Thursday, June 11, 2020

DUH OH!
Milley says he was wrong to accompany Trump on church walk


 In this June 1, 2020 file photo, President Donald Trump departs the White House to visit outside St. John's Church, in Washington. Part of the church was set on fire during protests on Sunday night. Walking behind Trump from left are, Attorney General William Barr, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Milley says his presence “created a perception of the military involved in domestic politics.” He called it “a mistake” that he has learned from. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)


WASHINGTON (AP) — Army Gen. Mark Milley, the nation’s top military officer, said Thursday he was wrong to accompany President Donald Trump on a walk through Lafayette Square that ended in a photo op at a church. He said his presence “created a perception of the military involved in domestic politics.”

“I should not have been there,” the Joint Chiefs chairman said in remarks to a National Defense University commencement ceremony.

Trump’s June 1 walk through the park to pose with a Bible at a church came after authorities used pepper spray and flash bangs to clear the park and streets of largely peaceful protesters demonstrating in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death in Minnesota in police custody

Milley’s statement risked the wrath of a president sensitive to anything hinting of criticism of events he has staged. It comes as Pentagon leaders’ relations with the White House are still tense after a disagreement last week over Trump’s threat to use federal troops to quell civil unrest triggered by Floyd’s death.

Milley said his presence and the photographs compromised his commitment to a military divorced from politics.

“My presence in that moment and in that environment created a perception of the military involved in domestic politics,” Milley said. “As a commissioned uniformed officer, it was a mistake that I have learned from, and I sincerely hope we all can learn from it.”

After protesters were cleared from the Lafayette Square area, Trump led an entourage that included Milley and Defense Secretary Mark Esper to St. John’s Episcopal Church, where he held up a Bible for photographers and then returned to the White House.

Esper had not said publicly that he erred by being with Trump at that moment. He told a news conference last week that when they left the White House he thought they were going to inspect damage in the Square and at the church and to mingle with National Guard troops in the area.


Milley’s comments at the National Defense University were his first public statements about the Lafayette Square event on June 1, which the White House has hailed as a “leadership moment” for Trump akin to Winston Churchill inspecting damage from German bombs in London during World War II.

The public uproar following Floyd’s death has created multiple layers of extraordinary tension between Trump and senior Pentagon officials. When Esper told reporters on June 3 that he had opposed Trump bringing active-duty troops on the streets of the nation’s capital to confront protesters and potential looters, Trump castigated him in a face-to-face meeting.

Just this week, Esper and Milley let it be known through their spokesmen that they were open to a “bipartisan discussion” of whether the 10 Army bases named for Confederate Army officers should be renamed as a gesture aimed at disassociating the military from the racist legacy of the Civil War.

On Wednesday, Trump said he would never allow the names to be changed, catching some in the Pentagon by surprise.

The Marine Corps last week moved ahead with a ban on public displays of the Confederate Army battle flag on its bases, and the Navy this week said it plans a similar ban applied to its bases, ships and planes. Trump has not commented publicly on those moves, which do not require White House or congressional approval.

Milley used his commencement address, which was prerecorded and presented as a video message in line with social distancing due to the coronavirus pandemic, to raise the matter of his presence with Trump in Lafayette Square. He introduced the subject to his audience of military officers and civilian officials in the context of advice from an Army officer and combat veteran who has spent 40 years in uniform

He said all senior military leaders must be aware that their words and actions will be closely watched.

“And I am not immune,” he said, noting the photograph of him at Lafayette Square. “That sparked a national debate about the role of the military in civil society.” He expressed regret at having been there and said the lesson to be taken from that moment is that all in uniform are not just soldiers but also citizens.

“We must hold dear the principle of an apolitical military that is so deeply rooted in the very essence of our republic,” he said. “It takes time and work and effort, but it may be the most important thing each and every one of us does every single day.”

Milley also expressed his outrage at the Floyd killing and urged military officers to recognize as a reflection of centuries of injustice toward African Americans.

“What we are seeing is the long shadow of our original sin in Jamestown 401 years ago,” he said, referring to the year in which the first enslaved Africans arrived on the shores of colonial Virginia.

Milley said the military has made important progress on race issues but has much yet to do, including creating the conditions for a larger proportion of African American officers to rise to the military’s senior ranks. He noted that his service, the Army, has just one African American four-star general, and mentioned that the Air Force is about to swear in the first-ever African American service chief.

Top US general says wrong to appear with Trump at protest site

AFP/File / Brendan SmialowskiDonald Trump walks with Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley (R) at his side and Defense Secretary Mark Esper (middle) just behind him on June 1 to a church near the White House where Trump posed for pictures
America's top general said Thursday he was wrong to appear with President Donald Trump in a photo op near the White House last week, staged after the area was forcefully cleared of anti-racism protesters.
"I should not have been there. My presence in that moment and in that environment created a perception of military involvement in domestic politics," General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said of the controversial June 1 incident.
Milley's comments appeared likely to further strain the already fraught relations between US military leaders and the White House.
Relations have frayed over Trump's move to involve the Pentagon in efforts to quell protests and looting around the country following the killing of African American George Floyd by a white Minneapolis police officer.
- Battle uniform -
AFP/File / Brendan SmialowskiUS President Donald Trump holds up a bible in front of St John's Episcopal Church after walking across Lafayette Park from the White House in Washington, DC on June 1
Milley and Secretary of Defense Mark Esper were both strongly criticized for participating in what was widely seen as a political show by Trump, who walked with officials from the White House to pose in front of St. John's Episcopal Church, holding up a bible.
Minutes earlier, hundreds of peaceful protestors were forced from Lafayette Park between the White House and the church by police and national guard troops firing smoke bombs and tear gas-like pepper rounds.
Milley's presence was particularly criticized as he was wearing his camouflage battle uniform.
Normally military officials wear their formal dress uniform when holding meetings in the White House, and for many it implied Milley's support for Trump's stated desire to deploy active duty US troops against protesters.
In a pre-recorded video message, Milley told new graduates of the National Defense University that pictures of him and Esper walking with Trump "sparked a national debate about the role of the military in civil society."
Trump had summoned Milley and Esper to the White House to discuss the extraordinary measure of using active military troops in addition to national guards to confront protestors.
Pentagon officials have said both had little time to prepare for the meeting, which caught Milley in his battle uniform and Esper as they were headed to a separate non-public meeting.
Nor did they know ahead of time that national guard troops were going to clear the park using chemical munitions to force the protestors out, Pentagon officials said.
Several former holders of Milley's position blasted him and Esper for accompanying Trump and allowing the military to be politicized.
"I am deeply worried that as they execute their orders, the members of our military will be co-opted for political purposes," said former Joint Chiefs chairman admiral Mike Mullen.
- Freedom to protest -
Two days later Esper announced that he would not support Trump's desire to invoke the rarely used Insurrection Act to call up active troops to deal with the protests.
That, according to media reports, infuriated Trump who had to be convinced by White House advisors and senior lawmakers not to fire Esper.
In his speech Thursday, Milley stressed that US citizens have the constitutional right to protest peacefully.
"We should all be proud that the vast majority of protests have been peaceful. Peaceful protests mean that American freedom is working," he said.
"We in the military will continue to protect the rights and freedoms of all American people," he added.

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