Dear Commons Community,
President Trump has asked the Pentagon to plan a large military parade complete with tanks, artillery, missiles, and other instruments of war. The response been mostly negative. Senator Lindsay Graham thought that displaying military hardware as is done in some other countries would be “cheesy”. It would be an unnecessary ostentatious display of military might that serves no purpose. Below is a New York Times editorial on the issue. Its summary says it all.
“Mr. Trump is trying to exploit the armed forces as a political prop, even as he daily undermines the country’s other real and enduring strengths, including an independent judiciary and a free press. During the Cold War, such military spectacles were a hallmark of the Soviets. Today, North Korea regularly stages its own robotic displays of military power in an effort to intimidate adversaries.
To defend itself and its allies, the United States must have a strong military. Yet what Americans and the world need from Mr. Trump is not martial pageantry, but a demonstration that he understands that national strength relies on much more than military power.”
Tony
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Trump Wants a Big Parade. It Would Be a Big Mistake.
By the Editorial Board
Feb. 7, 2018
The United States has the world’s most capable fighting force. But do we really want to spike the ball at a time when the country is embroiled in two wars, with no end in sight?
The president seems to think so. President Trump, apparently taken by the Bastille Day parade in Paris, which he attended last summer, has instructed Pentagon brass to organize an even bigger show of military strength, down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington — tanks, missiles, jets and rows of uniformed troops marching in precision. “We’re going to have to try to top” the French procession, he told reporters. No date has been set, but the planning is underway.
It’s all a bit silly. But leaving aside, for the moment, Mr. Trump’s insecurities and his desire to do everything bigger than anyone else, there are some serious reasons to reject his idea.
Mr. Trump’s parade would further militarize America’s image. And it would be expensive, costing millions of dollars and most likely tearing up Washington’s streets. Does that make sense when the Pentagon is complaining that its $700 billion annual budget is inadequate, Congress is cutting vital programs, the State Department is being eviscerated and a Republican tax cut for the wealthy has added billions of dollars to the deficit?
The United States used to regularly hold national military parades, generally to mark military victories. They took place after the Civil War, World War I and World War II. Most recently, the first President George Bush presided as 8,800 troops, with weapons, marched through Washington after the 1991 Persian Gulf war ended. But after American combat troops were withdrawn from Iraq in 2011, the Pentagon declined a ticker-tape parade in New York for gulf war veterans, saying it would not be proper while Americans were still fighting in Afghanistan.
So what would be the purpose of organizing such a parade today, with Americans still fighting in Afghanistan and again in Iraq? The White House says Mr. Trump wants to support “America’s great service members who risk their lives every day.” Yet, especially since 9/11, most Americans have been acutely aware of, and overtly appreciative of, the service of military troops and emergency medical workers, who are regularly recognized at public events and in public speeches.
Mr. Trump, who dodged the Vietnam War with five deferments, has developed an unusual reliance on the military. His defense secretary and chief of staff are retired generals, and his national security adviser, another general, is still on active duty. The president is doing everything he can to make the Pentagon his prime instrument of national security policy by promising “one of the greatest military buildups in history,” expanding the nation’s nuclear arsenal and issuing threats to use military force.
Mr. Trump is trying to exploit the armed forces as a political prop, even as he daily undermines the country’s other real and enduring strengths, including an independent judiciary and a free press. During the Cold War, such military spectacles were a hallmark of the Soviets. Today, North Korea regularly stages its own robotic displays of military power in an effort to intimidate adversaries.
To defend itself and its allies, the United States must have a strong military. Yet what Americans and the world need from Mr. Trump is not martial pageantry, but a demonstration that he understands that national strength relies on much more than military power.
