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Trump’s ‘marching orders’ to the Pentagon: Plan a grand military parade
WaPo ^ | 6 Feb 2018 | Greg Jaffe and Philip Rucker

Posted on 02/06/2018 3:21:46 PM PST by mandaladon

President Trump’s vision of soldiers marching and tanks rolling down the boulevards of Washington is moving closer to reality in the Pentagon and White House, where officials say they have begun to plan a grand military parade later this year showcasing the might of America’s armed forces.

Trump has long mused publicly and privately about wanting such a parade, but a Jan. 18 meeting between Trump and top generals in the Pentagon’s tank — a room reserved for top secret discussions — marked a tipping point, according to two officials briefed on the planning.

Surrounded by the military’s highest ranking officials, including Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joe Dunford, Trump’s seemingly abstract desire for a parade was suddenly heard as a presidential directive, the officials said.

“The marching orders were: I want a parade like the one in France,” said a military official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the planning discussions are supposed to remain confidential. “This is being worked at the highest levels of the military.”

American shows of military strength don’t come cheap. The cost of shipping Abrams tanks and high-tech hardware to Washington could run in the millions, and military officials said it was unclear how they would pay for it.

A White House official familiar with the planning described the discussions as “brainstorming” and said nothing is settled. “Right now there’s really no meat on the bones,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal discussions.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: military; militaryappreciation; parade; pentagon; trump
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To: bgill

Yes my only experience with these kinds of parades was in Russia. Can you explain your point of view? I know France does them...


101 posted on 02/06/2018 9:58:41 PM PST by GoldenState_Rose
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To: bkopto

Is there a precedent from our history? What did our founders think of such displays? Is the prophet Isaiah warning against them?


102 posted on 02/06/2018 10:00:53 PM PST by GoldenState_Rose
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To: tet68

LOL!!! Yeah man! Across the chest like the WW2 guys did.


103 posted on 02/06/2018 10:29:54 PM PST by jmacusa ("Made it Ma, top of the world!'')
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To: fortes fortuna juvat
I suspect you’ve expressed a point of view that would be strongly supported by all Trump haters throughout the world. To me that signals that it’s exactly the right thing to do.

So you believe spending millions of dollars from a defense budget that's already stressed to nearly the breaking point is "exactly the right thing to do?" How about spending that money on needed parts for combat aircraft and other combat equipment?

I'm one of the strongest Trump supporter's you'll ever meet but I don't see the point of staging a huge, very costly parade at the expense of our military. Trump would risk comparisons to Kim Jon Un or his Soviet predecessors' parades in Red Square. How will this persuade Democrats vote increases to the defense budget?

104 posted on 02/06/2018 10:30:00 PM PST by Bernard Marx
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To: roadcat
And Obama had no problem telling the Air Force to get Air Force 1 ready every time he felt like it. Getting that plane ready to fly is veritably an all day, labor and logistically intensive process involving hundreds of people and a lot of effort.
105 posted on 02/06/2018 10:33:33 PM PST by jmacusa ("Made it Ma, top of the world!'')
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To: Bernard Marx
Very bad idea IMO. Tinpot dictators stage big military parades but American presidents speak softly and carry big sticks. We have many other ways of letting foreign powers know we are strong. Besides, the Opposition is all to ready to typecast Trump as a “dictator” and this would fuel their media propaganda attacks.

You are correct, which is why I don't believe a word of it. Amazing how many folks here are ready to believe a fake news WaPo anonymous source.

106 posted on 02/06/2018 10:58:10 PM PST by Hugin (Conservatism without Nationalism is a fraud..)
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To: semaj

“...might as well use those resources to round up all the swamp dwellers in one fell swoop.”

Nah. Go block-busting and purge D.C. of all vestiges of MS-13. They could begin by rooting out the sympathizers at the Rayburn House Office building.


107 posted on 02/06/2018 11:37:07 PM PST by HKMk23 (You ask how to fight an idea? Well, I'll tell you how: with another idea!)
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To: Hugin

They have updated the story with a confirmation from the White House.

“After The Washington Post first published this story, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders issued a statement confirming that plans are underway.”


