Trump's Fourth of July extravaganza troubles former military leaders

Source: Politico | July 2, 2019 | Wesley Morgan

‘This looks like it’s becoming much more of a Republican Party event,’ says one retired general.

President Donald Trump boasted Tuesday that the nation’s military leaders are “thrilled” that he’s trotting out a dazzling display of troops, tanks, helicopters and fighter jets for his personal Independence Day celebration.

But multiple former military leaders are publicly expressing dismay, calling it the latest example of Trump politicizing the armed services.

The annual public festivities and fireworks display on the National Mall scheduled for Thursday are being overtaken by Trump’s “Salute to America” event, which is shaping up to feature a prominent role for the military.

“This looks like it’s becoming much more of a Republican Party event — a political event about the president — than a national celebration of the Fourth of July, and it’s unfortunate to have the military smack dab in the middle of that,” said retired Army Lt. Gen. David Barno, who commanded U.S. troops in Afghanistan under President George W. Bush.

“The president is using the armed forces in a political ploy for his reelection campaign and I think it’s absolutely obscene,” added retired Army Maj. Gen. William Nash, a veteran of Vietnam, the Gulf War and peacekeeping operations in the Balkans.

The Pentagon is offering few details about the deployment of military hardware and the extent of its participation, referring queries to the White House. But a small contingent of tanks and other armored vehicles has arrived in the nation’s capital, and, according to news reports, will be placed on display ahead of Trump’s speech at the Lincoln Memorial.

A pair of Abrams tanks were photographed on railroad tracks in southeast Washington late Monday and again Tuesday, accompanied by two Bradley Fighting Vehicles and an M88 armored recovery vehicle. At least one of the vehicles bore markings of the Army’s Georgia-based 3rd Infantry Division.

A Defense official who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly confirmed to POLITICO that the unit had been tapped to send the hardware north by train. “From what I understand, the unit was given short notice — they only received the order last week,” the official said.

“There will be military vehicles on display at the Salute to America,” the Pentagon confirmed in a statement Tuesday. “DoD has provided two M1A2 Abrams tanks and two M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicles in support of the event.”

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