Beware of Jan. 6, 2021
Capitol Insurrection Redux
This latest sounds like the basis for a very frightening dystopian novel but then, so many things are frighteningly dystopian in the trump era.
There have been unsettling signs of retired and active high ranking military members who have denigrated their vows to follow orders of their superiors because they support trump and disagree with government and military policies. In response,three retired Army generals have cited concerns that the latest developments signal that a second resurrection may be planned and urged the defense department to ratchet up training and response plans to protect the government from another insurrection.
In one case, a group of 124 retired military members that calls itself “Flag Officers 4 America” has issued a manifesto in support of trump’s baseless claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 election. And in another issue, the commanding general of the Oklahoma National Guard has refused an order from President Biden mandating that all National Guard members be vaccinated against the coronavirus.
Another harbinger of dispute in the military is the fact that more than one in 10 of the people charged in the Jan. 6 attacks at the Capitol were either veterans or active-duty service members. Yet another sign of the politicization of the military came when trump’s former acting defense secretary, Christopher C. Miller, deliberately withheld military protection of the Capitol before Jan. 6.
First, about “Flag Officers 4 America,” a group that claims to include 124 “retired military leaders who pledged to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” The group issued an open letter in May explaining its mission that “gives Americans some ideas about what they can do locally to counter the Socialist/Marxist movement against our Constitutional Republic. The bottom line for citizens is to get involved now, the voice of “We the People” must be heard. Do not wait until 2022.”
The letter claimed that the U.S. military was used as “political pawns” when soldiers were deployed at the Capitol, after the Jan. 6, failed insurrection by trump supporters. The military was used to guard against “a non-existent threat” and is being forced to accept “politically correct policies like the divisive critical race theory.” The policies “seriously degrades readiness to fight and win our Nation’s wars, creating a major national security issue,” the letter read.
The letter outlined the group’s goals:
“Taking back control over our children’s education,” which includes rejection of teaching critical race theory.
Elect officials from county commissioners to mayors who support traditional values, including law enforcement and insist that the Pledge of Allegiance open all public meetings and that volunteers should work as poll workers/watchers.
Support law enforcement and vote for counties, towns and cities to be sanctuary places to resist efforts for gun controls.
Two of the signatories are Thomas McInerney and John Poindexter, who both have claimed that trump lost the election because of widespread voter fraud.
McInerney retired from the Air Force in 1994 with a rank of lieutenant general. He has been on the boards of several military contractors and was a frequent guest on Fox News until 2018 when he falsely claimed that John McCain betrayed his country when he was a prisoner of war in Vietnam, a claim also made by trump. He also was among 235 retired military leaders who endorsed trump’s re-election bid while he later pushed the false claims of election fraud.
In claiming the election was stolen, McInerney called on trump “to declare a national emergency, use the Insurrection Act, declare martial law, suspend habeas corpus, set up military tribunals, and suspend the electoral college [vote for president and vice-president] on December 14 and the presidential inauguration on January 20.”
Poindexter, a retired Naval rear admiral, was Deputy National Security Advisor and National Security Advisor for the Reagan administration and was convicted in April 1990 of multiple felonies related to the Iran–Contra affair. The convictions were reversed on appeal in 1991.
Poindexter also has endorsed the false conspiracy theory that the 2020 presidential election was rigged to favor Joe Biden and claims that the United States “has taken a hard left turn toward Socialism and a Marxist form of tyrannical government.”
In a column in the Washington Post, Paula G. Thornhill, a retired U.S. Air Force brigadier general, acting director of Strategic Studies, Johns Hopkins University (SAIS) and author of “Demystifying the American Military,” was highly critical of the letter and the group, “Flag Officers 4 America.” Thornhill noted that the group is exclusively men and exclusively white.
Thornhill said the demographics for the signees skew older, white, male, less senior flag officers, and based on those with public profiles, and by the group’s own admission, supporters of Donald Trump.
“Why should we care what a self-selected, narrowly focused group of retired men think?” Thornhill wrote rhetorically.
In another matter, Brig. Gen. Thomas Mancino, the commanding general of the Oklahoma National Guard, refused an order from President Biden mandating that all National Guard members be vaccinated against the coronavirus. Mancino said the Oklahoma Guard is not federally mobilized and that his commander in chief is the Republican governor of the state, not the president.
In his message to the Oklahoma National Guard on Dec. 9, 2021, Mancino responded to the mandate by the Secretary of the Air Force that all members of the military receive the COVID-19 vaccinations. Mancino said that whether to get the vaccination or not is “an issue of personal responsibility.” He said the governor had authorized that guard members who don’t accept the vaccinations will not be subject to negative actions.
“The Governor did not grant you the right to not take the vaccine, you have always had that right,” Mancino wrote. “I also recognize each Soldier and Airmen’s right to choose for themselves. This is a right you have irrespective of the actions of the Governor or myself on your behalf. It is indeed a matter of personal choice. Please choose wisely. In Oklahoma we will respect your choice and treat you with the respect and dignity your service to our State and Nation has earned.”
Retired Army generals Paul D. Eaton, Antonio M. Taguba and Steven M. Anderson wrote of their concerns in another Washington Post column.
“All service members take an oath to protect the U.S. Constitution. But in a contested election, with loyalties split, some might follow orders from the rightful commander in chief, while others might follow the Trumpian loser. Arms might not be secured depending on who was overseeing them. Under such a scenario, it is not outlandish to say a military breakdown could lead to civil war,” the generals warned. “In short: We are chilled to our bones at the thought of a coup succeeding next time.”
“The potential for a total breakdown of the chain of command along partisan lines — from the top of the chain to squad level — is significant should another insurrection occur. The idea of rogue units organizing among themselves to support the “rightful” commander in chief cannot be dismissed.”
Eaton is a retired Army major general and a senior adviser to VoteVets. Taguba is a retired Army major general, with 34 years of active duty service. Anderson is a retired brigadier general who served in the Army for 31 years.