Bitterness over the ‘Forever War’ a unifying factor in Trump’s post-9/11 veteran cabinet picks
President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet picks may reflect Global War on Terrorism veterans’ desire for accountability after two decades of war.
Jeff Schogol
Posted 21 Hours Ago
Afghanistan evacuation
A Marine carries a child during the Afghanistan evacuation in August 2021.
Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Isaiah Campbell.
President-elect Donald Trump’s picks for top advisors to oversee the military show that the generation of veterans who took part in the Global War on Terrorism are now reaching some of the most senior positions in the U.S. government.
Trump has selected Marine veteran J.D. Vance for his vice president and nominated former Army National Guard Maj. Pete Hegseth to be his secretary of defense, Army Reserve Lt. Col. Tulsi Gabbard has been tapped to be director of national intelligence, and Air Force veteran Doug Collins as secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs. He has also appointed Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.), a retired National Guard colonel and Green Beret, as National Security Advisor.
The worldview of these veterans has largely been shaped by more than two decades of war. Hegseth, Gabbard, and Vance in particular have shown a deep distrust for the foreign interventionalist ideology that underpinned the start of the Global War on Terrorism, or GWOT. Hegseth recently described himself on the Shawn Ryan Show podcast as “a recovering NeoCon for six years.” Gabbard often accused the Biden administration of getting the United States entangled in multiple foreign conflicts. And Vance has opposed U.S. military assistance to Ukraine.
https://taskandpurpose.com/news/trump-global-war-on-terrorism-veterans/
