President Donald Trump holds up a Bible as he stands in front of St. John's Episcopal Church across from the White House after walking there for a photo opportunity during ongoing protests in Washington, June 1. REUTERS/Tom Brenner
Dov S. Zakheim, National Interest: Donald Trump Is Undermining Military Morale and Cohesion
Many former senior officers and government officials have rightly protested Donald Trump’s calling upon the military to clear Lafayette Square on Monday night. There is yet another deleterious consequence of the president’s high-handed decision to have troops confront peaceful American protesters. It is the impact that his actions may have on our fighting men overseas.
The United States military has been a leader in ensuring that the American melting pot continues to function as originally intended. To that end, it has boasted senior officers from all races and religions. It has had an African-American chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Colin Powell; numerous general and flag officers from all Christian denominations. Asian American officers, including a Japanese-American Army Chief of Staff. A Jewish Chief of Staff of the Air Force; Muslim officers as well.
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WNU Editor: A couple of things are wrong with the above article. When did the Park Service and the Secret Service became part of the military? And as to the claim that tear gas was used, as one can see from the videos that were posted by the Washington Post, police officials were not wearing gas masks, which is what they would wear if they were using tear gas .... Timeline: The clearing of Lafayette Square (Washington Post). What we are seeing are smoke and shock bombs. Nothing new there. And as for President Trump making a visit to St. John's church. He had a choice .... stay in his bunker in the White House or make his presence felt at a historic church in front of the White House that was firebombed the previous day by protesters. He did the right thing. This should not even be up for debate. But it is, because the image of the President in front of a firebombed church was incredibly damn effective. And as for undermining military morale and cohesion? I do not see that. What I see are many in American's police forces and the military deeply troubled by all of the violence that they are seeing .... while being the recipient of much of it. But is their morale and cohesion being undermined with all of this happening? I have yet to see that to the scale that former General Mattis and Admiral Mullen are claiming.
