The firing of an honourable man - the US Navy Secretary

The firing of US Navy Secretary Richard Spencer was an act of political abuse of power. Spencer is an honourable man with a long service in the Pentagon who not that long ago was acting defence secretary when Donald Trump was trying to find someone suitable for the top job following the dramatic announcement by Patrick Shanahan, then acting defence secretary, that he was withdrawing his name for the role of Pentagon chief for family reasons. Spencer was never in the frame to be the official defence secretary but he was always well respected by everyone in the Pentagon. Now he has truly fallen foul of a mighty heave-ho battle between the Pentagon and the White House. He lost out because Trump's defence secretary Mark Esper saw which way the wind was blowing and got rid of him before the president declared war on the Pentagon. The massive row had been buildng up steam for weeks, ever since Chief Petty Officer Eddie Gallagher of the US Navy's Seal Team 7 was acquitted of war crimes in Iraq, including the killing by a hunter's knife of a 17-year-old Iraqi prisoner of war. Gallagher was just found guilty of being photographed next to the body of the prisoner for which he was demoted one rank. Trump had espoused his cause from the beginning, tweeting that he was a war hero, and then declaring that as commander-in-chief he had decided to reinstate Gallagher's rank to chief petty officer so that he would get his full pension on leaving the Seals. But that was not the end of the story. The top Seals commander said he planned to summon Gallagher for a disciplinary hearing over his conviction for having his photograph taken next to the dead boy, viewed as a serious offence. Trump was furious and told the Seal boss to get on with his work and leave Gallagher alone. Gallagher's Seals bosses had considered removing his "Trident" pin (badge/insignia), thus making him an ex-Seal. This is where Richard Spencer stepped in. He could see dangers ahead, with the president having an almighty row with the Pentagon and in particular the US Navy. As the civilian head of the Navy it was his responsibility to deal with personnel matters such as this. He wanted the Gallagher case to go away before it caused even more damage, and, unwisely as it turns out, spoke to the White House about a deal: he would allow Gallagher to keep his Trident pin and retire from the Seals without a stain on his character in return for Trump agreeing to stop interfering in military justice matters. Basically Spencer thought it was constitutionally disgraceful and bad for the US Navy for the president to override decisions by Gallagher's superiors. But for future peaceful relations with the White House, he proposed his deal without telling Esper. When this was passed on to Trump I am speculating but I bet he was so angry being told what to do by a lowly navy secretary that he got on the phone to Esper at the Pentagon and told him: "Get rid of this man or else...." Esper jumped. He called in Spencer and said he was very upset that he had gone behind his back to the White House to try and solve the Gallagher problem. He, Spencer, should have gone to Esper not to the White House and therefore he had to resign for failing to keep Esper in the loop over what he planned to do. In the very familiar language used by commanding officers when they sack subordinates, Spencer was told he had lost the confidence and trust of the defence secretary. Actually, David Ignatius, Washington Post columnist and son of a former US navy secretary, revealed today that Esper told Spencer: "Trump wants you out." Spencer wrote aletter to Trump, handing in his immediate resignation, but made no reference to the row with Esper. It was all about his distaste for a commander-in-chief who had different views than him on good order and discipline. So another good man at the Pentagon gets his marching orders. Both Trump and Esper played their roles in removing a senior official who had tried to do his best for the service he loved and respected.