108 posted on 02/07/2018 2:37:33 AM PST by Krosan
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To: mandaladon

Nothing like a show of strength and patriotism to piss them libs off....;-}


109 posted on 02/07/2018 3:46:14 AM PST by trebb (I stopped picking on the mentally ill hypocrites who pose as conservatives...;-})
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To: jmacusa
And Obama had no problem telling the Air Force to get Air Force 1 ready every time he felt like it.

What president hasn't done that?

110 posted on 02/07/2018 3:51:19 AM PST by DoodleDawg
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To: af_vet_rr
I call BS as well. Trump isn't going to waste millions of dollars, probably 10 million+ for some huge parade that would shut down a decent chunk of Washington for a day or two (which would cost millions more).

The Pentagon has confirmed that the planning is underway at the President's request.

111 posted on 02/07/2018 3:53:37 AM PST by DoodleDawg
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To: mandaladon
What do you think, should Trump grant himself the commission of Colonel (like Khaddafy, who never got a promotion) or Generalissimo?

-PJ

112 posted on 02/07/2018 4:08:32 AM PST by Political Junkie Too (The 1st Amendment gives the People the right to a free press, not CNN the right to the 1st question.)
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To: laplata

A .22 or a 9 mm would be sufficient to give the eunuchs of the media the vapors. Maybe even an air rifle.


113 posted on 02/07/2018 5:24:18 AM PST by Vigilanteman (ObaMao: Fake America, Fake Messiah, Fake Black man. How many fakes can you fit into one Zer0?)
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To: Bernard Marx
the Opposition is all to ready to typecast Trump as a “dictator” and this would fuel their media propaganda attacks.

Are you saying that without the parade they will stop calling him a "dictator"?
114 posted on 02/07/2018 5:42:40 AM PST by wbarmy (I chose to be a sheepdog once I saw what happens to the sheep.)
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To: DoodleDawg
The Pentagon has confirmed that the planning is underway at the President's request.

You have got to be kidding me. This is a ridiculous waste of money, and it plays right into the portrayal of somebody who needs their ego stroked. I'm expecting a bunch of Photoshopped images of him with a ton of medals on his chest.

If he wants a parade to watch people in uniform march by, let him go to West Point or Annapolis in a few months for the graduation ceremonies. They are right up the road, and would not cost untold millions of dollars that he and Congress keep telling us we don't have.
115 posted on 02/07/2018 6:19:41 AM PST by af_vet_rr
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To: Patriot Babe

I’ve always thought that a military component on the 4th would be a great idea. I vaguely recall from my childhood that there used to be somewhat more of a military presence on the 4th, although it wasn’t on a grand scale. But it could be grander!


116 posted on 02/07/2018 6:24:06 AM PST by livius
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To: piasa

Wow! That’s great - so many places are so intimidated by the reigning anti-Americanism now (in our own country!) that they have only tiny Veteran’s Day celebrations. But I do recall that, even in NYC where I grew up, there used to be very nice parades...no Indians, though, alas!

BTW, if you haven’t seen the movie Hostiles, go see it! It deals with a professional military man amidst the chaos of the Old West but it includes a very rational portrait of the Indian peoples too. And it’s beautiful, a true Western with great scenes of wide open spaces and lots of horses - and guns.


117 posted on 02/07/2018 6:29:07 AM PST by livius
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To: af_vet_rr
You have got to be kidding me. This is a ridiculous waste of money, and it plays right into the portrayal of somebody who needs their ego stroked. I'm expecting a bunch of Photoshopped images of him with a ton of medals on his chest.

Twitter is way ahead of you: Link

If he wants a parade to watch people in uniform march by, let him go to West Point or Annapolis in a few months for the graduation ceremonies. They are right up the road, and would not cost untold millions of dollars that he and Congress keep telling us we don't have.

And if he wants to honor the military then spend an hour or two wandering around Arlington.

118 posted on 02/07/2018 6:29:50 AM PST by DoodleDawg
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To: beergarden

“Would rather watch a U.S. Military parade than the super bowl”

Post of the week!


119 posted on 02/07/2018 6:31:32 AM PST by Professional
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To: kallisti

“The marching orders were: I want a parade like the one in France,”


Old Joke...

Q. Why are the streets in Paris tree lined?

A. So the German army can march in the shade..


120 posted on 02/07/2018 6:51:50 AM PST by AFret.
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