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Thursday, 28 March 2024

Milley, Esper push review of Confederacy symbols

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Milley, Esper push review of Confederacy symbols
Milley, Esper push review of Confederacy symbols

The top U.S. general said on Thursday that the military had to take a "hard look" at symbols of the Confederacy, including the names of bases, and said he had recommended a commission to look at the issue.

This report produced by Chris Dignam.

The Pentagon’s top leaders told Congress on Thursday that the U.S. military needed to take a "hard look" at symbols of the Confederacy at U.S. army bases, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley said he had recommended a commission to look at the issue.

"The Confederacy, the American Civil War was fought and it was an act of rebellion, it was an act of treason at the time against the union, against the Stars and Stripes, against the U.S. Constitution, and those officers turned their back on their oath.

Now, some have a different view of that, some think it's heritage, others think it's hate.

The way we should do it matters as much as that we should do it.

So we need to... take a hard look at the bases, the statues, the names and all of this stuff." Defense Secretary Mark Esper said a review of Confederate flags at bases was underway.

"I want to make sure that we have an approach that is enduring that could withstand legal challenge, but that unites us and most importantly, helps build cohesion and readiness." General Milley's comments in particular could put him on a collision course with President Donald Trump, who has favored keeping the names of 10 military bases from Virginia to Texas that are named for Confederate generals.

"Forty-three percent of the United States military are minorities... And for those young soldiers that go on to a base of Fort Hood or Fort Bragg or Fort wherever named after a Confederate general, they can be reminded that, that general fought for an institution of slavery that may have enslaved one of their one of their ancestors." U.S. military bases named for Confederate military leaders are all located in former Confederate states.

Many of those states helped elect Trump in 2016, and he is counting on them again for the Nov.

3 election.

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