Five of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff have bluntly spoken out against white supremacy, seen as as a rare veiled criticism of President Donald Trump by the military after his controversial comments about the racist violence in Virginia.
"One by one, the US military's most senior leaders have publicly - and bluntly - repudiated the racist violence that plunged Charlottesville into chaos Saturday, declaring the nation's armed forces as being unequivocally against hatred," The Washington Post reported today.
Trump, just completing seven months in the White House, is under fire for his response to Saturday's clashes between far-right and counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, in which he blamed "both sides" for the violence.
The rally was in protest at the removal of a statue of Robert E Lee, a general who fought for the pro-slavery Confederacy during the US Civil War.
"You had a group on one side that was bad and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent," Trump said. "I thought what happened was a horrible moment for our country, but there are two sides to every story," he said, triggering a national storm.
The backlash over his failure unequivocally to condemn racism and white supremacy, culminated in the dissolution of two key business advisory panels and an avalanche of condemnation from across the political spectrum.
Usually the US top military personnel stay out of domestic politics, American media noted.
But in the past few days, five of the US Joint Chiefs have come out in condemnation of the white supremacist attacks in Virginia, CNN reported, describing the move as a "rare public statements on national politics."
"No place for racial hatred or extremism in @USMC. Our core values of Honor, Courage, and Commitment frame the way Marines live and act," Commandant of the US Marine Corps Gen. Robert B. Neller said yesterday.
None of the statements directly mentioned Trump or his statements on the neo-Nazi marches over the weekend.
Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson was the first to issue a tweet on the subject on Saturday, as the protests were ongoing in Charlottesville.
"Events in Charlottesville unacceptable and musn't be tolerated @USNavy for ever stands against intolerance & hatred," he said.
He was joined yesterday by Chief of Staff of the Army, Gen. Mark A. Milley, Air Force Gen. Dave Goldfein and Chief of the National Guard Bureau Joseph Lengyel.
"The Army doesn't tolerate racism, extremism, or hatred in our ranks. It's against our Values and everything we've stood for since 1775," Milley tweeted.
Milley was adamant that nothing he is saying in his tweet is aimed at being political. "That is the furthest thing from my mind. I am not involved in domestic politics. I want good order and discipline in my ranks."
The military's five service chiefs had issued firm, forceful statements that stand apart from remarks made by President Trump, who faces deepening criticism for his repeated attempts to evenly distribute blame for clashes between white nationalists and the anti-fascist protesters who showed up to oppose them, the Post commented.
A woman died and 19 were injured when a car, which police said was driven by 20-year-old James Alex Fields Jr. Of Ohio, slammed into people demonstrating along a crowded, narrow street near the University of Virginia.
The military's top general, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Joseph Dunford, has so far not weighed in publicly, his spokesman said. Dunford is in China as part of the administration's effort to drum up support for punitive actions on North Korea for its nuclear provocations.
Defence Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters on Monday that he was "very saddened" by what unfolded in Charlottesville.
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