Columnist shreds Trump's military criticisms — and says there's a 'far bigger threat'

Donald Trump has taken to insulting the military as too "woke" and too focused on diversity — and even going so far as to blame that for the military's inability to build a stable democracy in Afghanistan. This is nonsense, conservative columnist Max Boot wrote for The Washington Post.

All of this comes as Trump has put forward Pete Hegseth, a Fox News personality who has criticized the practice of women serving in combat roles, to head up the Department of Defense — and as that nomination faces turmoil over a police report detailing a sexual assault allegation against him was revealed.

"These criticisms might resonate with at least a portion of the public fed up with the costly futility of America’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — and conditioned by relentless right-wing criticism into thinking that the armed forces have been hijacked by social justice activists," wrote Boot.

But they have no merit, he said.

"It was America’s political leaders who gave the armed forces the thankless task of transforming Afghanistan and Iraq into Western-style democracies. That was probably a mission impossible, especially given the limited commitment Washington was willing to make in both countries," Boot said.

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When it comes to the people leading the military today, wrote Boot, Trump is way off base to call them weak.

"I would say that Gen. David H. Petraeus, Gen. Jim Mattis, the late Gen. Ray Odierno, Gen. Lloyd Austin, Adm. James G. Stavridis, Adm. William H. McRaven, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster and other outstanding military leaders of recent decades are every bit the equal of any group of generals and admirals in U.S. history — and that includes Gens. George S. Patton and Douglas MacArthur, two deeply flawed historical figures whom Trump appears to venerate," he said.

As for the idea the military is too obsessed with diversity, he wrote, "some diversity training is important in a very diverse force full of women and ethnic minorities. It’s important to make the military a welcoming destination for recruits of all backgrounds — not just White men."

And the military's current recruitment crisis has nothing to do with diversity, he noted — it's due to the fact that young people increasingly view the military as a poor career path that isn't worth the danger.

Indeed, he concluded, the "far bigger threat" to America's military readiness is Trump's impending plan to use the armed forces in mass deportations around the country — and to purge any generals who may object to this.

"Either undertaking would be a major distraction from preparing to fight China, Russia, Iran, North Korea and other potential foes," Boot said.