Senator Says Pentagon Must Eject “Woke”

(RepublicanNews.org) – Florida Republican Mike Waltz, chair of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on readiness, blasted the Pentagon for what he sees as its obsession with “woke” politics that is getting in the way of military readiness.

Waltz said he believes it is only a matter of time before China invades Taiwan. The Pentagon is wasting time focusing on unnecessary pandemic issues, social justice policies favored by the left, and continuing to mandate vaccines against Covid, which is discouraging enrollment.

He pointed to a memo by four-star general Mike Minihan, head of the Air Mobility Command. Minihan’s memo laid out concerns from service members about what they see as the military’s distraction from its mission of protecting the US and its national security.

The memo, which predicted war between China and Taiwan by 2025, urged the military to work toward readiness for such a conflict and report on the steps taken toward that goal.

Waltz praised the memo, saying it was “refreshing” to hear an officer emphasizing that troops must train harder, to try to deter war, and be ready to win it if the worst comes to pass.

He said Minihan is focused on basic military standards, not “diversity, equity and inclusion and climate.”

Unsurprisingly, former President Donald Trump has weighed into the debate as part of his preparation for a presidential run in 2024. Trump criticized President Biden’s bungled withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan in 2022, saying “we have a woke military that can’t fight or win, as proven in Afghanistan.”

The issue of “wokeness”—meaning a set of left-leaning social policies that emphasize claims of discrimination and oppression of minorities—is not just a rhetorical concern of politicians. Service members in all branches have complained about the armed services’ turn away from basics toward left-leaning social policies.

The military reporting site RealClearDefense said the Biden administration enacted a slew of policies foregrounding racial and gender “diversity,” “equity and inclusion,” and “fighting climate changes” as priorities for the military.