https://archive.ph/TTshc https:// www. politico. com/news/2021/06/23/top-general-fires-back-criticism-military-woke-495703

Top general fires back at 'offensive' criticism of military being 'woke'

Milley's comments are some of the most pointed in defense of the military, which has come under heavy criticism from Republican lawmakers and right-wing personalities for what they argue is leadership aiming political bias against conservatives.

By CONNOR O’BRIEN 06/23/2021 02:54 PM EDT

The military's top officer on Wednesday pushed back against GOP lawmakers who said the Pentagon's efforts to combat racism and promote diversity have made the armed forces too "woke."

Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Mark Milley gave a fiery defense of open-mindedness in the ranks during a House Armed Services hearing, saying he's offended at the accusation that those efforts have undercut the military's mission and cohesiveness.

"I personally find it offensive that we are accusing the United States military ... of being 'woke' or something else because we're studying some theories that are out there," Milley said.

The four-star general told lawmakers that service members should be "open-minded and be widely read" because service members "come from the American people" and said he wanted to better understand racism as well as the climate that led to the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.

"I want to understand white rage — and I'm white," Milley told lawmakers "What is it that caused thousands of people to assault this building and try to overturn the Constitution of the United States of America?

"I've read Mao Tse Tung. I've read Karl Marx. I've read Lenin. That doesn't make me a communist," Milley continued. "So what is wrong with understanding, having some situational understanding about the country for which we are here to defend?"

Milley's comments are some of the most pointed in defense of the military, which has come under heavy criticism from Republican lawmakers and right-wing personalities for what they argue is leadership being "woke" and aiming political bias against conservatives at the expense of defending the U.S.

Gaetz claimed opposition to the stand down is "the No. 1 issue" raised in his conversations with troops.

"Thanks for your anecdotal input," Austin shot back. "But I would say that I have gotten 10 times that amount of input, 50 times that amount of input, on the other side that has said, 'Hey, we're glad to have had the ability to have a conversation with ourselves and with our leadership.'"

Gaetz also accused Austin's senior adviser on diversity issues, Bishop Garrison, of being a "critical race theorist" and cited past tweets. The defense secretary responded that Gaetz's questioning was the first time he'd heard Garrison described as a subscriber to critical race theory.

"We do not teach critical race theory. We don't embrace critical race theory, and I think that's a spurious conversation" Austin told Gaetz. "We are focused on extremist behaviors and not ideology, not people's thoughts, not people's political orientation."

https://archive.ph/5DHoT https:// theintercept. com/2021/05/17/military-pentagon-extremism-social-media/

PENTAGON PLANS TO MONITOR SOCIAL MEDIA OF MILITARY PERSONNEL FOR EXTREMIST CONTENT

The military has previously balked at surveilling service members for extremist political views due to First Amendment protections.

Ken Klippenstein May 17 2021, 8:25 p.m.

An extremism steering committee led by Bishop Garrison, a senior adviser to the secretary of defense, is currently designing the social media screening pilot program, which will “continuously” monitor military personnel for “concerning behaviors,” according to a Pentagon briefing in late March. Although in the past the military has balked at surveilling service members for extremist political views due to First Amendment protections, the pilot program will rely on a private surveillance firm in order to circumvent First Amendment restrictions on government monitoring, according to a senior Pentagon official. Though the firm has not yet been selected, the current front runner is Babel Street, a company that sells powerful surveillance tools including social media monitoring software.

https://archive.ph/mfsf6 https://web.archive.org/web/20210506040841/https://www.revolver.news/2021/05/bishop-garrison-pentagon-hatchet-man/ https://www.revolver.news/2021/05/bishop-garrison-pentagon-hatchet-man/

Meet Bishop Garrison: The Pentagon’s Hatchet Man in Charge of Purging MAGA Patriots and Installing Race Theory in The Military

May 5, 2021 (25m ago)

If you’re in the military, it appears that Bishop Garrison’s CEWG will scour your Internet history, making sure to target “gray areas, such as reading, following and liking extremist material and content in social media forums and platforms.”

A leaked 17-page DARPA memo from March 27, 2021 entitled “Extremism and Insider Threat in the DoD” provides a clue as to what new categories of lawful thoughts, associations and reading materials are likely to be scanned and banned by Bishop Garrison’s CEWG. DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency colloquially known as “The Pentagon’s Brain,” recommended a brand new category called “Patriot Extremism,” which occurs when a citizen believes “the US government has become corrupt” or “has overstepped its constitutional boundaries”:

“Patriot Extremism” is completely distinct from “White supremacy,” which DARPA maintains as a wholly separate category.

But DARPA’s “Symbols of Extremism” collage on page 6 clearly reveals their intended target: the collage includes 12 “far-right” symbols, versus just two Antifa symbols, and just one for ISIS. “Extremist” “far-right” symbols include Pepe the Frog, the OK hand gesture, “Come and Take It” guns-rights memes, and the “Q” in QAnon: