Rob Horowitz: Real Warriors Stand Up to the Reality TV Warrior in the White House

Rob Horowitz: Real Warriors Stand Up to the Reality TV Warrior in the White House

The troubling spectacle of members of the National Guard and law enforcement personnel using pepper spray and flash-bang grenades to clear out peaceful protesters from Lafayette Park for the sole purpose of an ill-conceived presidential reality television moment turned out to be the final straw for some of our most respected former military leaders. President Trump’s own former Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, 3 former chairs of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, former supreme allied commander at NATO, James Stavridis and many others condemned the president and warned of the negative consequences of his threat to activate US troops to "dominate” the streets of American cities.

These real warriors spoke out because they understood the potentially ruinous combination of a president who has used racially tinged and divisive attacks as a feature of his time in office and as a result, is perceived as a racist by a majority of the American public and by 8-in-10 African-Americans employing the American military to put down protests sparked by the cold-blooded killing of an African-American by a white police officer.  Men who have devoted their lives to service to this nation and the rebuilding of the credibility and esteem of the military from its low point right after Vietnam realized they couldn’t continue to remain silent while the reality television warrior in the White House proceeded recklessly, pouring more gasoline on the fire, heedless or indifferent to the potential real-world consequences.

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As James Mattis wrote, in The Atlantic, “Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people—does not even pretend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership.”

And the former Marine general pointed out the fundamental wrongheadedness of the president’s approach: “We must reject any thinking of our cities as a “battlespace” that our uniformed military is called upon to “dominate.” At home, we should use our military only when requested to do so, on very rare occasions, by state governors. Militarizing our response, as we witnessed in Washington, D.C., sets up a conflict—a false conflict—between the military and civilian society. It erodes the moral ground that ensures a trusted bond between men and women in uniform and the society they are sworn to protect, and of which they themselves are a part. Keeping public order rests with civilian state and local leaders who best understand their communities and are answerable to them.”.

Similarly, former chair of the joint chiefs and retired Admiral Mike Mullen wrote, “ It sickened me yesterday to see security personnel—including members of the National Guard—forcibly and violently clear a path through Lafayette Square to accommodate the president's visit outside St. John's Church.” Mullen added, “This is not the time for stunts. This is the time for leadership”.

Reinforcing Mattis and Mullen, James Stavridis, former supreme allied commander at NATO, told Chuck Todd on Meet the Press this past Sunday that “protests aren’t a battlespace to be dominated.”   Referring to the clearing out of the DC protesters, Stavridis exclaimed, “It rang echoes of what the founders feared more than anything, which was the use of armed active-duty military against citizens.”

These former military leaders publicly expressed what current Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and chair of the joint chiefs of staff General Mark Milley were privately telling the president: employing the Insurrection Act to send in the American military to root out violent protesters was both unwise and unnecessary.

This combined push-back did result in the president backing off, avoiding a provocation that would have only encouraged more instances of property destruction and violence.   The protests over the past week have been by and large peaceful with instances of violence becoming greatly reduced.

In large measure, this better outcome is a result of these former military leaders speaking up forcefully and-just in time.  In their retirement, they continue to honorably serve our nation.

Rob Horowitz is a strategic and communications consultant who provides general consulting, public relations, direct mail services and polling for national and state issue organizations, various non-profits, businesses, and elected officials and candidates. He is an Adjunct Professor of Political Science at the University of Rhode Island.