Speaking in Cincinnati, Ohio, as part of his victory lap “Thank You” tour of the U.S., Donald Trump said the U.S. is on the verge of a “new era of peace.” If he keeps his promise, the future will be bright.
“We will destroy ISIS. At the same time, we will pursue a new foreign policy that finally learns from the mistakes of the past. We will stop looking to topple regimes and overthrow governments, folks,” Trump said during the event.
The president-elect drew significant support from war-weary Americans who believe it’s time for the U.S. to begin reallocating resources used over the past decade and a half on military adventurism for use on domestic improvements.
Trump on the campaign trail repeatedly expressed a belief that ISIS grew to power as a direct result of the U.S.’s failed post-9/11 foreign policy initiatives. The position is shared by most U.S. libertarians, as is the belief that the U.S. can’t defeat the terror organization alone.
“We will partner with every nation that is willing to join us in the effort to defeat ISIS and radical Islamic terrorism,” Trump told the Ohio crowd.
As names began surfacing for Trump cabinet picks, some supporters expressed concern that his administration is poised to fail to deliver on promises of military reservation.
Particularly disheartening in recent days has been chatter about Trump’s potential candidates for secretary of state.
And the president-elect is receiving mixed reviews from watchers on both sides of the aisle for his likely selection of General James Mattis to head the Defense Department.
“Mad Dog” Mattis for some is the perfect example of what the U.S. military should be: Reluctant to engage in conflict— but willing to kill anyone who tests it.
Others see him as Trump’s wink to the neocons who so fear that his presidency will mean an end to senseless military conflict.
“Find the enemy that wants to end this experiment … and kill every one of them until they’re so sick of the killing that they leave us and our freedoms intact,” he once said.
As for whether he’ll betray Trump’s promise of avoiding regime change, only time will tell.
We know that Mattis is a battle-hardened general who knows all too well the consequences of involving U.S. military men and women in the affairs of other countries. But we also know that he has an aversion to allowing the voids that already exist in the Middle East to be filled with powers other than the U.S.
“We know that vacuums left in the Middle East seem to be filled by either terrorists or by Iran or their surrogates or Russia … In order to restore deterrence, we have to show capability, capacity and resolve,” he has said.
There’s also been some controversy over Mattis’s nomination because of a rule that requires defense secretaries to be out of military service for a period of seven years prior to appointment.
Mattis has only been retired since 2013.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) has already vowed to block Mattis to preserve the civilian control of the military the rule was enacted to ensure.
“While I deeply respect General Mattis’s service, I will oppose a waiver. Civilian control of our military is a fundamental principle of American democracy, and I will not vote for an exception to this rule,” she said.
Of course, civilian control at the Defense Department hasn’t exactly meant level-headed military policy since the law was passed in 1947.
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