General Discussion

“Department of War” appears slated to become one of those phrases that only Republicans use, joining “Democrat Party,” “Gulf of America,” “job creators” and “death tax.”

But just as notably, many of those who actually work at the Pentagon haven’t exactly embraced the rhetorical shift with enthusiasm. Politico reported:

Pentagon officials grappled Friday with the Herculean task of fulfilling President Donald Trump’s executive order to remold the enormous, global agency into the Department of War. Many expressed frustration, anger and downright confusion at the effort, which could cost billions of dollars for a cosmetic change that would do little to tackle the military’s most pressing challenges — such as countering a more aggressive alliance of authoritarian nations.

The Politico report, which was based on interviews with “half a dozen current and former defense officials,” and which has not been independently verified by MSNBC or NBC News, added that DOD officials may need to change Defense Department seals on more than 700,000 facilities in 40 countries and all 50 states as a result of Trump’s order.....

Taken together, at issue is an unnecessary and costly rebranding campaign, which sends all of the wrong messages to the world about the United States and its intentions, which was sought by no one and is doing little more than annoying many Pentagon insiders.

“This is purely for domestic political audiences,” a former defense official told Politico, adding, “It will have absolutely zero impact on Chinese or Russian calculations. Worse, it will be used by our enemies to portray the United States as warmongering and a threat to international stability.”

If the president and his team have thoughts as to how or why this makes Americans any safer, they’ve kept those ideas to themselves.