{UAH} What impact will General Mattis's comments on earning his bone spurs on the battlefield have on support for President Trump in and out of the military?

https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/18/politics/mattis-trump-keynote-speech/index.html

Pavel Fekula, Avid Spectator of American Politics

While Trump initially had many supporters in the US military, Mattis' speech mocking Trump marks the point where the military has given up on Trump. The US military had a notoriously bad relationship with Obama. At the height of the Syrian Crisis, following Russia's entrance into the conflict, some in the US military even claimed that Obama's reckless actions had caused the biggest crisis between the civilian and military leadership since the Civil War. While it was clear that Russia's entrance into the war had turned the tide in favor of Assad, and that the US needed to work with Russia to counter ISIS's terrorist attacks. Obama refused to work with Russia to end the bloodshed, leading many in the military to throw their weight behind Trump.

When the military threw their support behind Trump in the 2016 presidential race, they did so on a conditional basis. For years, the Israel lobby had controlled the foreign policy of the Republican Party. Various neocon think-tanks had pushed the US into a number of wars that many in the military were beginning to have second thoughts about. Given Russia's and China's resurgence, the military knew that Trump would be facing dangers the likes of which no president had seen in at least 25 years. Understandably, when Trump assumed office, the military hoped that they would be rewarded for their support with influence on foreign policy decisions.

Trump initially rewarded the DoD for their support the election by packing his cabinet full of retired high-ranking generals. However, before the end of his second year in office, all of them had quit or been fired. Trump's erratic style and micromanagement quickly chafed against military advisers. While they were preoccupied with developing a safe and sensible foreign policy in line with the US's strategic interests Trump seemed to by guided two factors and two factors alone: optics and fund raising. Throughout his tenure, Trump has viewed foreign policy as little more than fodder for the news cycle. More than anything else, his decisions regarding foreign policy matters have been guided by how they would be viewed by his base. This led to an erratic and unpredictable foreign policy that frustrated his military advisers to no end. Additionally, Trump has further alienated the military by engaging in a number of reckless moves like tearing up the Iran Nuclear Deal and the INF Treaty and pursuing a confrontation with Iran against the wishes of the military, simply to please Republican donors from the Israel lobby. Unbeknownst to Trump, but known to everyone in the Pentagon, many of these moves were viewed in Moscow and Beijing as the precursors to a major war.

With Trump's foreign policy crashing and burning, the military appears to have given up on Donald Trump. As talk of impeachment has captured Washington, there are indications that the military will cooperate, turning over damning evidence to congress. After nearly three years of Donald Trump, many in the top brass have been forced to conclude that Trump is just not mentally fit to run the country.

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