Why Is The US Navy Picking A Fight With President Trump?

Trump’s tweet appeared to escalate the prospect of a showdown between him and senior Navy leadership. AFP

Instapundit: I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHY THEY’RE PICKING THIS FIGHT WITH TRUMP. BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT THEY’RE DOING. Navy Is Said to Proceed With Disciplinary Plans Against Edward Gallagher.

There is precedent for presidents intervening in military justice matters. John F. Kennedy stopped the punishment of an Army Reserve soldier who was court-martialed for bad-mouthing him. Abraham Lincoln infuriated some of his generals by regularly combing through court-martial orders for Union troops who were charged with desertion and other crimes and scrawling impromptu one-line orders for leniency, like “Let him fight instead of being shot."

        But experts say the constitutional arrangement of civilian control over the military can become strained when a president disregards the counsel of generals and admirals, or never seeks it in the first place.

Well, that’s one way it can become strained. Another is when people inferior to the President set themselves up in judgment over his orders, and publicly challenge them. Lt. Col. Vindman is apparently not alone in this.

WNU Editor: Civilian control over the military is paramount. If there are those in the military who oppose what the civilian authority is doing, they should retire, be transferred, and/or fired. But as Glenn Reynolds from Instapundit says in the above post, there has been many incidences of Presidents and the military not seeing eye to eye on issues. The US Navy ignoring President Trump on the case of Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher is therefore not unique. But in the end the President's decision will be the final one, and I expect the same will happen with this case.

from War News Updates https://ift.tt/34ftNuF