fate of the Pacific rim. It\u2019s not Churchill and Hitler, it\u2019s not Kennedy and Khruschev, it\u2019s not even Bush and Hussein. Kim is a farcical character, a child dictator who would be funny except for the strength of the North Korean armed forces, ranked 23rd<\/sup> in the world, with fully 25% of the population in military service. Oh, and he has nuclear weapons and 10,000 artillery tubes pointed a Seoul, South Korea, population over 20 million.<\/p>\n The problem is, Trump \u201cain\u2019t no Jack Kennedy\u201d either. He had decided to meet Kim\u2019s bluster with braggadocio of his own, quoting video games as he promises \u201cfire and fury\u201d against North Korea. Trump has the most powerful military in the world, but so far has shown that he doesn\u2019t believe Theodore Roosevelt was right: instead of \u201cspeak softly and carry a big stick,\u201d Trump is yelling loudly.<\/p>\n Trump has shown, through his decidedly short political career, that he is enamored with the military. His trusted foreign policy advisor, Lt. General Michael Flynn, was so important that Trump was willing to accept his lying to the Vice President and conducting private foreign policy as long as he could keep Flynn\u2019s advice. With Flynn gone, former cadet captain Trump has surrounded himself with more generals. While we hope that these are the \u201cbest and the brightest\u201d the military has to offer, it should be a concern that these leaders, all steeped in the traditions of US military service, may be the only voices he is hearing.<\/p>\n This is not to fault Mattis, Dunford, Kelly and McMasters. Not only are they the best of the best, they also are some of the \u201coutliers\u201d of military command. Mattis is known as the \u201cWarrior Monk,\u201d dedicated to his service, and willing to think \u201coutside the box.\u201d Dunford, the current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, is a former subordinate of Mattis, and noted for his dedication. McMasters jump started his career by writing a book about the flaws in the military command system in Vietnam, and earned a PhD at University of North Carolina. And Kelly, a man who has made the ultimate sacrifice (he has a son buried in Arlington National Cemetery, an Afghanistan casualty,) is another noted for his intellectual approach, with master degree\u2019s from the National Defense University and Georgetown. \u00a0While they are all brilliant military minds, they also have lived lives\u00a0 filtered through military thought and process, which like any profession, creates a structured way of problem solving.<\/p>\n These are the men advising President Trump, and while Mattis and Kelly are technically now civilians, this is exactly the kind of concern George Washington had when he turned down the Presidency of the United States at the end of the Revolutionary War. \u00a0He was afraid that as the conquering general, leader of the American Army, he would begin a national tradition of following “the man on the white horse.”<\/p>\n During the Kennedy Administration, one of the hardest lessons that former \u00a0Naval Lt. John F. Kennedy had to learn was not to completely trust \u201cthe Generals.\u201d This first became apparent early in his Presidency. The Bay of Pigs was the US sponsored insurgent invasion of Cuba. Part of the decision making process going into the operation was the agreement that US forces would not be directly involved. The flawed plans failed almost immediately, and the attack collapsed on the beach. As the invasion failed the Joint Chiefs of Staff demanded that the US Air Force bring in air cover to protect the beachhead. Kennedy faced his Generals demanding action, and the reality that a US invasion of Cuba (as US involvement would certainly be seen) could trigger a Soviet response in Germany, perhaps triggering World War III.<\/p>\n Kennedy left the invasion force alone, and they were killed or captured on the beach. He grew to take a critical view of the military, resulting in his willingness to look beyond military options during the Cuban missile crisis two years later. In that, he avoided a nuclear war with the Soviets.<\/p>\n During the Cuban Missile Crisis it was UN ambassador, former Governor of Illinois and two-time Democratic candidate for President Adlai Stevenson who stood up to the generals. When a pre-emptive attack on Cuba was the leading strategy in discussion, Stevenson said to the World War II veteran President, \u201cnow I know how Tojo felt before Pearl Harbor.\u201d The statement resonated with Kennedy, and he began to search for other options to avoid all-out war.<\/p>\n As Trump continues to ratchet up the tension with North Korea, now threatening even greater destruction if the North Koreans should attempt to strike Guam, where are the non-military voices proposing solutions? Tillerson and Haley don\u2019t seen to have any influence in Trump World, while Bannon, Gorka and Miller have \u00a0even more warped views.<\/p>\n We can only hope that either the Generals themselves, or calmer voices that we don\u2019t know about, are suggesting alternatives to Trump. Otherwise this governing \u201cbaby\u201d is only getting advice filtered through lives of military thought and process.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"