I may be personally biased, but I think the United States and its Armed Forces could learn some lessons from countries like the Federal Republic of Germany, that have their own histories of politically abused armed services.
Germany ever since the Second World War made sure its soldiers were not apolitical tools, but citizens in uniform with their own conscience and political literacy, who have sworn to defend the constitutional order and the values of the Bundesrepublik
I like that idea that the Military is outside the political sphere, but answers to an elected commander in chief, who is restrained in his orders by a Constitution.
The problem the US has now is that the Trumpists want their Waffen SS troops. ICE are just thugs. Their political reliability is at the condottieri level: they are mercenaries. The WN Militias are a possible threat to the Trumpists and their backers who want to establish their kingdoms, and don’t want to pay extra for their own mercenaries/household troops.
So now the question is what will the Generals do? Clearly some officers have violated their oaths, as have large numbers of ORs. Will the JAG bring them to heel, or will they follow the paid piper and follow the Trumpists?
We really don’t want Waffen SS like units with potential access to nuclear weapons. That is a recipe for the extermination of our species (and most of the others) on this planet.
I can’t think that the entire General Staff has gone over. They are almost without exception very well educated, dedicated and disciplined. You don’t rise to that rank if there was even a hint of weak will or moral defect.
I would more expect the majority of the General Staff in each branch are looking at the long game and picking a hill worth dying on, even if it is only career wise under Hegseth and Trump. I cannot see them taking a knee and pledging fealty, even under duress.
If the protestors and citizens show the troops stationed on the streets assertive non-violence, the only violence will be from agent provocateurs, most likely Proud Boy or another disposable group of ‘useful idiots’. If the local law enforcement do their jobs properly, and shield the protestors from the troops and the troops from the protestors, then the situation will be manageable. Law enforcement will collect the agents, and the. garbage pick up around the protest areas will be the only problem. This would be better than than mass casualties.
I do hope that the citizenry’s courage to go in harm’s way is met with the discipline of a professional all volunteer Marines, Army and National Guard.
I think, the comparison with the Waffen SS is not exactly fitting. The Waffen SS and the ICE are not remotely comparable regarding their cruelty, their lawlessness etc.
The Trumpists are looking for ‘politically reliable’ troops. The Waffen SS were initially all dedicated Nazi party members without the rigid bloodline requirements for a SS soldier. By the end of the war, German men were press ganged into the nearest units.
The point of having politically reliable troops is that they are willing to do the unthinkable. The best example I can think of is the Tiananmen Square massacre.
In 1989, the Beijing garrison refused their orders to clear Tiananmen Square of university students with their tanks and guns. The students were the children of well connected CCP members who were the best of the best students. You didn’t get into Beijing without being the best in the country.
It took the PLA two weeks to bring in politically reliable troops from another part of the country whose officers would and did clear the Square with machine guns and cannons. The Beijing garrison officers were mostly likely all executed.
This is where the brain-trust behind the Trumpists are heading. The only thing they need to break is this damnable sense of duty and loyalty to their oath to uphold and defend the Constitution.
The situation is that dire: each baby step that pushes the boundary of what they can get law enforcement and the military are going in that direction. Politically reliable troops, sworn to fealty like the GOP has, will commit atrocities.
Yes, I’m hoping for a best-case scenario as well. Point taken about the Proud Boys and others like them. I sincerely hope there are no sympathizers in either corps, police or military.
Thank you for this thoughtful and thorough analysis. I am wrestling with how much is truly due to Huntington versus how much of this comes from the shift to the AVF in 1973. Not that having a draft in itself was a mechanism for better civ-mil relations, but the military was both larger and more intimately connected to more of the country.
I agree that protecting the nonpartisan nature of the institution is paramount and that it can require leaders to act even when they feel a professional pull towards silence; but this is a very hard line to walk. Hypothetically, had more uniformed leaders spoken out in 2022 when then-President Biden had the Marines in his backdrop, it would have created a precedent to either push back against what happened at Bragg, or to speak up in its aftermath. But I can appreciate that there is no playbook for this, no clear set of criteria or rules for when and how to act; this might be where complementing Huntington with Janowitz and others could be useful, but I'm not sure how much of a difference this would make when the overall politics is so polarized and toxic.
I think a lot more could and should be done to engage the broader electorate, to elevate why civil-military relations matter, and to create greater public demand for preserving the political neutrality of the military. This would not be easy and as with anything political these days, it'd need to proceed in the face of intense polarization, but there might be greater public interest in this sort of effort as more people see the slippery slope we are walking.
Thank-you for this clear-headed essay. As a civilian, I never understood or appreciated the body of knowledge and complexity of theory that has evolved in the military profession. To state the obvious, this isn’t a career for just anyone. Officers have to be smart people. I don’t know what to make of the maga head-bashing types that I imagine we all saw behind trump. I admit it was one of the most demoralizing news videos I’ve ever seen.
Also curious here, Hackworth strikes me as one who sacrificed his military career for the sake of ethical reflection. Perhaps as a Sergeant in Korea he was focused on kill counts, but surely as a senior officer his critique of the Vietnam war, at the price of his career, and later anti-nuclear activism constitutes ethical reflection.
Great post.
I may be personally biased, but I think the United States and its Armed Forces could learn some lessons from countries like the Federal Republic of Germany, that have their own histories of politically abused armed services.
