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Title: Portland: The Pentagon Should Step-Up Or Pipe-Down
Source:
Zero Hedge
URL Source: https://www.zerohedge.com
Published: Jul 28, 2020
Author: James Durso, op-ed via The Hill,
Post Date: 2020-07-28 02:24:08 by Deckard
Keywords: None
Views: 160
Authored by James Durso, op-ed via The Hill, Some military figures apparently have qualms about the U.S. Border Patrol, a federal law enforcement agency, wearing “their” uniforms in the defense of the federal courthouse in Portland, Ore. After President Donald Trump’s highly publicized walk from the White House to St. John's Episcopal Church, two senior officials — the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff - were scandalized to find they were in the vicinity of politics. The secretary and the chairman retreated across the Potomac faster than General Robert E. Lee after the Battle of Antietam. Secretary Mark Esper distanced himself from the photo-op and the president’s suggestion the military be used to restore order under the authority of the Insurrection Act. The Chairman, Gen. Mark Milley, also apologized, and said he hoped to learn from the situation, as he and the secretary were apparently alarmed that the American people may have glimpsed a camouflage military uniform in the nation’s capital even as rioters were poised to attack federal buildings. Since then, the Border Patrol deployed its Border Patrol Tactical Unit (BORTAC), similar to a SWAT team, to protect the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse in Portland, Ore., from rioters. The BORTAC officers wear a camouflage uniform, known as Operational Camouflage Pattern, similar to that worn by the U.S. armed forces. The Border Patrol officers sallied from the courthouse with non-lethal weapons - tear gas, pepperballs, and “impact weapons” (rubber bullets) - to repel and apprehend rioters who tried to set fire to the courthouse. Five of the officers were injured and three may have suffered permanent eye injury from lasers wielded by the rioters. No sooner had the (tear gas) clouds parted than we were subjected to a lot of “concerns” and furrowing of brow by the Secretary of Defense and military figures worried that federal officers trying to keep a courthouse from being burned down might be confused with their troops. The military should be so lucky. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), a former U.S. Marine, said the Border Patrol officers “…obviously have no understanding of our military's most basic values — to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States." Tell it to the blinded officers. Retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling criticized the wearing of camouflage by the Border Patrol and proudly recounted that when he was leading the effort to rebuild Iraq’s police force, he equipped them in uniforms dissimilar to those worn by Iraq’s military. The Iraqi Police definitely looked like regular cops, but that didn’t stop it from being infiltrated by militia groups and earning a well-deserved reputation for corruption and brutality. Retired Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré decried the Border Patrol for wearing “the cloth of our nation” and followed up with "Get the hell out of our uniforms. Really, “the cloth of our nation?”
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