President Trump made a request to the military chiefs for a military parade in Washington. The White House press secretary, Sarah Sanders said that, "Trump is incredibly supportive of America's great service members who risk their lives daily to keep our country safe", so he wants to show his appreciation through this celebratory march. However, military displays are usually used to mark a victory at the end of a war. Democratic representatives and politicians have criticized this plan of being a waste of money and for carrying bad symbolism. Jackie Speier stated that, "everyone should be offended by his need to always be showy... it's not our style, it's not the way we do business." Even the Liutenant general stated that there is no need to show off how "strong or tough" we are, however they will do whatever the commander in chief asks.
I believe that this march isn't really necessary, but maybe Trump is trying to do something good to make sure the military knows how much he appreciates them? However, there can be other less expensive and public ways to go about sharing his appreciation. I think Trump ultimately wants to attempt to create an image to show how "Great" America is. Yet, his actions to try to promote America's values of creating an inclusive and strong country don't always seen genuine. It seems as if he's maybe just trying to do it for the public image or his status.
Questions:
1. Do you think Trump made the right decision to request this military parade? Is it really necessary?
2. Do you think such an event would effectively promote America's image?
3. Do you think this will actually backfire and negatively affect America's image?
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42969566
7 comments:
1.I believe that it was not necessary,but due to knowing his mindset I see it as him doing what he believes is necessary. with the military tension in North Korea,flaunting the military is showing power and pride in the military.However, as harmless as it may be, doing this only makes america seem in the mode for war. Flaunting a military shows that they are ready to fight with a bigger stronger army than anyone that opposes the US. in short term, it could cause more enemy tension
As we've seen, Trump is focused more on the appearance of policies and events than the substance of them, and this march is an example of his partiality to the ostentatious. The BBC article contextualized the military march as a response to France's celebratory Bastille Day, which has more historical significance than Trump's reason (to top France's "performance").
I strongly object to this parade. Trump's actions have been compared to those of autocrat, and this action is often seen in more dictatorial nations (like Russia). Besides, the parade comes out of nowhere, contextually: we haven't ended an international conflict or executed any widely recognized successful military initiatives. We already support our troops without the need to publicize. (Our national budget does that already.) This parade is a waste of money and Trump's version of flexing on military opponents.
But hey, at least it'll be fun to watch.
Some countries have military marches quite often to show off their power and make a whole display out of it. For the US, these military marches were much more common in a different time period. As of now, military marches would have more of an impact as to why they are holding one. I agree in that this military parade is unnecessary, and would send the wrong messages to the people around us. Especially at such a tense time with many relations on the edge, this show of military would not be the best idea. There are other ways to show that we support our military, and it is not the time for this grand march.
I don't think it is necessary to have this military parade as we could be using our time, money, and resources on other things. I do not believe this will help bolster America's image, as the world's opinions on us are most likely going to stay the same with Trump as president. I think this will backfire.
I agree with Josh, this is a waste of money and seems to be unecessary. The rest of the world already feels bad for us so their opinions on us will not change.
The parade is not necessary. Even though it would be nice to have, the parade is not the best place in which the U.S. should spend their money. Showing off and boasting how powerful our military is not in itself a bad thing, but it just reminds of something North Korea would do. I'm not saying that the U.S. is similar to North Korea, but just this kind of action makes it look like we want to go to war with another country.
There is a checklist called the, "is this leader a dictator?" checklist, and trump seems to be checking off more and more of those boxes. Silencing the media, rallies to increase moral, building a pro trump media network, demonizing opponents. But this latest effort is streight out of Dictator 101. Military parades were perfected by the one and only Kim Jung Un, as seen though many videos of massive missiles and army men marching though the town sector. I find this more funny than anything. The way we appreciate the military is to give them proper veterans benefits, not to parade them around like some play toy.
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