Respect for military should be paramount
As presidential campaigns enter the home stretch, candidates, especially incumbents, are usually eager to highlight their support of our military personnel and communities. Yet, President Donald Trump’s had a rough start to the fall campaign.
A Military Times poll showed overall support for the president among the military slipping below 38%, and that was before multiple sources quoted him characterizing those who risk their lives in service to country as “suckers,” and demanding his military parades exclude wounded vets because “nobody wants to see that.”
What a difference one term makes. Trump took office promising to “completely rebuild” the U.S. military. To his credit, and those in Congress, the military has received generous budgets over the last few years. At a dynamic time in the world, these resources have helped the Defense Department develop new platforms to face evolving challenges, including the rise of China; Russian, Iranian and North Korean provocations; and additional instability due to the effects of climate change and the coronavirus pandemic.
But leading the military is about more than funding. A commander-in-chief must understand that it is our service members’ dedication, professionalism and character that makes America’s military so great. Our service people draw great strength from the support of the American people to carry out the missions they have been assigned by the president, and the president is the lynchpin in that chain of support. It must be unwavering if we are to expect the tireless and selfless sacrifice of those we have put into harm’s way.
Trump’s attitude toward service has unfortunately undermined what has made our military the strongest in the world: our people. He set the tone early on by denigrating the heroic service of Sen. John McCain. He has failed to take responsibility for casualties resulting from operations he ordered, shifting the blame down the chain of command. He has undermined discipline and the Uniformed Code of
Military Justice by interfering in the services’ own disciplinary procedures. And he has politicized the military, requiring the chairman of the Joint Chiefs to pose with him for a controversial photo op in front of a church, for which his agents dispersed a peacefully protesting crowd. Now senior former military leaders are expressing concern that Trump may try to use the military to interfere with the U.S. elections.
The president has also missed some clear opportunities to stand by our military men and women. When the U.S. intelligence community determined that Russian military intelligence offered bounties to extremist groups in Afghanistan to kill U.S. troops, the president failed to act.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reported raising the issue with Russian counterparts, indicating the seriousness of the problem, yet the president declined to raise it with Russian President Vladimir Putin or to state unequivocally that no one would get away with doing that to American troops on his watch. The result is reflected in serious doubt among the military community in Trump’s leadership. The Military Times poll found that only 17% of active-duty military said the president properly handled reports that Russian officials offered bounties for Afghan fighters to target and kill American troops.
In my time in Congress, I was proud to serve the military community of Hampton Roads, and to represent it on the House Armed Services Committee. Accountability and honoring all those who risk life and limb to keep the rest of us safe are sacred commitments of leadership. Through his decisions and demeanor, President Trump has demonstrated an unwillingness to learn and live the values our military stands for. Our service people understand that better than anyone else.