Donald Trump’s transition team has reportedly been working on plans to investigate and potentially court-martial military officials involved in the 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal. The move has sparked strong warnings from experts, including former War College instructor Tom Nichols, who claims the initiative is less about accountability and more about consolidating loyalty to Trump.
Plans for Investigation Raise Concerns
NBC News reported that Trump’s team is considering forming a commission to scrutinize the withdrawal from Afghanistan. According to sources, the commission would aim to identify those responsible for the decisions and actions taken during the withdrawal, with potential charges as severe as treason on the table. The report alarmed Nichols, who spoke with MSNBC’s Alex Witt.
“We really have to drop the narrative that somehow this is about Afghanistan,” Nichols stated. “It has nothing to do with Afghanistan,” Nichols argued that the real goal is to send a chilling message to military leadership.
“This is Trump firing a shot over the heads of senior officers, telling them that from now on, loyalty to the Constitution is not their oath,” he said. “That from now on, it’s loyalty to him, and he won’t tolerate the kind of things that happened in his first administration where he had people like General Mark Milley and others refusing and talking him out of doing things like shooting protesters in the streets.”
Concerns About Leadership Appointments
Trump’s choice for Secretary of Defense, Fox News personality Pete Hegseth, has also raised eyebrows. Hegseth, who lacks significant experience in defense leadership, is viewed by critics as an unqualified loyalist. “Hegseth has no idea what he’s doing,” Nichols said bluntly. “He has his own dirty laundry that he doesn’t want to come out… and he would be perfectly happy to do whatever Donald Trump tells him to do.”
Nichols expressed concerns that Hegseth’s leadership would compromise the integrity of the Department of Defense. “This would not be a secretary of defense… who observes his oath to the Constitution or protects and takes care of the people under his stewardship, both civilian and military.”
Undermining Democracy
Nichols warned of the broader implications of Trump’s actions, asserting that targeting the military is part of a larger strategy to undermine democratic institutions. “If you’re going to undermine a democracy, the three most important departments you need to capture are justice, defense, and the intelligence community,” he explained. “And [Trump] has put know-nothing loyalists into all of them, or is trying to.”
The plans signal a potential shift in the relationship between the military and civilian leadership, with significant implications for governance and democratic norms. Critics like Nichols argue that these moves are less about addressing past mistakes and more about consolidating power under Trump’s authority.