Gen. TrumpyBear
from al Jazeera
Tanks are coming to the streets of the United States capital.
Twenty-eight 61-tonne Abrams battle tanks, to be exact, as well as a fleet of 56 armoured Stryker and Bradley fighting vehicles, a flock of artillery launchers, 6,600 US troops, 34 horses – plus two mules. And a dog.
It is all part of the military celebration on Saturday that has been kicked into overdrive by the administration of US President Donald Trump in recent weeks.
June 14 marks the 250th birthday of the US Army and, conspicuously, Trump’s 79th birthday. The US president has promised a parade of “thundering tanks and breathtaking flyovers will roar through our capital city” that will be simply “unforgettable”.
The event comes nearly six months into Trump’s second term, during which he has sought to test the limits of presidential power and his legal authority to employ the military as law enforcement force within the US. That was further exemplified in this week’s deployment of the US National Guard and Marines to protests against his immigration policies in California.
So, who is the audience for Trump’s military parade? And what message will it send?
“Obviously, when so much money and resources are put towards an event like a military parade that coincides with a birthday, it must be for a reason,” Irene Gammel, a professor and historian at the Toronto Metropolitan University, told Al Jazeera...
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