‘Slide to illiberalism’: ex-general joins chorus of condemnation of Trump
John Allen warns that politicisation of the military could be the beginning of the end of ‘the American experiment’ The retired marine general who led the global coalition against Isis and commanded US forces in Afghanistan has warned that Donald Trump’s actions this week could start a US “ slide into illiberalism” and the beginning of the end of “the American experiment”. In denouncing the president for his response to the George Floyd protests, John Allen became the latest in a string of venerable military figures to have gone public over what they describe as the threat posed by Trump to the non-political nature of the armed forces, and more broadly to US democracy. Tensions over the role of the military in responding to the protests have also opened a rift between the president and his defence secretary, Mark Esper, who angered Trump on Wednesday by opposing the threatened use of the 1807 Insurrection Act to deploy troops on US streets. Allen, now president of the Brookings Institution, also focused his criticism on the president’s threat on Monday to deploy the US military against protesters, and his use of force against a peaceful demonstration outside the White House so that he could be photographed holding a Bible in front of a church.
“The slide of the United States into illiberalism may well have begun on 1 June 2020. Remember the date. It may well signal the beginning of the end of the American experiment,” Allen wrote on the Foreign Policy website.
His commentary followed a similarly stinging denunciation on Wednesday from Trump’s first defence secretary, James Mattis, who described the actions taken on Monday in front of the White House as an “abuse of executive authority” and suggested that Trump and other officials should be held to account for making “a mockery of our constitution”. Trump responded on Twitter by calling Mattis “the world’s most overrated General,” adding: “I didn’t like his leadership style or much else about him, and many others agree. Glad he is gone!” More than 17,000 members of the national guard, a part-time reserve force jointly controlled by the states and the federal government, have been deployed by 23 states to support law enforcement. But Trump has threatened to go further and invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy active-duty forces in US cities – against the wishes of the state authorities if necessary. A battalion from the elite 82nd Airborne Division, and two brigades of military police, were flown from their bases in North Carolina and New York to the Washington area at the beginning of the week, apparently to be on standby if the Insurrection Act was invoked. Esper broke with Trump on a policy issue for the first time on Wednesday, saying the situation did not merit the use of the act and ordering the 82nd Airborne back to their base in Fort Bragg. But after visiting the White House he reversed that order, though on Thursday there were reports once more that the troops would be leaving Washington. A White House spokesman, Hogan Gidley, said on Thursday “all options are on the table” in terms of the use of active duty troops. Uniformed military leaders in all the armed services have issued messages to their rank and file that, while not criticising the commander-in-chief directly, used a very different tone in discussing the situation from Trump’s insistence on “domination”. The officers emphasised the constitutional right to protest rather than the incidents of looting. “As members of the Joint Force – comprised of all races, colors, and creeds – you embody the ideals of our Constitution,” General Mark Milley, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, said, “Please remind all of our troops and leaders that we will uphold the values of our nation, and operate consistent with national laws and our own high standards of conduct at all times.” Trump frequently refers to “my generals” and “my military” but the statements by the service chiefs referred to the constitution, not the president. The armed forces are one of the most diverse major US institutions, and are roughly representative of the country’s ethnic makeup. Senior officers have been deeply concerned about racial polarisation spreading to the military if it is drawn into dealing with the unrest. Nick Note: You got the right wing crazies that want to turn America into a police state led by Trump. And you got the black radicals led by Faricon followers and Jessie Jackson that want to white people (privileged one and all) to write a 3 trillion dollar reparations checks to the 3rd generation of black slaves. All the fucks are crazy as hell. You are watching the end of America weather you can see it or not. I wish you all good luck! Better to be a slave in America then be a king in the Africian hell holes black run and administrated. And yes I know its not politically correct to mention the oppression, poverty and corruption of black run countries one and all. One thing the demonstrations (in the middle of a pandemic) prove is the stupidity of the millennials especially the white ones.