Pompeo Urges Military Leaders to ‘Stay Out’ of Political Fights, Put Mission above Social Justice

Simi Valley, Calif. — Mike Pompeo believes the military has been weakened by the same social-justice currents that have convulsed American education and corporate America over the last year.

Speaking with National Review after his Monday night speech at the Reagan Library, the former secretary of state and Army cavalry officer urged the Pentagon’s top brass to restore the American military’s apolitical tradition.

“Our military leaders have to stay out of these political fights,” he said. “It’s possible to do. You can be both a really great general and not opine on the political turmoil of the day. This is the mistake that I see too many senior military leaders make: They feel compelled to respond to the political noise.”

Pompeo joins a growing chorus of elected Republicans decrying the creeping trend of left-wing indoctrination which they say has infiltrated the military over the last year.

The lawmakers have cited the inclusion of texts espousing critical race theory on recommended reading lists and the proliferation of diversity, equity, and inclusion trainings within the ranks. Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas has gone so far as to introduce legislation that would bar the military from promoting the notion that the U.S. is a “fundamentally racist country.”

Cotton introduced the legislation in response to reports that the Navy created a book club around leading critical race theory activist Robin DiAngelo’s White Fragility and added Ibram X. Kendi’s How to Be an Antiracist to its recommended reading list.

General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, defended the Pentagon’s recent turn toward diversity and equity during his testimony before the House Armed Services Committee last month, but pushed back forcefully on the notion that the military has gone “woke,” arguing instead that its leaders are merely ensuring that servicemen are educated on the consequential societal trends of the day. One such trend, in Milley’s telling, is “white rage,” which he argued contributed to the January 6 Capitol riot.

“I want to understand white rage and I’m white,” Milley said.

“I’ve read Mao Zedong. I’ve read Karl Marx. I’ve read Lenin. That doesn’t make me a communist,” he added. “So what is wrong with understanding, having some situational understanding about the country for which we are here to defend?”

Pompeo called Milley’s testimony “odd” and said he believed it would harm the military’s readiness and resolve.

The West Point graduate said he has no problem with military officers and enlisted men being widely read on the subject of race, and sympathized with the plight of officers confronted by a generation of enlisted men steeped in racial essentialism. But, he argued, when immutable characteristics are given outsized priority in determining who is promoted, and considerable time and resources are spent adjudicating sociopolitical issues, readiness will inevitably suffer.

“Our military was designed to do two things: break stuff and kill people, and be ready to do so when peace can’t be achieved,” he said. “When they start engaging in these conversations about diversity and BLM, no, your job is to find the best tank platoon leader you can find, the best long-range sniper you can.”

Cotton has justified his “Combatting Racist Training in the Military Act” on similar grounds, arguing that a constant focus on race will, at best, distract from the military’s mission and, at worst, actively harm it by exacerbating racial tension in the ranks.

“Every minute they dedicate to some critical race theory primer could have been an hour better dedicated to books on seafaring or [Ulysses S.] Grant’s memoirs or studying Chinese military doctrine ― things that we actually expect and need our officers to know,” Cotton told the Military Times.

While congressmen have long criticized the direction of the military under a president of the opposing party, the military’s senior leadership has recently shown a greater willingness to respond to political provocations than in the past.

“We’ve seen senior military leaders use social media in a completely new way within the past year,” Martina Chesonis, spokeswoman for the Service Women’s Action Network, told the Military Times.

When Fox News host Tucker Carlson mocked the Pentagon’s roll-out of maternity flight suits earlier this year, arguing the suits exemplified the “feminization” of the military, he was met with an avalanche of criticism from enlisted servicemembers and high-ranking officers alike.

More than the social justice trends themselves, it is the public nature of these disputes that so disturbs Pompeo, who predicted military brass will come to regret their time in the spotlight.

“I regret that military leaders feel compelled to opine on political issues, and I have a feeling they will too,” he said.