Retired Colonel Andrew Bacevich Has Never Seen Military Leaders Criticize A President Like Some Are Now

In the past few weeks, military leaders like Colin Powell, a retired general and former National Security Advisor, and James Mattis, a retired general and former Secretary of Defense, have spoken out against President Trump’s rhetoric and politicization of the military during the ongoing protests against police brutality and racial inequality.

Last Saturday, over 1,000 West Point alumnus signed a letter, addressed to the graduating class of the academy, that criticized President Trump and his approach to the military.

“The abhorrent murder of George Floyd has inspired millions to protest police brutality and the persistence of racism," the letter read. "Sadly, the government has threatened to use the Army in which you serve as a weapon against fellow Americans engaging in these legitimate protests."

Since the protests began, Trump has threatened to use the military against protestors, and had the National Guard clear away peaceful protestors with teargas so he could have a photo-op at St. John’s Episcopal Church.

Retired Army Colonel and BU Professor Emeritus Andrew Bacevich was one of the West Point alumnus who signed the letter. Bacevich told Jim Braude on WGBH New’s Greater Boston that while the military has protested politicians in the past, he has not seen “anything like what is going on today.”

“I think we are in deep trouble if we are relying on retired senior military officers to call our attention to the importance of the Constitution and abiding by the Constitution,” he said. “The fact that senior officers are doing that suggests that there is quite a vacuum that our civilian leaders, apart from those in the administration, are failing to fill.”

As protests continue, the call to remove statues, iconography and spaces that in some way honor Confederate leaders, has grown louder. In response to these calls, President Trump has emphatically refused to rename any military bases that have been named for members of the Confederacy.

Bacevich rebuked the President’s comments in an op-ed for the LA Times.

“They do not deserve to be honored in any way whatsoever. We should be rename those army posts,” he said.