Four-Star U.S. Army General Slams Trump's Behavior in Navy SEAL Controversy:

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

If He Was a General, 'We'd Fire Him'

During an appearance on MSNBC Saturday afternoon, retired U.S. Army General Barry R. McCaffrey said President Donald Trump's behavior was such that "if he was a general court martial authority, two-star general, we'd fire him."

McCaffrey, who retired from the military in 2001 as a four-star general with three Purple Hearts, told journalist Richard Liu that Trump's behavior had caused the military trial of Navy SEAL Chief Petty Officer Eddie Gallagher to become "a real mess."

The president intervened on Gallagher's behalf at multiple points in the court martial process, first ordering Gallagher release from pre-trial detention despite, as McCaffrey noted, allegations that Gallagher had threatened to have witnesses killed. Gallagher was demoted in July after the military court found him guilty of conduct unbecoming related to a photo he staged with the body of an ISIS fighter.

In November, as the Navy prepared to review Gallagher's status, Trump ordered the branch to restore his rank and publicly forbid commanding officers from discharging him. Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer was forced to resign after he tried to negotiate a backchannel deal with the White House regarding Gallagher's fate.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/four-star-us-army-general-slams-trumps-behavior-in-navy-seal-controversy-if-he-was-a-general-wed-fire-him/ar-BBYqq8x?li=BBnbfcL

[Skittles]

1. if Trump was in ANY OTHER JOB he would have been fired by now

seriously

[democrank]

2. Trump's actions in this matter were predictable.

If there’s an element of cruelty, Trump is all for it. In fact....the more cruel, the better.

[stopdiggin]

3. well THIS one probably cost him.

another example of your "very stable genius" being self destructive. Yeah, he may have hurt other people .. but he bloodied his own nose in the process.

[Beartracks]

4. Laws and rules are just "pointless regulations" to Trump.

And he really likes the military command structure since that's where the draft-dodging conman can act most like a king.

==========

[lunatica]

5. It's shocking how many generals, yes, generals, have

spoken out against Trump. And in every branch too. I don’t recall anything like it before.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/11/trump-generals/601348/

[snip]

James Mattis doesn’t want to talk about it—except when he does. The retired four-star general who resigned on principle as Donald Trump’s secretary of defense has said ever since that he will not publicly criticize the sitting president, because he owes a “duty of silence.” But his public resignation letter was a clear airing of policy differences. And then there was this swipe he took at the president in a recent speech: “I earned my spurs on the battlefield … And Donald Trump earned his spurs in a letter from a doctor.”

While Mattis maintains his semi-silence—which he cryptically promised The Atlantic’s editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, is “not going to be forever”—a small but growing number of retired senior officers have come forward, taking the rare step of criticizing the president despite the military’s strong apolitical tradition. Three retired generals who spoke with us underscored why this is so rare, and why they take this tradition so seriously. The military is one of the most overwhelmingly respected institutions left in a bitterly divided country; one reason is that its current and former leaders tend to stay out of partisan politics. As such, the exceptions are extraordinary. What follows is a running list of retired senior officers who have criticized Trump or his policies—plus a few who explained why they won’t.

[/snip]