Does the White House ‘Micromanage’ the Military? Here’s What Gen. Martin Dempsey Thinks

Kate Scanlon / January 11, 2015

On Fox News Sunday, Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey was asked if he agrees with the president’s recent statement that threat of terrorism from Afghanistan is gone.

“The chairman of the Joint Chiefs, as the senior military leader of the nation, tends to be rather cautious and careful,” said Dempsey. “And he tends to be a little paranoid. You know, terrorism can ebb and flow. It may not be there now, but it could be there tomorrow…. Terrorism flows where instability lurks.”

Wallace asked Dempsey why only 15 percent of active-duty service members told a Military Times poll that they “approve” of the job the president is doing – especially in light of the fact that the two previous secretaries of defense wrote “searing” books accusing the White House of — among other things – micromanaging them.

“If you asked me if I’m being micromanaged, I don’t know, I better go ask the White House before I answer the question,” joked Dempsey.

Dempsey added that he “feels no constraints” about telling President Obama what he thinks.

Dempsey said that he believes that the United States should close its prison facilities in Guantanamo Bay, calling it a “national scar.”