In rare public comments, the former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Ret. Gen. Martin Dempsey condemned Trump’s threat to use military force to suppress …
In rare public comments, the former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Ret. Gen. Martin Dempsey condemned Trump’s threat to use military force to suppress nationwide protests as “dangerous” and “very troubling,” in an interview with NPR on Thursday.
“The idea that the president would take charge of the situation using the military was troubling to me,” Gen. Dempsey said.
On Monday, President Trump levied the possibility of engaging federal troops in response to the demonstrators’ unrest triggered by the death of George Floyd, who was killed last week while he was in police custody.
“If a city or a state refuses to take the actions that are necessary to defend the life and property of their residents,” Trump warned governors and mayors in the White House Rose Garden, “then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them.”
The retired general said military involvement should be reserved for “conflict in external wars.”
“The idea that the military would be called in to dominate and to suppress what, for the most part, were peaceful protests — admittedly, where some had opportunistically turned them violent — and that the military would somehow come in and calm that situation was very dangerous to me,” he said.
The retired general isn’t the first among top military brass to break with the president on this issue. Retired Marine Gen. Jim Mattis, Trump’s former defense secretary, and Defense Secretary Mark Esper also had stinging words for Trump over his call for active-duty troops.
Dempsey draws on his insight from his four-decade military career in a new book, No Time For Spectators: The Lessons That Mattered Most From West Point To The West Wing.
As the United States confronts multiple crises, Dempsey offers some advice about how to lead at this time.
“We’ve got to continue to work to develop a sense of belonging among leaders and those who follow them,” he said.
