Generals to the rescue

Some of America's greatest presidents were generals. Others had distinguished war records although in more junior officer ranks. So the club of generals inside President Trump's cabinet is not unusual. Indeed, following the appointment of Lieutenant-General HR McMaster as the national security adviser - universally praised in Washington and around the US - there is a new sense that Trump's team is suddenly looking pretty smart. Ok, we had three generals before when retired Lieutenant-General Mike Flynn was national security adviser - along with General Jim Mattis at defence (defense in US lingo) and General John Kelly at homeland security. But Flynn was...well, less said the better. Now we have three stalwart generals, all with fine military careers, exceptional command experience and renowned man/woman managers. So there's hope for all Americans of whatever political persuasion. That doesn't mean Trump is now on a rosy path to greatness. There are bound to be moments when his combative, off-the-cuff leadership style will clash with his three generals, and if the president continues with his wild, unreconstructed foreign policy statements, these eminent military men may start to think again about serving in his administration. But they need to stick with it. With all their experience they should each be able to see off the elephant in the situation room. No, not Trump, Steve Bannon, his extreme right wing chief strategist. The toughest job of the three is General McMaster's. Jim Mattis has a huge department to run and several military campaigns to sort out, and John Kelly has the nightmare of confronting Trump's immigration policies. McMaster will be in charge of a small White House section of around 230 people, constantly in the presence of the president and every day expected to come up with sound judgment, good ideas and a total grasp of every conceivable foreign and security policy issue. McMaster was a supreme tank commander. His conviction was always to plough on and never give a moment of rest to the enemy. His most famous battle was in the Gulf War in 1991, known as the Battle of 73 Easting when his unit destroyed  25 Iraqi tanks, 16 armoured personnel carriers and 30 trucks. Once the first tank shells were fired against the opposition, he never stopped until the enemy was silenced. It was brutal but immensely effective, albeit exhausting for the 140 men under his command. If he follows this philosophy in the White House, then watch out Trump, Bannon, Rex Tillerson at State, et al. He will power-drive his views through every policy challenge. McMaster will know that he is in good historic company. He will always be able to quote the words of past legendary generals who went on to become president of the United States, such as George Washington, Ulysses S Grant and Dwight Eisenhower. They were all devotees of the same military doctrine - push on against all opposition.