World Insights: Military parade amid "No Kings" protests mirrors distortion of U.S. democracy

U.S. President Donald Trump marked the Army's 250th anniversary with a 45 million U.S. dollar military parade coinciding with his 79th birthday, sparking nationwide protests and criticism over politicization of the military, while exposing deeper concerns about the Army's outdated equipment, recruitment struggles, and evolving role in American society.

by Xinhua writer Xia Lin

NEW YORK, June 15 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday hosted a military parade in Washington, D.C. to mark the U.S. Army's 250th anniversary, with all-day events and the participation of over 6,000 soldiers, over 120 vehicles as well as a flyover, at the reported cost of around 45 million U.S. dollars.

The parade coincided with the president's 79th birthday and his seizure of control of California's National Guard and deployment of U.S. Marines to quell protests over immigration raids in Los Angeles.

It also happened on the same day when some 2,000 "No Kings" protests were staged nationwide.

"CELEBRATION OF A MAN"

Trump is "the driving force behind the parade down Washington's Constitution Avenue, which runs behind the White House, that includes a muscular exhibition of 6,600 soldiers, Abrams tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles and a Black Hawk helicopter," Bloomberg News reported about the event, adding that the cost includes potential damage to major District of Columbia streets from heavy tank treads.

The United States last celebrated its military strength in 1991 after the Gulf War. Trump has been eager to host a military parade ever since attending a Bastille Day parade in Paris during his first term in 2017. City officials in Washington then warned that heavy military vehicles could damage city streets, and the price tag became a political liability.

"The president's birthday-themed parade was eight years in the making," said USA Today. He's been floating the idea since before his first inauguration. Trump told the Washington Post in 2017 that he wanted to show off America's military at parades in D.C. and New York. "We want to show off a little bit," Trump said in a speech at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, on Tuesday.

"The Army deserves to be celebrated. But this just feels and looks very much like the celebration of a man and not the Constitution and the principles enshrined in it," said Janessa Goldbeck, a retired Marine who is now a senior adviser to Vote Vets, a progressive veterans' organization.

Eliot A. Cohen, a military historian at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, was more straightforward in disclosing the coincidence of the nationwide protest and the military show driven and hosted by the president, noting that "A military parade made up of people is honoring service. But a parade with heavy metal rolling is an expression of power."

Greg Jaffe, a U.S. Pentagon correspondent who has spent more than a decade covering the military, wrote that the parade "with its focus on tanks, helicopters and armored personnel carriers, is unlikely to do much to strengthen the connection between the Army and the country it serves."

MILITARY POLITICIZATION

The last time tanks paraded through the streets of Washington, the U.S. Army was at the peak of its confidence and power -- it had smashed Saddam Hussein's army in Iraq in a ground assault that lasted just 100 hours. Three decades later, Army tanks once again took to the streets of the capital, while the service is working through its most profound identity crisis since its defeat in Vietnam.

"The protests, under the label 'No Kings,' reflect the concern that Trump is using the military to augment his own image and advance his political goals," The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) noted.

"There are concerns about the politicization of the force by a president who describes protesters as 'animals' and often seems to be looking for an excuse to mobilize ground troops in response to demonstrations or civil unrest," wrote military reporter Jaffe.

Beyond that, the president's previous speech highlighted the danger that the Army, which has enjoyed broad support from the American people for the last quarter century, could be perceived as a partisan or political force, the military journalist said. "Both Mr. Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speak often about the threat posed to America from within," he said.

Earlier in June, at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Trump, with soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division behind him, denounced his political rivals, former President Joe Biden and California Governor Gavin Newsom. He also criticized people protesting immigration raids and those attacking public property in Los Angeles as subhuman, warning that they could be targeted by U.S. troops.

According to U.S. media, among the biggest concerns of senior Army leaders is that Trump could invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807, which would give U.S. troops law enforcement powers in American cities and potentially put them into conflict with their fellow citizens. Some officials worry that he could be laying the groundwork for such a move with his references to a migrant "invasion."

LAGGING TROOPS

"The Army is scrambling to keep pace with the changing nature of warfare, as expensive, old-fashioned military hardware becomes increasingly vulnerable to attack by cheap, off-the-shelf drones," WSJ reported about the parade. "There are big questions about whether the Army's aging equipment can survive on future battlefields swarming with cheap precision drones."

The fact that the equipment reflects the war methods of previous generations highlights this uncomfortable reality for the military. The last big parade of this kind was a celebration of the victory by the United States and its allies in the Gulf War in 1991. "The U.S. hasn't won a major war since then," said the WSJ report.

The result is that the military has not learned from its mistakes in those conflicts, said Jonathan Schroden, an expert on irregular war at the CNA, a nonpartisan defense research institute. "We didn't learn in real time, and now we're not learning through a historical lens," Schroden said. "That's really troubling."

Whatever has happened, the parade showed that the military is catching up. It had drones, satellites and night vision goggles on display near the parade route -- smaller and cheaper equipment than the military deployed in previous wars. The Army is reported to enable artificial intelligence (AI)-driven command and control at certain headquarters within two years, and extend advanced manufacturing to operational units even sooner.

Meanwhile, there are personnel issues too. In two of the past three years, the Army has missed its recruitment goals, and surveys find that the public's faith in the armed forces has ebbed.

According to open data, the U.S. Army met only 75 percent of its recruitment goals in 2022 and 2023. Fifty percent of young adults know little or nothing about military service, and a shockingly high 71 percent aren't eligible to enlist due to obesity, drug use or other reasons. Some 46 percent of soldiers are Black, Latino or from other minorities, and over 15 percent are women, the Army reported in 2022.■