Biden's Defense Secretary Issues Military-Wide Stand Down Order After Meeting with Senior Leaders
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin issued a service-wide stand down order after a meeting with top-level military commanders in a bid to address the problem of extremism in the armed forces.
The Wednesday order comes less than a month after some veterans and current service members participated in the incursion into the U.S. Capitol.
The Pentagon will implement the directive over the next 60 days to address the issue.
“We don’t know how we’re going to go after this,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told U.S. News.
“The sixth of January was a wake-up call for this specific problem,” Kirby continued. “It’s not as if it hasn’t been studied and reviewed in the past. The problem is that it’s still a problem.”
It’s unclear at this point exactly what the military considers to be extremism.
With white nationalists, QAnon believers and Proud Boys members prominently participating in the Capitol riot, it seems those groups and others like them will be the focus of any further Pentagon action.
Austin took to his official Twitter account to announce the move.
“Today, I met with senior leaders to discuss extremism in the military,” Austin wrote. “As a first step, I’m ordering a stand down to occur over the next 60 days so each service, each command and each unit can have a deeper conversation about this issue.”
“It comes down to leadership. Everyone’s.”
Today, I met with senior leaders to discuss extremism in the military. As a first step, I’m ordering a stand down to occur over the next 60 days so each service, each command and each unit can have a deeper conversation about this issue. It comes down to leadership. Everyone’s. pic.twitter.com/wbC21hdHaV
— Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III (@SecDef) February 4, 2021
One of the few people killed in the Capitol chaos was Ashli Babbitt, a U.S. Air Force veteran.
Babbitt was shot and suffered a fall after attempting to crawl through a barricaded doorway and died shortly after, according to The Washington Post.
A federal excessive force investigation into the shooting is currently underway.
One report gives a glimpse into the military’s apparent shocking idea of what extremism really is. According to Breitbart, some soldiers were supposedly briefed on “extremist” imagery.
Among the apparent hate symbols listed were those belonging to “Three Percenters,” the cross of Archangel Michael, the “OK” hand gesture and even images of Pepe the cartoon frog.
If this is what the military considers to be examples of anti-American hatred, there’s no telling who will get wrapped up in this push to rid the armed forces of supposed extremists.
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