Germany ever since the Second World War made sure its soldiers were not apolitical tools, but citizens in uniform with their own conscience and political literacy, who have sworn to defend the constitutional order and the values of the Bundesrepublik
I like that idea that the Military is outside the political sphere, but answers to an elected commander in chief, who is restrained in his orders by a Constitution.
The problem the US has now is that the Trumpists want their Waffen SS troops. ICE are just thugs. Their political reliability is at the condottieri level: they are mercenaries. The WN Militias are a possible threat to the Trumpists and their backers who want to establish their kingdoms, and don’t want to pay extra for their own mercenaries/household troops.
So now the question is what will the Generals do? Clearly some officers have violated their oaths, as have large numbers of ORs. Will the JAG bring them to heel, or will they follow the paid piper and follow the Trumpists?
We really don’t want Waffen SS like units with potential access to nuclear weapons. That is a recipe for the extermination of our species (and most of the others) on this planet.
“So now the question is what will the Generals do?” I’m thinking the Generals who would’ve done something, have all been fired.
I can’t think that the entire General Staff has gone over. They are almost without exception very well educated, dedicated and disciplined. You don’t rise to that rank if there was even a hint of weak will or moral defect.
I would more expect the majority of the General Staff in each branch are looking at the long game and picking a hill worth dying on, even if it is only career wise under Hegseth and Trump. I cannot see them taking a knee and pledging fealty, even under duress.
If the protestors and citizens show the troops stationed on the streets assertive non-violence, the only violence will be from agent provocateurs, most likely Proud Boy or another disposable group of ‘useful idiots’. If the local law enforcement do their jobs properly, and shield the protestors from the troops and the troops from the protestors, then the situation will be manageable. Law enforcement will collect the agents, and the. garbage pick up around the protest areas will be the only problem. This would be better than than mass casualties.
I do hope that the citizenry’s courage to go in harm’s way is met with the discipline of a professional all volunteer Marines, Army and National Guard.
I think, the comparison with the Waffen SS is not exactly fitting. The Waffen SS and the ICE are not remotely comparable regarding their cruelty, their lawlessness etc.
The Trumpists are looking for ‘politically reliable’ troops. The Waffen SS were initially all dedicated Nazi party members without the rigid bloodline requirements for a SS soldier. By the end of the war, German men were press ganged into the nearest units.
The point of having politically reliable troops is that they are willing to do the unthinkable. The best example I can think of is the Tiananmen Square massacre.
In 1989, the Beijing garrison refused their orders to clear Tiananmen Square of university students with their tanks and guns. The students were the children of well connected CCP members who were the best of the best students. You didn’t get into Beijing without being the best in the country.
It took the PLA two weeks to bring in politically reliable troops from another part of the country whose officers would and did clear the Square with machine guns and cannons. The Beijing garrison officers were mostly likely all executed.
This is where the brain-trust behind the Trumpists are heading. The only thing they need to break is this damnable sense of duty and loyalty to their oath to uphold and defend the Constitution.
The situation is that dire: each baby step that pushes the boundary of what they can get law enforcement and the military are going in that direction. Politically reliable troops, sworn to fealty like the GOP has, will commit atrocities.
Yes, I’m hoping for a best-case scenario as well. Point taken about the Proud Boys and others like them. I sincerely hope there are no sympathizers in either corps, police or military.
Not great Bob!
Good article. When a military becomes involved in internal politics it is never a good thing.
Thank you for this thoughtful and thorough analysis. I am wrestling with how much is truly due to Huntington versus how much of this comes from the shift to the AVF in 1973. Not that having a draft in itself was a mechanism for better civ-mil relations, but the military was both larger and more intimately connected to more of the country.
I agree that protecting the nonpartisan nature of the institution is paramount and that it can require leaders to act even when they feel a professional pull towards silence; but this is a very hard line to walk. Hypothetically, had more uniformed leaders spoken out in 2022 when then-President Biden had the Marines in his backdrop, it would have created a precedent to either push back against what happened at Bragg, or to speak up in its aftermath. But I can appreciate that there is no playbook for this, no clear set of criteria or rules for when and how to act; this might be where complementing Huntington with Janowitz and others could be useful, but I'm not sure how much of a difference this would make when the overall politics is so polarized and toxic.
I think a lot more could and should be done to engage the broader electorate, to elevate why civil-military relations matter, and to create greater public demand for preserving the political neutrality of the military. This would not be easy and as with anything political these days, it'd need to proceed in the face of intense polarization, but there might be greater public interest in this sort of effort as more people see the slippery slope we are walking.
Thank-you for this clear-headed essay. As a civilian, I never understood or appreciated the body of knowledge and complexity of theory that has evolved in the military profession. To state the obvious, this isn’t a career for just anyone. Officers have to be smart people. I don’t know what to make of the maga head-bashing types that I imagine we all saw behind trump. I admit it was one of the most demoralizing news videos I’ve ever seen.
Lame.
Every soldier involved in this is a disgrace.
Care to expand on how David Hackworth exemplifies prioritizing “ideological certainty over strategic thinking and ethical reflection.”?
Also curious here, Hackworth strikes me as one who sacrificed his military career for the sake of ethical reflection. Perhaps as a Sergeant in Korea he was focused on kill counts, but surely as a senior officer his critique of the Vietnam war, at the price of his career, and later anti-nuclear activism constitutes ethical reflection.