Military commanders like Kurilla have expertise in battlefield wins but not in long-term strategy or managing domestic political outcomes of particular national security choices, noted Rosemary Kelanic, the Middle East program director at the Defense Priorities think tank.
“Kurilla seems very interested in the U.S. getting more engaged in the region… and seems to be interested in military solutions that take a long time to come to fruition and involve a lot of resources, none of which I think is something President Trump is particularly interested in,” Kelanic said. “I worry about civil-military relations and what the appropriateness is of military commanders pushing for certain policy outcomes.”
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