Generals Give Themselves Tenure, and Other Acts of Madness

An “Appeal to Congress” from five former secretaries of defense warns that Donald Trump is firing flag officers, which is unprecedented and an assault on American political norms. This letter is an appalling package of dangerous claims, and dumber than a box of rocks. But let’s take a helpful detour before we get into the details.

An essay yesterday from a professor at the US Naval War College makes a similar argument, and perfectly represents the moment:

Here’s the core of the argument, and if you read it carefully you’ll notice an interesting concession right at the center:

All evidence suggests that the new administration is removing top military officers for reasons other than competence or performance, aiming to replace them with people they see as more loyal to this specific administration.

The president does have the authority to remove these officers; three- and four-star officers hold that rank only while they possess the position of importance and responsibility to which they have been specifically nominated by the president, and they serve at the pleasure of the president. But just because something is legal does not make it wise.

Removing top military leaders either for faithfully implementing the policies of previous administrations or for their identity—rather than for incompetence or failing to perform their duties—is a move designed to consolidate and retain regime power. Removing the top uniformed lawyers simultaneously and without justification presages an intent to act in ways that truly independent lawyers might advise against. Together, these measures constitute a crisis.

So:

1. These measures constitute a crisis;

2. The president does have the authority to remove these officers…and they serve at the pleasure of the president.

It’s a crisis that the President of the United States is exercising authority that he has.

Now, the letter to Congress from the former SecDefs:

So firing generals and admirals is deeply disturbing, and it undermines the military — that kind of behavior can’t be tolerated. The President of the United States must be held to account for these reckless actions. In the comments to an earlier post, a reader reminded me of a book by Thomas Ricks, a history of American generals. Here’s how Chapter One starts:

The point is not about Donald Trump, and the meaning of the moment is much larger than most of the reporting suggests. The claim that it’s outrageous, unprecedented, and a crisis to fire flag officers is laughable. It’s also dangerous, and threatens to reduce civilian control of the military if the premise is accepted at all. If it’s an illegitimate act for President Donald Trump to fire senior military officers, then it’s illegitimate for presidents to fire senior military officers — all presidents. It means that anyone who wears stars on his or her collar is somehow untouchable, a member of a protected guild that stands above political control. “You can’t fire me — I’m a general.” Good luck with that.

Courtney Massengale thinks very highly of himself, and he’s everywhere.

Thomas Ricks asked three important questions as he noted the sharp trend away from the view that generals can be fired: “How and why did we lose the longstanding practice of relieving generals for failure? Why has accountability declined? And is it connected to the decline in the operational competence of American generals?”

The current president’s decision to fire flag officers isn’t a break with American law and tradition. The “Appeal to Congress” from former secretaries of defense certainly is. The warning about a crisis is the crisis. This dangerous argument needs to be hammered into its grave, quickly and forcefully.