Keep the Pentagon’s “Anti-Extremism†Campaign Short and Discriminate
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By James Holmes
February 15, 2021
U.S. Marine Corps
Use mercy well. Cruelty too.
That’s the advice Renaissance Florentine statesman-philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli would tender as the Pentagon sets out to purge “extremismâ€â€”shorthand for members of violent subversive groups—from the ranks. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin set the anti-extremism campaign in motion in response to the January 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC. The principle underlying the campaign is impeccable. The U.S. military should be—and must be—an apolitical institution that defends the U.S. Constitution. All uniformed personnel swear an oath to that effect, and that oath has no expiration date. The services should rid themselves of all groups that advocate the violent overthrow of the American system of government.
If mishandled, though, the anti-extremism campaign could be a cataclysm, wrecking a culture that is healthy on the whole at a time when strong, united, resolute U.S. armed forces are at a premium. A deflated military would court disaster in strategic competition against the likes of China and Russia—to say nothing of open combat. Seldom do forces divided against themselves fare well on the battlefield.
Tread carefully.
https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2021/02/15/keep_the_pentagons_anti-extremism_campaign_short_and_discriminate_660342.html
