MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
For another military perspective on this idea of turning the president's proposed arch into a military complex, we've called retired Major General Randy Manner. He served, among other things, as the deputy commanding general of the United States Third Army in Kuwait and as the acting vice chief of the National Guard Bureau. He's now part of a nonpartisan coalition, National Security Leaders for America. General, good morning. Thanks for joining us once again.
RANDY MANNER: So much for having me. Good morning.
MARTIN: What's your initial reaction to this idea of putting snipers and ammunition dump in the middle of the traffic circle near Arlington National Cemetery?
MANNER: It's rather shocking. It's really an insult to the fact that the president said that the military begged for it. This is absurd. There's only - as any deer hunter understands, there's only one reason why you build a sniper stand for - quite frankly trying to bag a deer, to kill a deer. In this particular case, the president of the United States is trying to say, we need a sniper stand so we can kill Americans. It's absolutely shocking to me that he has said this in writing.
MARTIN: So let's just take this piece by piece. Like, storing ammunition in a place where everyone knows where it is. I mean, is that a good idea?
MANNER: Absolutely not. All of the ammunition, for example, that is stored locally, whether it is at Fort Myer or other bases in the Washington area, these are heavily guarded. They're in bunkers, and they are - access is extremely limited. So just to put them right there, that again reflects the fact that no military person would ever advise the president or even ask the president to do such a thing.
MARTIN: Well, to that point, the president's online post says he's converting this arch into a military installation, quote, "at the strong request of the United States military." Based on your experience, can you envision that request being made? Like, who would have made it?
MANNER: There's always a possibility that the Secretary of Defense might have done that or other civilian leaders that he has appointed because they will do anything that he asked them to do. On the other side of the coin, I mean, I'm part of an organization composed of literally hundreds of retired generals and admirals and ambassadors and senior listed leaders, and we are absolutely opposed to this absurd use of taxpayer money that is nothing more than a threat that the president makes up in his mind. This is not real, and it's a complete waste of money. And it's just something the military would never ask for.
MARTIN: I understand that your coalition includes, at this point, about 1,600 retired military, and I think some are also diplomats. They're part of this coalition. I take it you've had an opportunity - I mean, the president just made this post just recently, but I'm wondering if you've been hearing from them and what are they saying about this?
MANNER: Oh, yes. I've talked to dozens of retired generals and admirals and a few that are on active duty, and the absurdity of the things the president continues to say were - quite frankly, there is a consensus of his mental status as well because just - can you imagine if President Biden or President Obama or President - even President Bush, any other president had ever said these kinds of words that we're going to put ammunition, we're going to run drones from there, right in the line of the access of - the pathway for the D.C. airport. I mean, none of this makes any sense, just from the very fundamentals. So if any other president had ever said this, how would people react?
MARTIN: And this arch - just to focus, again, sort of the military aspect of this arch planned in the president's, you know, perspective, about 250 feet high would be built just a short distance from the Pentagon. And how does that - how do you sort of see that in the context of its alleged military purpose? Like, I'm just trying to envision how it would interface with what's already at the Pentagon.
MANNER: So I hear what you're saying. You're trying to find something that is there, and the reality is, there is no threat. There is no need to build such a tower, a military complex. Again, it's just - it's something that's imagined in the president's mind. There will be no value. There is nothing else like this anywhere in the Washington area. The only area that is protected as closely as this, other than the military bases, is, of course, the White House and the Capitol and rightfully so. But putting this kind of a threat - excuse me, putting this kind of a military complex right in the middle of Washington, again, there is no threat, and it is just absurd.
MARTIN: Before we let you go, can I just go back to something you said at the beginning? You said that one of the things that most offends you about this concept is that this would be - this would kill Americans. Why do you say that?
MANNER: OK. So again, I use that deer hunter analogy. You don't build and advertise, we have a sniper stand here. What's the enemy? It's not like we're under attack. And so, therefore, the only thing you can possibly use a sniper stand for is to kill people. And so who are the people that the president is trying to theoretically kill? It makes no sense. This is not a combat zone. It never was. It will not be in our lifetime. But right now, the president is saying things like it is, and that is - actually should scare every American.
MARTIN: That's retired Major General Randy Manner. He was once a top official in the National Guard among other assignments. General, thank you so much for speaking with me.
MANNER: Thank you so much for having me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
