WASHINGTON, Jan 13, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – The Pentagon’s top generals condemned
the January 6 attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters on Tuesday, telling
US troops that it was an illegal assault on the constitutional process.
“The violent riot… was as direct assault on the US Congress, the Capitol
building, and our Constitutional process,” said a memorandum signed by all
eight members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, led by the chairman, General Mark
Milley.
“The rights of freedom of speech and assembly do not give anyone the right
to resort to violence, sedition and insurrection,” they said.
The letter said members of the armed services are bound to defend the
constitution.
“Any act to disrupt the constitutional process is not only against our
traditions, values and oath; it is against the law.”
The message came amid concerns that the Trump-supporting extremists who
raided the Congress to halt the certification of Joe Biden as the next
president have supporters in the armed forces and law enforcement.
Trump and his supporters have refused to accept that Biden fairly and
soundly won the November 3 presidential election.
The Pentagon is deploying as many as 15,000 National Guard troops to
protect Biden’s inauguration on January 20, amid fears of new violence.
Pentagon officials were asked Monday about the possibility of pro-Trump
activists in the Guard and among regular troops.
“We don’t tolerate extremists in our ranks,” said spokesman Jonathan
Hoffman.
Underscoring the point, the Joint Chiefs said that, “in accordance with
the Constitution,” Biden would be inaugurated on January 20th “and will
become our 46th commander in chief.”
In South Korea, the commander of US Forces Korea, General Robert Abrams,
retweeted the JCS statement saying there was “no ambiguity” the events at the
Capitol were an “attempted insurrection”.
“If you are serving in uniform and think it was something else, I would
encourage (you) to sit down and read the constitution that you swore an oath
to support and defend,” wrote Abrams, who uses the handle @DogFaceSoldier.
“No room on our team if you are not willing to defend the constitution
against all enemies, foreign AND domestic.”