These are words of Former Defense Secretary and retired Marine Corps General James Mattis.
In a statement released this week and before the weekend “No Kings” protests that are expected to draw millions of us into city streets, he warned:
“We must reject any thinking of our cities as a “battlespace” that our uniformed military is called upon to “dominate.” At home, we should use our military only when requested to do so, on very rare occasions, by state governors. Militarizing our response, as we witnessed in Washington, D.C., sets up a false conflict—between the military and civilian society. It erodes the moral ground that ensures a trusted bond between men and women in uniform and the society they are sworn to protect, and of which they themselves are a part.”
Indeed many who are serving right now, want to get the message out to their comrades in arms.
“We, in our oath to serve, we are not pawns for Donald Trump's agenda. Why now? It's because the military was called upon to answer protesters. We, in our oath to serve, we serve the people of the United States.
The Constitution, these constitutional rights are being stripped and, and just denied, and the military will not be pawns to that. And now we have a conscience. And we have a duty and moral obligation to say no and resist.
The oath, is what this Army veteran wants the troops to remember.
“To every National Guardsman with a spine and a soul. If you're being ordered to deploy into Los Angeles or any other city under any directive tie to a self declared national emergency, read your UCMJ section 90 through 92. You swore an oath. Not to a man, not to a party, and certainly not to a fascist cult masquerading as the official governance. You swore to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
An order is only lawful if it aligns with the Constitution, federal law and the lawful chain of command. A President, under criminal conviction, who clawed back power through systematic manipulation and incitement of sedition represents by definition a constitutional crisis, not a lawful administration. Deploying troops without consent of the state, especially under a hostile executive agenda, is not national defense. It is called federal aggression. If you are ordered to turn your weapon on our citizens, your presence or your silence against said citizens in any capacity violates constitutional boundaries.
That is an unlawful order under Article 92 of the UCMJ. Your legal and moral duty and obligation is to refuse those orders, not hesitate, not to defer, not to wait and see, to refuse. You become part of the very domestic enemies your oath warned you about. You will not be able to hide behind, “I was just taking orders.”
This is about the Constitution, state sovereignty and the rule of law. Uphold your oath because history is watching..”
And a Vietnam veteran speaks out about the deployment of the military into a crowd of civilians.
“No. You don't send Marines. You don't send military detachments into the streets of America to confront citizens of this country. That's unconstitutional. Therefore, I'm asking that the President, the Secretary of Defense, call off what you're doing.
It's wrong. You don't send the military into the streets. You know better. You know what's going to happen. Marines are not trained in the use of due process.
They're only trained in a couple of things, destruction and death. So I'm going to tell you that what you did today, President Trump and Secretary Hegseth, is sending a signal to America that you don't care about the citizens of this country. Your political motives are going to drive us into a place we don't want to be.”
By calling in the military, California’s Governor Gavin Newsom says Donald Trump fanned the flames of violence in Los Angeles.
“He again chose escalation. He chose more force. He chose theatrics over public safety. He federalized another 2,000 Guard members. He deployed more than 700 active U.S. Marines. These are the men and women trained for foreign combat, not domestic law enforcement. We honor their service. We honor their bravery. But we do not want our streets militarized by our own armed forces.
Not in LA, not in California, not anywhere.”
As General Mattis said in his statement,
Quoting here: “We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution. But at the same time, we must work to unite, to once again be a country that is admired and respected at home and abroad.”
Music out:
Yeah-yeah, some folks inherit star-spangled eyes
Hoo, they send you down to war, Lord
And when you ask 'em, "How much should we give?"
Hoo, they only answer, "More, more, more, more"
It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no military son, son, Lord
It ain't me, it ain't me
I ain't no fortunate one
Share this post