Trump stacks top govt posts with retired generals

WASHINGTON: He’s not yet finished picking, but President-elect Donald Trump already has named three retired generals to top posts, raising questions as to why there will be so much military brass in cabinet-level jobs.

Trump on Wednesday named retired four-star Marine general John Kelly to head the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees several critical areas including immigration and border control -- signature issues for Trump.

If confirmed by the Senate, Kelly would join retired Marine general James Mattis as defense secretary and retired Army lieutenant general Michael Flynn as national security adviser. Mattis also needs Senate approval.

While the men bring broad depth of knowledge to the cabinet and considerable expertise, some worry their numbers threaten a cornerstone of American democracy -- that civilians control the military and the government.

“If you have a significant number of (former military members) in your cabinet, you begin to bring into some question whether you actually are maintaining full civil control of a nation,” David Barno, a retired general who once led the US war effort in Afghanistan, told AFP.

Yet another retired general, David Petraeus, has been floated as a possible pick for secretary of state, and retired admiral Michael Rogers has been rumored to be in the running for director of national intelligence.

“One more three or four-star general given a senior appointment, and we can start referring to a Trump junta rather than a Trump administration,” retired Army lieutenant colonel and military scholar Andrew Bacevich told Time magazine.

Trump was outspoken during his campaign against the generals currently serving under President Barack Obama’s administration, boasting he knew more about the Islamic State group than they did, and claiming the White House had reduced the four-stars to “rubble.”