The end of Trump's affair with 'his' generals
Like many a loveless marriage of convenience, the union between President Trump and “his” generals has ended in recrimination and heartbreak.
After Trump impetuously announced a troop withdrawal from Syria last month, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, a retired Marine four-star general, resigned on Dec. 20 — with a letter blasting the president for not “treating allies with respect” and not “being clear-eyed about both malign actors and strategic competitors.” Trump characteristically insulted him in return, demanding, “What’s he done for me?” and claiming that “President [Barack] Obama fired him and essentially so did I.” No, Mattis quit. Trump did fire White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly, another former Marine general. During a post-firing interview , Kelly did not praise his boss’s achievements but rather his own success in averting disasters — including preventing Trump from breaking the law.
By then, two other generals were long gone. Michael Flynn, a retired Army three-star general, was forced out as national security adviser after just 24 days and is now a felon. His successor, H.R. McMaster, an active-duty Army three-star general, lasted just more than a year and left lamenting Trump’s failure to impose “sufficient costs” against Russia for its aggression.
Trump has been engaged in a war of words with two other retired general officers — Special Operations superstars William H. McRaven and Stanley A. McChrystal. Retired Navy Adm. McRaven, a SEAL who oversaw the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, said of Trump: “Through your actions, you have embarrassed us in the eyes of our children, humiliated us on the world stage and, worst of all, divided us as a nation.” Trump lamely shot back: “Wouldn’t it have been nice if we got Osama bin Laden a lot sooner,” as if it was McRaven’s fault the intelligence community had trouble tracking the leader of al-Qaeda.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/the-end-of-trumps-affair-with-his-generals/2019/01/09/35f1ed0c-1421-11e9-90a8-136fa44b80ba_story.html
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