Trump
Delegates Warmaking to Generals
By
Stephen Lendman
Articles in the Atlantic and Wall Street
Journal discussed Trump’s approach to
militarism and warmaking.
He’s
letting hawkish generals make battlefield
decisions - overseen by Defense Secretary
Mattis, National Security Advisor McMaster
and Joint Chiefs chairman Dunford.
Last month, the Atlantic
headlined
“Trump and the Generals,” saying the
president “is fixated on a more conspicuous
form of winning.” Earlier he said “(w)e
never win…(W)e don’t fight to win.”
Generals always want more funding. No matter
the amount budgeted, it’s not enough. Trump
proposed an additional $54 billion for the
next fiscal year.
Inadequate, according to Pentagon
commanders, waging forever wars “against a
multi-general ideological war of ideas that
goes far beyond the military battlefield,”
said the Atlantic.
They
complain about Trump’s “unpredictability”
even though he’s giving them free reign over
battlefield decisions, including drone
strikes and special operations missions in
countries where America is not officially at
war.
On April 14, the
Wall Street Journal
headlined “Trump Gives Generals More Freedom
on ISIS Fight,” saying:
The
president “urges them to make more
battlefield decisions on their own.” On
Friday, an unnamed senior Defense Department
official said “(t)here is a sense
among…commanders that they are able to
do…more - and so they are.”
“They
complained about Obama administration
micromanagement. Now they’re acting more on
their own.”
They’re “being
encouraged to stretch the limits of their
existing authorities when needed, but to
think seriously about the consequences of
their decisions.”
Trump
administration militarism and warmaking are
more “muscular,” diplomacy getting “short
shrift.”
Last
week, US Forces Afghanistan (USFOR-A)
commander General John Nicholson, Jr.
allegedly used the Pentagon’s Massive
Ordnance Air Blast bomb (MOAB) on his own.
More
likely, along with aggression on Syria, it
was a Defense Department message to North
Korea, Syria, Russia, China, and other US
adversaries, indicating America’s
willingness to do whatever it takes to
achieve military and geopolitical objectives
- not part of waging war on ISIS, a US
creation it supports.
The
Journal cited an unnamed senior
administration official, saying Trump didn’t
know about MOAB’s use until after it was
dropped, adding:
Mattis
“is telling them, ‘it’s not the same as it
was. You don’t have to ask us before you
drop a MOAB.’ “
“Technically there’s no piece of paper that
says you have to ask the president to drop a
MOAB. But last year this time, the way
(things were) meant, ‘I’m going to drop a
MOAB, better let the White House know.’”
Pentagon and intelligence community power
holds the Trump administration, Congress and
the courts hostage. Diplomacy is
inconsequential, for show only. Tillerson
has no say over geopolitical policymaking.
A
nuclear war could start without Trump,
civilian cabinet members, and congressional
leaders’ knowledge and involvement until
they’re told.
With
Pentagon commanders and intelligence
community bosses in charge of war making and
other key geopolitical issues, a potential
nightmarish scenario could unfold.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be
reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. His
new book as editor and contributor is titled
"Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for
Hegemony Risks WW III."
The
views expressed in this article are solely those
of the author and do not necessarily reflect the
opinions of Information Clearing House.
