Trump orders military parade with tanks and other
weapons in the streets of D.C.
By mickielynn on 2018-02-08 14:07:17
[caption id="attachment_ 10813" align="alignnone" width="600"]
Army Grand Parade:President
Trump wants to celebrate the troops with a big, beautiful military parade through Washington, DC. AFP/Getty
Images[/caption] This Tuesday, the Washington Post broke the story about President Trump's request for a "grand parade
similar to the that France's President Emmanuel Macron put together to
celebrate the date that the US and France joined together during World War |. On January 18, 2018 Trump first
outlined the plan while meeting at the Pentagon with defense secretary Jim Mattis and joint chiefs of staff
chairman General Joseph Dunford. Now the plan has become an official marching order and it seems that
preparations are underway. [caption id="attachment_10811" align="ali nnone" width="600"]
¥
Trump will visit France next
month at Macron's invitation to attend historic Bastille Day parade that marks the 100th anniversary of America's entry into
WWI[/caption] [caption id="attachment_ 10809" align="alignright" width="600"]
aa roy cH
P fy) ED : ae cack : Shs. Bastille Day, July 14, 2017,
martin bureau Agence France Press[/caption] [caption id="attachment_ 10808" align="alignnone" width="600"]
71
Yvon Aah PUL he Gn
F % =
AFP/Getty Imagesan gos a ne se. h6mUS4lUCOF..ULUS|] >| France has celebrated Bastille
Day, a turning point in the country's revolutionary war, with a military parade down the Champs-Elysees every July 14 for
100 years[/caption] Since the WP story is behind a paywall I'm sharing this excellent summary published in the Chicago
Tribune, which also begins with a that summarizes the situation as it now stands. The Tribune article also
shares many of the criticisms of this plan, including the millions of dollars that would need to be spent just moving weapons
to Washington DC and the pointlessness of the parade which would not be celebrating any military victory or any
anniversary of a victory. The president's media staff and the president say that it would be an occasion to celebrate our
military and the work that they do defending the United States but that's not how many veterans and members of Congress
feel. A spokesperson for ,..." a national grassroots organization of progressive veterans & military families
mobilizing for a more just and equitable democracy." had this to say:
It’s clear to me that Trump doesn’t actually honor the troops, he wants to force the troops to honor him.
And as veterans, we know we can’t stay on the sidelines as Trump continues to turn our comrades into political
props, and intimidates our communities with an authoritarian display. That’s why, if Trump proceeds with his
plan, we need to be ready to mobilize veterans and military family members in opposition. For Trump it isn’t
about the people who serve in uniform. Let’s look at Trump’s record: he lied about donating to veteran charities
until we called him out. He tried to purge transgender troops and immigrants from the military. And he turned
the arrival of a fallen soldier’s remains in Dover, and the ceremony awarding a wounded soldier his Purple
Heart, into gross and exploitative photo ops. He even smeared a Gold Star family!
Here are a couple of other articles that share different perspectives on Trump's seeming ego building plan
Before I go on to share some excellent talking
points from a petition campaign I'd like to point out the confusion exhibited by our president during a wonderful
performance by a French marching band that closed the Bastille Day parade on July 14th. While Trump looks dour and
bewildered, President Macron and the crowd of spectators respond with joy and celebration to a ceremony that honors a time
in history with very modern music indeed!
As a Granny for Peace and a Woman Against War, I'd rather see a celebration of the kinds of diplomacy and alliances that
were able to create and establish the JCPOA [The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action to halt Iran's nuclear weapons
program. A multi year, multi national agreement.] Someday we will be celebrating the end of our war with North Korea and
of the 16 year long Swar in Afghanistan, among others. [caption id="attachment_ 10831" align="alignnone" width="399"]
Petition logo from Roots Action to stop the Trump
glorification and distraction military parade. [/caption] If you follow the links to the articles above you'll be able to read
statements about President Trump's plans and goals in detail and from various perspectives. It seems clear that the goal is
not really to honor our military. In a petition campaign from Credo some points are made about what would really honor
and support our military personnel:
Trump does not care about the military or veterans. His deportation task force at ICE consistently rounds up
and deports veterans who have served in the military.” He spent his campaign attacking prisoners of wars and
Gold Star parents. This parade is all about an increasingly unpopular Trump exploiting troops for his own
gain. Dictators around the world use parades like these to try to scare enemies and intimidate their own
citizens. Here are a few ways we could actually honor the women and men who serve our country in uniform:
e Putting a stop to deportations
e Ending the brinkmanship with countries like North Korea and Iran that risks military conflict
¢ Not sending them into harm’s way for needless wars like in Iraq
e Funding strong diplomacy so the military doesn’t need to shoulder the burden of every international flash
point
e Paying rank-and-file soldiers better so that no military family lives in poverty
¢ Refusing to tolerate bigoted, transphobic barriers to service
e Reining in sky-high defense spending that helps war profiteering corporations instead of enlisted troops
¢ Spending money on aid to Puerto Rico, eliminating college debt, and providing healthcare or a thousand
other ways to strengthen the country troops are willing to die to protect.
A parade honoring Trump is nowhere on that list. We cannot let Trump exploit American women and men in
uniform to advance his own agenda.[...]
[caption id="attachment_10825" align="alignnone" width="600"]
& eo y i a Gloria Steinem and Christine
Ahn Women Cross the DMZ, believing that peace is possible. photo by Jung Yeon Je.[/caption]
