If military leaders determine an increased troop level is necessary, the President will say it was their decision, not his, in an effort to shield himself from public opinion. If, God forbid, Americans are killed in a new surge of troops, President Trump is positioning himself to blame Generals just like when he said they lost Ryan, referring to Navy SEAL Ryan Owens, who was killed during a Trump-approved raid in Yemen.
Later, when President Trump was asked whether he had authorized the dropping of the largest non-nuclear bomb in the U.S. arsenal, he replied, Uhh, everybody knows exactly what happened. What likely happened is that Donald Trump didnt know the outcome of the mission, or what popular opinion was going to be, so he had yet to decide whether to take credit for it.
This is not what a leader does, and it follows a previous Trump decision to remove himself from the responsibility of setting troop levels in Iraq and Syria. Despite what President Trump has claimed, this is not about saving time for the military; its about saving face for a president with a notoriously fragile ego and a habit of skipping intelligence briefings.
The president is in charge of the military so that a single individual accountable to Americans is responsible for its successes and failures. Yet President Trump hasnt even spoken with our commanders in Afghanistan or Iraq since taking office. I am not saying the President should micromanage every decision made on the battlefield. But a decision of great magnitude should come from the Commander in Chief. At a minimum, the President should have an overall military plan that his commanders can follow, but President Trump doesnt seem to even have that.
Because President Obama had an overall strategy, military and civilian leaders under his command could make reactive decisions that advanced the Presidents goals. In the military, we call that commanders intent: When theres a decision to be made and you dont have exact guidance at that moment, you at least know overall what your boss wants. There is no commanders intent right now because the commander-in-chief has no plan and, apparently, no interest in the role.
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