Esper says no military for protests as
standby troops leave
Associated Press,
by
Zeke Miller
&
Robert Burns
Original Article
Posted By: earlybird,
6/3/2020 2:23:33 PM
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Wednesday he opposes using military forces for law enforcement in containing current street protests, tamping down threats from President Donald Trump, who had warned states he was willing to send troops to “dominate” the streets.
Less than 48 hours after the president threatened to use the Insurrection Act of 1807 to contain protests if governors were not able to get a handle on unrest, Esper said it should be invoked in the United States “only in the most urgent and dire of situations.” He declared, “We are not in one of those situations now.”
What OP Said
15 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
stablemoney 6/3/2020 2:29:51 PM (No. 431044)
Esper does not set national poliicy, and should not be giving press conferences that may not conform with policies that are set, or could be set, by elected officials. When is Esper going to give a press conference on the doings of Halper, who was paid by the Pentagon? What other dirty money is being laundered through the Defense Dept, Mr. Esper?
37 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
TLCary 6/3/2020 2:34:23 PM (No. 431047)
He declared, “We are not in one of those situations now.” ... because President Trump threatened to send in the military. A tactic that worked until he was undermined by Esper. Now it can escalate until Esper feels we are "in one of those situations". Hey Esper: knowing when to shut up can save lives.
37 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
4Justice 6/3/2020 2:36:17 PM (No. 431050)
Shut up, Mark. It is not your call and at a time like this, you should not be undermining the President.
39 people like this.
AssPress propaganda
Designed to incite
Jim Acosta tried it on KayLeigh
Didn’t work
17 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
Miceal 6/3/2020 2:53:09 PM (No. 431065)
Esper needs to submit his resignation. If his beliefs are as he stated, he's not on the Trump Team and he needs to go...
33 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
SavageRider 6/3/2020 2:55:53 PM (No. 431068)
Esper will resign before the weekend.
27 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
TXknitter 6/3/2020 3:30:12 PM (No. 431105)
Aren’t we sick of these woosy boys? It was noted that last night the extra “military” in DC seemed to be cordoning off and surrounding protesters. By that I mean the protesters who were basically unarmed, not really biolent just loud mouth idiots. Meanwhile two streets over, the looters were busy stealing as much booty as they could carry!
9 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
Mauigirl 6/3/2020 3:39:32 PM (No. 431112)
#3 nails it.
You don't show your cards to your opponent.
Or, if you prefer:
Esper just took the bat out of Trump's hands.
I hope this clown isn't allowed to negotiate any issue on behalf of the USA.
16 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
planetgeo 6/3/2020 4:11:33 PM (No. 431150)
Excuse me, you are NOT the Commander in Chief. So you do not get to veto or delay his orders. And as for the seriousness of the situation, not only are a dozen or so of our biggest cities being burned and looted, but the White House itself was almost stormed by rioters a couple nights ago, with the President inside and being moved to a secure bunker. What the heck do you mean that the situation doesn't warrant such action?
Resign!
14 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
fhancock 6/3/2020 4:19:27 PM (No. 431157)
Active duty soldiers are blunt instruments not policemen...if mayors and governors won't use their police or national guard units...active duty should not be used until those other forces have been utilized...it relieves the cities and states of THEIR responsibility of protecting THEIR citizens...Esper is correct we are not at that dire situation yet...make the mayors and governors do their job
5 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
MickTurn 6/3/2020 4:50:18 PM (No. 431189)
You're FIRED!
Who the hell do you think you are? If you can't do what you are told by YOUR BOSS, get the H OUT!
IF this mahem is not immediately stopped it will escalate to a point where it can't be stopped without shooting the Looters, PERIOD!
11 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
acesfull 6/3/2020 4:53:02 PM (No. 431193)
Maybe not today but soon Mr. Esper will be gone. He was listening to Pentagon brass who told him they did not want to support. POTUS. These are very dangerous times, very dangerous.
12 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
rochow 6/3/2020 5:03:13 PM (No. 431222)
Esper, do you know who the President of the US is??? Hint: it ain't you!!!! You might want to consider a new place of work very soon!!!
