[Southern January 23rd] According to US media reports, on January 22, local time, the US Congress and Senate voted to approve Lloyd Austin as US Secretary of Defense. Austin has also become the US Secretary of Defense. The first African-American defense minister. According to the US media, Austin will not only lead the US military to respond to the security threats in the world and manage a huge military organization, but also deal with a more serious challenge: eradicate white supremacy and violent extremism in the US military.
Lloyd Austin, source: U.S. media
According to reports, before Austin took office as Secretary of Defense, serious violence occurred in the US capital Washington . On January 6, the U.S. Capitol was attacked by supporters of former U.S. President Trump , causing many casualties. In this incident, many participants were retired or active members of the US military. In addition to a large number of veterans who "worked" for Trump in violent conflicts, there is also an undercurrent within the US military, and white supremacy and violent extremism have existed for a long time.
In this regard, Austin told U.S. senators that Pentagon’s job is to "protect the United States from enemy threats. But if some of these enemies are in our own ranks, we cannot Do this." He will also work to eliminate white supremacy and violent extremism in the military system. However, he said that eliminating white supremacists in the military was not his only priority. Leading the US military to cooperate with the government to accelerate the speed of COVID-19 vaccination in the United States was the focus of his attention when he took office.
According to reports, Austin told the Senate Armed Services Committee: "One day we woke up and found that there were extremists in our team. They did bad things. Of course we have to hold them accountable. But we found out that this Signs of this kind of activity are always there. We just don’t know what to look for or what to focus on._P3p
According to reports, Austin is not the first U.S. Secretary of Defense to promise to solve the problem of white supremacy. The Associated Press said that white supremacy has long existed in the U.S. military. Despite U.S. military leaders It insists that only a small number of people in the military hold extremist views, but incidents of racial hatred occur from time to time. In the white-majority U.S. military, hidden prejudice has always existed.
America According to the media, a recent report shows that African-American soldiers serving in the U.S. Air Force are more likely to be investigated, arrested, face disciplinary action, and expelled for misconduct. According to 2018 data, approximately Two-thirds of active military personnel are white, and about 17% are of African descent, but the proportion of minorities decreases with the increase in military rank. This is also reflected in the proportion of white officers in the US military command system, in the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff Among the current 8 members of the meeting, only Admiral Charles Q. Brown, Jr., Chief of Staff of the Air Force, will be of African descent.
Group photo of the members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
According to reports, the Pentagon leadership has been in the past year People have been trying to eliminate white supremacy in the US military, but they were opposed by then President Trump. Last year, it took several months for the Department of Defense to effectively ban the southern Confederate flag. Pentagon officials will The issue of renaming military bases named by the leaders of the Confederate States during the American Civil War was left to Congress, and Trump refused to rename these bases. During the American Civil War, the Confederacy supported slavery.
States during the Civil War The chief general of the coalition, Robert Lee
In addition, U.S. senators asked Austin about violent extremism in the military. U.S. media said that the hearing was fleeing on January 6th. The Capitol was held two weeks later. In that incident, many mobs supported separatism or held violent extremist views.
In addition,After the violence on the 6th, Washington police said that Trump supporters used military sign language when they stormed the Capitol and clashed with the police. In subsequent investigations, security agencies such as FBI (FBI) also found that many people who participated in the violence on Capitol Hill had served in the US military. Among them, the 35-year-old female demonstrator Ashli Babbitt (Ashli Babbitt), who died after being shot by the police while breaking into the Capitol, served in the U.S. Air Force for 14 years and was sent abroad for 4 deployments during her service. .
Ashley Babbitt
In addition, according to US media reports on January 12, Major Daniel Lessard, a spokesman for the US 1st Special Forces Command, said that he was stationed in North Carolina. Captain Emily Rainey, who belongs to the 4th Psychological Warfare Group in Fort Bragg, N.A., is under investigation for allegedly leading 100 people to Washington, the capital of the United States, in violation of regulations during the vacation to attend a rally held by Trump supporters . On the 13th, Virginia National Guard soldier Jacob Frekel was arrested in Virginia for his involvement in the Capitol riots. Fraker was also the first active US soldier to be charged after this incident.
Emily Rainey
At the confirmation hearing, Illinois Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth said: "It's clear that we are in a crisis." Kworth said that Pentagon leaders must eradicate extremism and reaffirm core military values. Virginia Democratic Senator Tim Kaine (Tim Kaine) also pressured Austin to take action.
Austin stated that military leaders must set the right example to prevent and eliminate violent extremism. He said officers must understand their troops and look for signs of violent extremism or other problems.According to US media, Austin believes that most of the solutions must come from within the military and lower-level commanders. Commanders at all levels must ensure that the troops they lead are trained and familiar with the prohibition.
It is reported that the 67-year-old Austin graduated from West Point Military Academy in 1975 and served in the 82nd Airborne Division of the US Army. He served as the commander of the U.S. Army in Iraq from September 2010 to December 2011, and served as the Deputy Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army in January 2012. He was appointed Commander of the Central Command in March 2013 and retired in March 2016. US media reported that US President Biden worked closely with Austin during his tenure as vice president from 2009 to 2017. When Biden nominated Austin as Secretary of Defense, he said that he knew and trusted Austin.
According to U.S. law, the Secretary of Defense is a civilian, and candidates nominated by the Secretary of Defense must retire for more than 7 years. Austin, who retired in 2016, has been retired for less than 7 years. In response, the Senate and the House of Representatives passed a resolution on the 21st to grant Austin year exemption. Austin became the third retired general to receive an exemption for years and run the Pentagon after George Marshall and James Mattis.
proofreading: Huang Maibing
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