Trump’s junta of generals
President- elect’s selection of military leaders for top jobs raises questions, writes Thomas Watkins
e’s not yet finished picking, but President- elect Donald Trump already has named three retired generals to top posts, raising questions as to why there will be so much military brass in Cabinet- level jobs.
Trump on Thursday named retired four- star Marine general John Kelly to head the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees several critical areas including immigration and border control — signature issues for Trump.
If confirmed by the Senate, Kelly would join retired Marine General James Mattis as Defence Secretary and retired Army Lieutenant General Michael Flynn as national security adviser.
Mattis approval.
While the men bring broad depth of knowledge to the cabinet and considerable expertise, some worry their numbers threaten a cornerstone of American democracy — that civilians control the military and the government.
“If you have a significant number of [ former military members] in your cabinet, you begin to bring into some question whether you actually are maintaining full civil control of a nation,” David Barno, a retired general who once led the US war effort in Afghanistan, said.
Yet another retired general, David Petraeus, has been floated as a possible pick for Secretary of State, and retired admiral Michael Rogers has been rumoured to be in the running for Director of National Intelligence.
“One more three or four- star general given a senior appointment, and we can start referring to a Trump junta rather than a Trump Administration,” retired Army lieutenant colonel and military scholar Andrew Bacevich told Time magazine.
Trump was outspoken during his campaign against the generals currently serving under President Barack Obama’s Administration, boasting he knew more about Isis ( Islamic State) than they did, and claiming the White House had reduced the four- stars to “rubble”.
One possible reason Trump i s drawing so deeply from the military well now is because officers typically keep their political views private, also needs Senate meaning few generals were openly critical of Trump’s divisive campaign, while a slew of experienced lawmakers and civilians sharply disagreed with him.
Trump also was likely wowed by the breadth of experience he had seen in the generals, Barno said.
He “i s very impressed by the seriousness and the experience and the gravitas that a number of retired generals have brought into interviews with him”, he said.
“They are very different kinds of people from many of the people he has surrounded himself with for the other parts of his career, to include through most of his campaign.”
Timothy Hagle, who teaches political science at the University of Iowa, said the generals have qualities Trump appreciates: an ability to be “straight talking, very blunt” and to “focus on the mission regardless” of political leanings.
A major concern about a militaryheavy cabinet is that Trump might begin to see all world problems through a military prism without giving sufficient voice to other forms of influence, such as diplomacy.
David Barno retired general
But retired Major General Charles Dunlap, who formerly was a top Air Force lawyer and who now teaches at Duke University, said the opposite was often true — military members who understand the horrors of war are less likely to be hawkish than civilian leaders.
“Retired generals don’t clamour for war; they are typically the voices urging that all other avenues be exhausted before turning to force,” Dunlap said in an opinion piece published on Vox. com.
How hawkish the new Trump Administration will be remains to be seen, but the incoming President has already upset China by taking a call from Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing Wen, breaking with decades of tradition.
And Mattis, who i s highly regarded by politicians of many stripes, is outspoken on Iran and has publicly called it the “single most bel- ligerent actor in the Middle East”.
Mattis has also warned that Israel’s settlements threaten to turn the Jewish state into an “apartheid” system.
Having retired in 2013, Mattis needs a special waiver to serve, as US law bans uniformed military officers from being Secretary of Defence for seven years after leaving active duty.
Barno, now based at American University, echoed Dunlap’s view that more retired generals don’t necessarily equate to more foreign military interventions.
“The military leaders that [ Trump] has selected will bring a very sober voice about the risks of using military power,” he said.
“So I think the military people will bring a cautionary note to a number of these campaigns, in some cases more than some civilian leaders might in the past.” and the wearer’s ID all embedded in the QR code. The chips remain attached for an average of two weeks — even if they get wet — the official said, citing recent trials.
Japan is grappling with a rapidly ageing population with senior citizens expected to make up 40 per cent of the population by 2060.
One in three native Japanese citizens i s over the age of 60 and it i s estimated as many as 3000 elderly citizens have early symptoms of dementia.
The Guardian reported that last year, more than 12,000 people with dementia were reported missing. Most were found within a few days, but more than 450 were found dead. 150 were never found.
Last month, Japanese police started offering noodle discounts at local restaurants to elderly citizens who agreed to hand in their driving licences. The offer followed a series of deadly accidents involving elderly drivers — a growing problem in a country where 4.8 million people aged 75 or older hold a licence.