Where Will Trump Go To War?

For those of us who have followed Donald Trump’s ascendency to the presidency and his statements during the campaign and after, some of his phrases are unhappily etched in our minds; it’s like remembering the rantings of drunk Uncle Ralph at a Thanksgiving dinner as he spits out turkey and dressing while shouting at the relatives.

Mr. Trump’s statements describe America as a kind of dark dystopia inhabited by violent gangs and Mexican rapists. It is a kind of “loser country” that “doesn’t win any more.” It’s time for America to “win, win, win.” Rather incredibly, The Donald actually said last week that America needs to increase its military budget in order to win more wars. “We have to start winning wars again,” said Mr. Trump.

We must ask, “Which country or groups are we going to war against and will the U.S., Iraq invasion style, attack somewhere so we can “win, win, win.” Perhaps Trump can tweet sometime at 5:00AM to let us know. What comes to mind is that Uncle Ralph is just a hopeless, slobbering drunk on holiday occasions, but The Donald seems to be permanently unhinged. Just what wars does he plan on winning? What military adventures does he have in store for our men and women in the armed forces?

Hopefully, they will be better planned than the fiasco in Yemen. An American soldier died and three service members were also wounded during the firefight with militants from al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula's branch in Yemen. Dozens of women and children died in the raid.

The clandestine operation was planned but never approved during the Obama Administration. Trump learned of it and finally decided to approve of it over dinner with Reice Priebus, chief of staff, Jarard Kushner, son-in-law and chief advisor white nationalist Steve Bannon. The location of the Joint Chiefs and Secretary of Defense Mattis is a mystery. Perhaps they did not like what was on the menu. Too it is not clear when the decision to put “boots on the ground was made –perhaps between the salad and the entrée courses.

Mr. Trump has called for a 10% increase in war spending. But the U.S. already has the best-funded military in the world; it devotes more money for war preparation than the 12 largest nation-state military spenders combined. But Trump will no doubt present a coherent defense policy to justify these expenditures instead of the sound bite tweets he has presented thus far.

Perhaps son-in-law Kushner the business tycoon who has no diplomatic or military experience and has never served in government will present the policy between bites of food at dinner at Mar-a-Lago with daddy and Ivanka.