Trump's parade of retired generals raises questions
Two months before Inauguration Day festivities, an extraordinary number of recently retired generals, including some who clashed with President Barack Obama's administration, are marching to the president-elect's doorstep for job interviews.
Trump appointed Flynn as his national security adviser, a post that does not require Senate confirmation but is central to a president's decision-making process.
Afterward, he strongly criticized the Obama administration's approach to fighting the Islamic State group and threw his support to Trump.
Other names surfacing include retired Army Gen. Jack Keane and David Petraeus, the retired four-star general who was Obama's CIA director in 2011-12 before resigning amid disclosure that he had an affair with his biographer and shared highly classified information with her.
Kelly retired this year after a storied career capped by commanding the U.S. Southern Command, where he differed with the White House over closing the Guantanamo Bay prison and expressed doubts about the administration's moves to open all combat jobs to women.
The appointment of too many generals to high civilian positions could prompt fears that Trump is on a path to militarizing U.S. foreign policy or giving the military too much sway in decisions about war and peace.
"In my experience, veterans have been less likely than the civilians to advocate for military intervention abroad," said Fontaine, who was among dozens of Republican national security figures who signed a letter during the campaign warning that Trump would be a dangerous president.