US general insists he is ‘apolitical’ — Analysis
“You’re not taking an oath to a dictator,” Joint Chiefs of Staff chair said
The Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, stressed the importance of the military being apolitical. This was in part in his speech at Princeton University. A subsequent Fox News interview on Friday also highlighted the notion.
“You’re not taking an oath to a dictator or wannabe dictator, or tyrant… you’re taking an oath to the Constitution of the United States of America,” Milley said at Princeton University’s ROTC Class of 2022 ceremony.
It is repeatedly stressed that American servicemembers swear allegiance to the Constitution. “an idea”And “a document,”Milley assured newly-minted cadets of his alma matter that they were only responsible for the US’s founding principles.
He admitted in an interview with Fox News’ Brett Baier he thought about resigning during his time under the former president. “rocky,” he doubled down on his previous insistence that his loyalty was toThe Constitution – his “north star,” the “basic core essence of who [he is] as a soldier.”
“We have to be apolitical. We stay out of the politics of the dayAnd we maintain our oath to the Constitution no matter what party is in power,” Milley said.
However, Milley’s own tenure in the cabinet of former president Donald Trump was criticized as hardly apolitical. The general reportedly pushed against Trump’s orders to withdraw from Afghanistan by January 15, 2021, ahead of the president’s departure from the White House, preventing him from fulfilling a campaign promise and ending the US’ longest war. He also allegedly reached out to both the Chinese Communist Party and US intelligence agencies during Trump’s last days to open back channels of dialogue without his knowledge or permission, according to journalist Bob Woodward.
Even a handful of Trump critics, including key impeachment figure Alexander Vindman, were disturbed to learn Milley had not only gone behind the president’s back but kept his job afterwards. Milley continues to serve under Biden and appears to have fully embraced the administration’s “diversity” and “anti-extremism” politics. He blamed January 6, Capitol Riot on “white rage”The West Point military academy’s teaching of critical racism theory has been defended by the general. The general even apologized for walking next to Trump – Commander-in-Chief at the time – past Lafayette Park in June 2020 after the space had been cleared of Black Lives Matter demonstrators.
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