Let’s be clear about what’s going on with how the politicians in power have been jacking around the National Guard.
At this point, it’s getting pretty ridiculous.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, you know that guy whose name Joe Biden can’t remember, “the guy that runs that outfit over there” made the decision to hold 2300 National Guard members in Washington, D.C. for the next ten weeks until May 23. Threat? What threat? They don’t need no threat!
But there’s a whole backstory to this that reveals how problematic this is. Austin, the Biden political appointee, overruled the head of the National Guard, General Daniel Hokanson.
#EXCLUSIVE official government memo obtained by #FOXNEWS shows #NATIONALGUARD chief laying out case that guard NOT EQUIPPED to carry out mission in DC to protect the #Capitol— dissents from Pentagon decision to continue the mission pic.twitter.com/w8MU9FlspZ
— Gillian Turner (@GillianHTurner) March 11, 2021
In a memo, Hokanson explained how they did not have enough volunteers because of how stretched the National Guard already was given all its duties as well as also helping out with virus vaccinations and getting ready for seasonal disaster response. That this is impacting their ability to provide volunteers; that only 500 have volunteered for the duty.
Obviously, that means any detail to D.C. is also conversely impacting the ability of those Guard members to be used to help in other areas like with disasters or vaccinations.
“Additionally, faced with pressing needs within their states, numerous Adjutants General and Governors have expressed their unwillingness to order the involuntary mobilization of NG personnel to man the mission, Moreover, I am concerned that the continued indefinite nature of this requirement may also impeded our ability to man future missions as both Adjutants General and Guardsmen alike may be skeptical about committing to similar endeavors. Pursuit of other inter-agency law enforcement options seems highly preferable to requesting involuntary mobilizations under the current circumstances,” he continued.
Translation? Governors are reluctant to have their Guard units jacked around for reasons they can’t even get straight answers about.
So what are they going to do? They’re considering doing exactly what the National Guard head recommended against: involuntary activations, forcing the people to be there, whether their governor or they want to be there or not, whether there’s any threat or not.
Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby didn’t even bother to talk about a threat anymore, just saying instead that they were needed to help the Capitol Police as the Capitol Police adjusted to their new policing “reality.”
“They have a legitimate need,” he continued. “I’m not going to speak to specific threat. And as I’ve been trying to say over the last few days, it’s not just about the threat environment in a highly polarized, hypercharged environment that we’re in right now. It is very much about a capacity assistance to the Capitol Police as they begin to flesh out and develop what they’re going to need long term to deal with a new reality on Capitol Hill.”
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