Trump's national defence shake-up creates layers of fear, analysts say

Acting Pentagon chief Christopher Miller faces a "steep learning curve" on global military operations.
Acting Pentagon chief Christopher Miller faces a "steep learning curve" on global military operations.

WASHINGTON • US President Donald Trump's appointment of Mr Christopher Miller, a former Green Beret and White House counter-terrorism coordinator, as Acting Defence Secretary raises "two layers of fear", the head of the House Armed Services panel has said.

The first is the "incredibly steep learning curve" on global military operations, options and controversies that Mr Miller faces after Mr Trump's dismissal-by-tweet of Mr Mark Esper as Pentagon chief, said Democratic Representative Adam Smith of Washington.

The second is whether Mr Miller would have the ability and inclination to talk the lame-duck president "off the edge" of an impromptu decision of global consequence, such as delivering on his tweet pledging to withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan by Christmas or his past threats to pull the United States out of Nato.

"The fear would be the president wakes up one day in the next few months and decides that he wants to do something like that, and a brand new secretary of defence doesn't know how to stop him," Mr Smith said.

His scenarios reflect confusion in Washington over the motivation for Mr Trump's abrupt post-election elevation of Mr Miller and installation to key posts of several other Trump loyalists with limited experience in the Defence Department's inner workings.

"It should be of concern to anybody, because there shouldn't be a politicisation of the military," said Ms Jen Psaki, a spokesman for President-elect Joe Biden.

Without setting out details of new deadlines to bring US troops home from abroad, Mr Miller said in a memo last Friday to all Defence Department employees that "ending wars requires compromise and partnership".

"We met the challenge; we gave it our all," he said in the memo. "Now, it's time to come home."

The Washington Post reported that Mr Esper had sent a classified memo to the White House this month expressing concerns about additional troop cuts.

The debate among defence analysts is whether Mr Trump, reputed to have fired Mr Esper for being insufficiently loyal, was simply opting for his opposite by installing enthusiastic boosters - or if they were put in place to deliver tangible policy changes in the closing weeks of his administration.

There is "worry that these are considered deep loyalists to Trump and so may have an agenda beyond the scope of the job", said American Enterprise Institute defence analyst Mackenzie Eaglen.

The new appointees include Mr Ezra Cohen-Watnick, a friend of Mr Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, as Acting Undersecretary of Defence for Intelligence and Security, and Mr Anthony Tata to the role of Undersecretary for Policy.

Mr Tata's previous nomination to that role failed amid criticism over his past remarks, including insulting comments about Islam.

While lawmakers and analysts struggle to divine Mr Miller's mission, the turmoil makes the US vulnerable to adversaries, said military and international relations historian Andrew Bacevich.

"If our adversaries are plotting against us, then the disarray that Trump has caused in the national security apparatus simply increases our vulnerability," he said.

"It presents an opportunity (for) our adversaries... What's really going on here is that the president has ceased to govern." If Mr Trump were to issue an order to speed up withdrawal from Afghanistan, he said, the commanders "would not disobey... but they would kind of slow-walk their execution of the order".

"They can run the clock out," he said.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on November 16, 2020, with the headline Trump's national defence shake-up creates layers of fear, analysts say. Subscribe