Military Readiness Still Hampered by Obama’s Issues
Many of the previous administration’s policies — from social engineering to climate change — remain in effect at the Pentagon.
As Mark Alexander wrote last August, “Our Armed Forces personnel are the best in the world, but their effectiveness is being undermined by wasteful and absurd political mandates.” That’s because, under Barack Obama, the key objective for his Pentagon was social experimentation, not national security. Alexander noted, “Obama has used our military as a social testing ground for his homosexual agenda, most recently ordering ‘gay pride celebrations,’ opening the closets wide for transsexuals, and naming a ship the USS Harvey Milk after a degenerate homosexual activist and pedophile.” Just last week, the House voted to keep taxpayer funding for sex-reassignment surgery, so the trend hasn’t ended with Obama’s exit.
It’s not just social issues, either; it’s climate change. From Obama’s “Great Green Fleet” that uses alternative fuel as part of his mandate on military emissions to the “Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience” directive issued in 2016, the previous administration was committed to fighting the phantom menace. The rationale was entirely political and had little to do with national security — albeit with such warnings as that 128 military bases were at risk of submersion due to rising ocean levels.
President Donald Trump has undone some of these policies, but not all or even most. While Defense Secretary James Mattis delayed the transgender enlistment policy for six months, it’s almost inevitable that it will be put into place. The Pentagon is still operating under an alternative fuel mandate, and it’s still tasked with combatting climate change. After 16 years of continuous combat operations, military equipment is in dire need of upgrade and replacement. The Air Force is hundreds of pilots short. Other branches are struggling to keep personnel and equipment at the ready. But money and manpower is being diverted to secondary concerns.
As Alexander concluded last year, “The net effect of Obama’s mandates and spending priorities is destroying our military’s most valuable asset, the morale of our warriors.” The effect can be deadly. It’s up to Trump to correct course.