9 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
agrunt 6/3/2020 5:18:41 PM (No. 431243)
If I understood part of his statement -- that being that the troops were not trained for this we should not use. Well, you are the SecDef and it is your responsibility to have troops trained. This has been building for months. No excuse -- you are fired for not doing your job. I started my military training in quite times -the very early sixties -- We had hours of training for riot control. This is why I so POed at Kent as almost all training was ignored. I am sure the MP's are trained in riot control, or they should be. So use them. And get training for those that do not have.
7 people like this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
DVC 6/3/2020 6:15:22 PM (No. 431319)
Esper is either doing this at the order of Trump, or he is going to get fired soon if he keeps it up.
7 people like this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
paral04 6/3/2020 6:21:49 PM (No. 431328)
Looks like it is getting pretty dire to me.
5 people like this.
Reply 18 - Posted by:
LC Chihuahua 6/3/2020 6:21:57 PM (No. 431329)
Yet another example that good help is so hard to find in Washington.
7 people like this.
Reply 19 - Posted by:
Mike22 6/3/2020 6:35:47 PM (No. 431341)
This might be another job for Richard Grenell. Retire the woke flag officers. Follow by General Flynn?
5 people like this.
Reply 20 - Posted by:
Chuzzles 6/3/2020 8:31:37 PM (No. 431451)
Secretary Esper is a willful idiot. He has tried undermining the President on several occasions during his tenure at the Pentagon, and he needs to either get with the program, or just resign. I think most of us are sick and tired of the constant turmoil from the secret deep state swamp creatures.
4 people like this.
Reply 21 - Posted by:
Strike3 6/3/2020 8:53:53 PM (No. 431475)
Not yet we aren't you stupid richard. A CIC and his underlings should present a united front after discussing the situation.
0 people like this.
Reply 22 - Posted by:
whyyeseyec 6/3/2020 9:40:16 PM (No. 431510)
@#7 - Not only will Esper resign but he'll be undermining Trump in the court of public opinion right up to the election. Another backstabber like Mattis.
3 people like this.
Reply 23 - Posted by:
bighambone 6/3/2020 10:09:50 PM (No. 431525)
When advice like this comes up, you have to remember first that the Admirals and General’s are all politicians, and have to be politicians in order to advance from one star to four star rank. Those Admirals and Generals know that the peaceful riots are being perpetrated for highly political purposes with leftist and liberal Democrat State and local politicians slow walking effective law enforcement tactics to insure that the riots continue on for as long as possible believing that they are going to be able to create enough chaos to cause President Trump to be defeated in the November election. Bottom line, the Admirals and Generals do not want to risk their careers by the unforeseen happenings that are bound to occur if active duty military units are deployed in contact with the peaceful rioters who are destroying the inner cities, and the Secretary of Defense is taking his advise from such politicians.
I think the way forward for Trump is to come out and say that he agrees with the Secretary of Defense that the time is not yet right to deploy active duty Troops into the leftist and liberal Democrat run inner cities, and offer the Democrat Governors and Mayors the assistance of whatever Federal law enforcement, National Guard Troops and equipment that they need to enforce the law. If those Governors and Mayors do not quell the peaceful riots and rioters who are destroying their cities, Trump should allow them to stew in their own juices.
The President, who did not cause the COVID-19 virus, or the civil unrest rioting should then get out across the country bringing the US economy back, and commence campaigning for re-election.
1 person likes this.
Reply 24 - Posted by:
NYbob 6/4/2020 1:50:04 AM (No. 431657)
I think a lot of military leaders are under the delusion that because a lot of lower ranks salute them all the time that it means the officer corps is sort of Godlike. Well, why don't you guys try a military coup? You will find out very quickly that American service men and women will not follow traitors. Some will, most won't. Your coup will be measured in days, not weeks.
0 people like this.
Reply 25 - Posted by:
judy 6/4/2020 5:42:17 AM (No. 431721)
I hope Trump fires him. If you disagree with your boss you do it in private.
0 people like this.
Below, you will find ...
Most Recent Articles posted by "earlybird"
and
Most Active Articles (last 48 hours)
Comments:
Esper is looking at the wrong “protesters” - doesn’t seem to realize that looters and arsonists - anarchists - are performing their illegal acts in conjunction with the peaceful protests. No military are being used in encounter situations. Their presence is a deterrent. They are protecting public buildings and the like so that LE can do their jobs. Esper is wrong.