Commentary: Polarization rocks U.S. military

New Orleans, LA – On September 30, “Secretary of War” Pete Hegseth blew his bugle for the military’s next crusade. The world’s biggest and baddest armed forces folded in Afghanistan and burned in Vietnam. Hegseth and Trump looked at these defeats, and many more, then scratched their chins. At last, they ferreted out Benedict Arnold: DEI.

Top brass from across the globe scrambled to Quantico to hear about it. Hegseth attacked “fat generals,” women, “men in dresses,” “weak men,” and supposed diversity hires. He announced he’d whip troops into shape by prohibiting beards, narrowing hazing protections, and replacing gender-neutral expectations with “male-standard” physical training. Trump followed by parading a $1 trillion 2026 military budget.

Military meeting or MAGA sales pitch?

“All-hands” high-level gatherings are routine, but this one stood out. It was a full court press to build consensus against “wokeness.”

“What made this meeting so notable is that today’s military is buffeted by an atmosphere of extreme partisan polarization,” wrote former National Security Council staffer Peter Feaver.

Commentators saluted the officers for listening with their poker faces on. It’s supposed to be a win for keeping politics out of the military. But many haven’t kept their cards close to their chests.

“Could have been an email,” one officer told Politico. Another described the conference as an “inexcusable strategic risk.”

“I suspect it’s not being taken well,” retired Lt. General Mark Hertling told MSNBC.

These comments expose that polarization hasn’t been staved off; it’s already running deep. It’s come up before, everywhere from shaving rules to the trans ban. The latter was opposed by 56 retired generals and admirals.

Take it to the streets, see who comes out on top

The sharpest flashpoint has been the National Guard’s occupation of major cities. Trump called them “training grounds” for troops. He states plainly that these takeovers, in Black and Chicano urban areas, go fist-in-glove with imperialism abroad.

Trump’s takeovers have escalated deportations and racist arrests. Although the National Guardsmen do not have powers of arrest themselves, they give backup to federal agents to go after people on petty or trumped-up charges. On Fight Back! Radio, a DC Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression activist described how agents have detained people for legally smoking weed.

But these occupations have prompted a wave of mass resistance. Protests have sprung up in every city that Trump has targeted, and even local politicians are speaking up. “Training grounds” indeed – for the united front against Trump.

The court system is taking notice. The Guardian reported that DC has seen unprecedented lows in indictments by grand juries on charges related to the Trump takeover, even if a grand jury can indict a ham sandwich.

Pushed on by the fightback from civilians, soldiers up and down the chain aren’t buying that there’s an “enemy within.” One officer told Politico that these deployments “distract warfighters.” At least eleven former generals criticized the Los Angeles takeover. The Guardian reported that dozens of troops deployed to LA voiced anger about being political pawns. One said the assignment was “shitty.”

“Disoriented, demoralized, and ineffective”

This isn’t to say there’s a revolt within the armed forces. But they face a different kind of problem – disorganization.

In Foreign Affairs, Peter Fever writes: “Over the course of their professional lives, these military officers are likely to serve a large chunk of their time under both parties. If they become identified as partisans of one, they may be viewed as enemies of the other—starting a cycle of partisan purges that leaves the military disoriented, demoralized, and ineffective, as has happened in other purge-prone militaries.”

To complicate things further, this divided force is running up against a fragmented legal system. The Posse Comitatus Act prohibits the federal military from participating in general law enforcement without a state’s consent. It’s the basis for the California ruling against the occupation of Los Angeles. Effectively, cities in blue states have this legal avenue against the deployments. States like Louisiana, where Trump crony Governor Jeff Landry requested federal assistance, are a different terrain.

Polarization in the military, like in the rest of the U.S., is a sign of imperialism’s decline. Hegseth admitted to this decline when he compared the aftermath of Vietnam to the U.S.’s position today. In Vietnam, like in Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. tried to rally other imperialists under the banner of “spreading democracy.” But out with these ambitious, ideological wars. In with the wars of naked and narrow self-interest. It’s the desperate gambit of an empire losing its grip. Mounting abuses of military power come with the territory. But, after all, Americans have resisted the likes of this since 1776.

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Source: https://fightbacknews.org/commentary-polarization-rocks-u-s-military?pk_campaign=rss-feed