“There’s a very real possibility of the president now presiding over this parade Saturday night,
showcasing the US military’s most fearsome weapons and most fearsome soldiers,” Barbaro said.
“And the message in that context, in the context of what’s going on in LA, may feel more intended
or as intended for a domestic audience than as impressing or intimidating our foreign adversaries.”
Cooper replied: “They’re very worried about that, and especially in the former uniform world where
these are retired army officials, retired Marine generals, I’ve been on the phone with. They’re
really worried about this image.”
She continued: “They are also worried about a potential Tiananmen Square moment where you have
a protester standing in front of a tank. That is not what America is supposed to look like. And this is
another one of those potential scary things that we could see on Saturday.”
