Trump Accepts Only Blind Obedience

Published in Frankfurter Rundschau
(Germany) on 20 November 2018
by Arnd Festerling (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Sandra Alexander. Edited by Arielle Eirienne.
The commander in chief of the U.S. Armed Forces loves his troops; perhaps because it is his duty, perhaps because he has a disproportionately large number of voters among them. For that reason, Donald Trump gives an especially high amount of money to the military. But the military will be sorry if something doesn’t suit him. During the memorial service celebrating the end of World War I, Trump passed on visiting a cemetery for U.S. soldiers because it was raining. He has also not visited living soldiers on active duty. According to reports, it is too dangerous for him in Afghanistan or Iraq, but that didn’t stop presidents before him.

That doesn’t make the troops happy—and neither does the fact that he excessively rebuked the former commander of elite units for criticizing him. Trump only loves himself, code of honor and duty or not. The U.S. president only accepts blind obedience, he considers anyone that is not for him an enemy. Sooner or later, every one of his perceived enemies has noticed this, whether they be NATO allies, a U.S. attorney general or a press secretary. No matter who, no matter where.


Donald Trump greift einen Kommandeur an, der es gewagt hat, ihn zu kritisieren. Wer nicht für ihn ist, gilt Trump als Feind - ein Kommentar.

Der Oberkommandierende der US-Streitkräfte liebt seine Truppen. Vielleicht, weil es seine Pflicht ist, vielleicht, weil er unter ihnen überproportional viele Wähler hat. Deswegen gibt Donald Trump dem Militär auch besonders viel Geld. Aber wehe, irgendetwas passt ihm nicht. Bei den Gedenkfeiern zum Ende das Ersten Weltkriegs sparte er sich den Besuch eines US-Soldatenfriedhofs, weil es regnete. Auch lebende Soldaten hat er noch nicht im Einsatz besucht, Berichten zufolge ist es ihm in Afghanistan oder Irak zu gefährlich. Präsidenten vor ihm hat das nicht abgehalten.

Das macht die Truppe nicht froh. Auch nicht, dass er einem ehemaligen Kommandeur von Eliteeinheiten maßlose Vorwürfe macht, nachdem der ihn kritisiert hatte. Trump liebt nur sich selbst, Ehrenkodex hin, Pflicht her. Früher oder später hat das noch jeder seiner vermeintlichen Freunde gemerkt, ob Nato-Verbündete, ob US-Justizminister oder Pressesprecher. Der US-Präsident akzeptiert nur blinden Gehorsam – wer nicht für ihn ist, gilt ihm als Feind. Ganz gleich wer, ganz gleich wo.
This post appeared on the front page as a direct link to the original article with the above link .

Hot this week

Afghanistan: State Capitalism in the US

Mexico: Urgent and Important

Hong Kong: Cordial Cross-Strait Relations Will Spare Taiwan Trump’s Demands, Says Paul Kuoboug Chang

Japan: US President and the Federal Reserve Board: Harmonious Dialogue To Support the Dollar

Austria: The EU Must Recognize That a Tariff Deal with Trump Is Hardly Worth Anything

Topics

Afghanistan: State Capitalism in the US

Mexico: Urgent and Important

Peru: Blockade ‘For Now’

Japan: US President and the Federal Reserve Board: Harmonious Dialogue To Support the Dollar

Austria: The EU Must Recognize That a Tariff Deal with Trump Is Hardly Worth Anything

Mexico: The Network of Intellectuals and Artists in Defense of Venezuela and President Nicholás Maduro

Hong Kong: Cordial Cross-Strait Relations Will Spare Taiwan Trump’s Demands, Says Paul Kuoboug Chang

Germany: The Tariffs Have Side Effects — For the US Too*

Related Articles

Peru: Blockade ‘For Now’

Germany: Unfortunately, Reality Comes to Those Who Wait

Germany: A Software for Authoritarian Restructuring

Russia: The Issue of Weapons Has Come to the Forefront*

Germany: Can Donald Trump Be Convinced To Remain Engaged in Europe?