Small Wars Journal

Trump’s Focus on Generals for Top Jobs Stirs Worries Over Military’s Sway

Tue, 11/22/2016 - 4:10am

Trump’s Focus on Generals for Top Jobs Stirs Worries Over Military’s Sway by Mark Landler and Helene Cooper, New York Times

Donald J. Trump ran for president boasting that he knew more about fighting terrorists than America’s generals.

But now that Mr. Trump is the president-elect, he is spending a great deal of his time with retired generals, and those of a particular breed: commanders who, when they served, were often at odds with President Obama.

One has been named as Mr. Trump’s national security adviser, and several others are candidates for coveted positions in his cabinet or are advising him on how to confront the world’s greatest threats. They would give his foreign policy a far more aggressive cast than Mr. Obama’s.

Turning to the retired officers reflects Mr. Trump’s preference for having strong, even swaggering, men around him. But it worries national security experts and even other retired generals, who say that if Mr. Trump stacks critical jobs purely with warriors, it could lead to an undue emphasis on military force in American foreign policy…

Read on.