Time Asia - October 24, 2017

President

Trump

stands for

a photo op

after an

Oct. 5 dinner

with top

U.S. military

officials and

their spouses

reason for leaving was, in part, the fact

that he and the President “stand with

our soldiers.”

ALL OF THIScreates an unsettling image

of Trump’s relationship with the senior

military. On the one hand, he clearly

manifests great respect for them, and has

selected a coterie of the most senior re-

tired officers for jobs at the highest levels

in the Cabinet and White House. But it

seems he has a need to dominate them

publicly and is trying to pull them into

public political debates in ways that will

be increasingly uncomfortable for them.

He continues to tweet in a jingoistic and

militaristic way, effectively swaggering

on the global and domestic stage with

the cudgel of U.S. military prowess—

inflaming already

fraught situations and

placing him in con-

flict with the steady

advice from his gener-

als, whose operational

competence, loyalty to

the nation and apoliti-

cal approach are thus

far unquestioned.

These admirals and

generals swear an oath

to “support and defend

the Constitution of the

United States.” That is

the bedrock for every one of these active

and retired officers: serve the nation and

avoid the partisan crosswinds. But the

ground is slipping under them. Trump

is like a hurricane: unpredictable,

potentially destructive and endowed

with enormous power. Thankfully, our

military can stand as a kind of bulwark

against his darker angels, but only up to a

point. In the end, these officers will obey

his lawful orders.

We must hope he will listen to his

military counsel, while insulating them

from the partisan bickering that is so

endemic in our Republic. Meanwhile,

the senior military must avoid the

politics of the moment and, in private,

continue to speak truth to power in the

most direct and meaningful ways.

Stavridis is dean of the Fletcher School of

Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University

and a retired Supreme Allied Commander

at NATO

THERE IS A GLITTERING ANNUAL DINNER AT THE

White House that is typically exclusive to the most senior

admirals and generals in the U.S. military: the Chairman and

Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs; the service chiefs of the

Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard; and

the combatant commanders, who are the most senior four-

star officers and who direct U.S. combat operations, reporting

directly to the Secretary of Defense and the President.

For seven years, as a combatant commander, I attended

these gatherings. They were intimate and off-the-record

affairs—a chance for the Commander in Chief to bond quietly

and privately with his commanders.

Recently, at President Trump’s first of

these dinners, it was surprising to see him

use those senior officers and their spouses

as a backdrop for a cryptic comment to the

press: “You guys know what this represents?

Maybe it’s the calm before the storm.” When

asked what the “storm” was, he responded

equally oddly: “You’ll find out.” Speculation

ran wild. Was it a military strike on North

Korea? Iran? Venezuela? The White House

refused to clarify, citing a desire to keep the

enemy guessing.

At an earlier meeting in the Cabinet room,

Trump publicly, bluntly dressed down his

admirals and generals: “Moving forward, I

also expect you to provide me with a broad range of military

options, when needed, at a much faster pace. I know that

government bureaucracy is slow, but I am depending on

you to overcome the obstacles of bureaucracy.” That kind of

rebuke—in the presence of the press—is a hard moment for

senior military officials who wake up every morning seeking to

keep the nation safe and have worked at a record pace to keep

up with a disorganized White House’s constant desire for new

military options.

A FEW DAYS LATER,well-respected Republican Senator Bob

Corker of Tennessee addressed in a series of remarks another

crucial role of senior military in the Administration: essentially

providing psychological guardrails around the President’s

impulsive and dangerous tendency to blurt out highly inflam-

matory statements on Twitter. Corker also upped the verbal

ante by describing the collective role of General John Kelly

(White House chief of staff ), General James Mattis (Secretary

of Defense) and Lieut. General H.R. McMaster (National

Security Adviser) as running “an adult day care center.”

Then Vice President Mike Pence pulled the military even

further into the political debate over NFL players’ taking a

knee during the national anthem when he exited a game after

several athletes undertook their planned protest. He said his

The BriefViewpoint

When the Commander

in Chief disrespects his

commanders

By James Stavridis

PABLO MARTINEZ MONSIVAIS—AP/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK