Joe Biden is president. The inauguration is over. So, why do we still have troops in the capital? Nearly 30,000 men were deployed to provide security for the January 20 mostly COVID-safe festivities. I say mostly because Joe Biden’s family wasn’t wearing masks while in the Lincoln Memorial taking photos. The memorial is federal property. That’s a direct violation of the president’s executive order on masks, but he was celebrating so it’s fine. That was what the Biden White House said. If you’re celebrating, eh, screw it—take your mask off. Anyway, we digress.
Fences were set up. Walls were constructed. All of a sudden, the police were not cold-blooded murderers and walls work. Yet, while this security operation was going on, with some calling it a military occupation, the Democrats and the liberal media decided to keep fear alive by peddling an unfounded claim that National Guardsmen could execute an insider attack. There was no intelligence to suggest this would happen—no evidence either. We had Democrats all but saying that Trump-voting members of the military—and there are scores of them—can not be trusted. It’s as if they don’t know oaths are taken prior to joining the service. The coup de grace was when the Guard was evicted from the US Capitol and forced to huddle in a parking lot nearby. The situation was rectified but shows how Democrats view and treat our military overall—with hatred and suspicion.
The Biden administration is here—and so is the National Guard. They're staying. Some 5,000 troops will remain to provide security as Congress navigates through Trump's second impeachment. As Cortney noted earlier, the new measures are not being well-received (via Politico):
Former President Donald Trump’s upcoming Senate impeachment trial poses a security concern that federal law enforcement officials told lawmakers last week requires as many as 5,000 National Guard troops to remain in Washington through mid-March, according to four people familiar with the matter.
The contingency force will help protect the Capitol from what was described as “impeachment security concerns,” including the possibility of mass demonstrations coinciding with the Senate’s trial, which is slated to begin the week of Feb. 8.
Despite the threat, the citizen soldiers on the ground say they have been given little information about the extension and wonder why they are being forced to endure combat-like conditions in the nation’s capital without a clear mission.
“Quite frankly this is not a ‘combat zone,’ so combat conditions shouldn’t apply,” said one Guard member on the ground in D.C. who has deployed twice to Afghanistan.
[…]
The rank-and-file have so far been given no official justifications, threat reports or any explanation for the extended mission, said two Guard members — nor have they seen any violence thus far.
“There is no defined situation, or mission statement. … This is very unusual for any military mission,” said one member, who has deployed twice to Afghanistan. “We are usually given a situation, with defined mission perimeters, and at least a tentative plan on how to execute those objectives.”
“Some don’t even know how long they’ll be here,” said another Guard member.
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The deployment of the Guard comes after the January 6 riot that engulfed Capitol Hill. Pro-Trump supporters stormed the Capitol Building as Congress was certifying the 2020 Electoral College results. Five people died. Added security for the inauguration is fine and was expected, but now—it seems not even the troops know what they’re doing here or why they’re sticking around. There is no defined mission.
Also, it’s not like the city was unprepared with regards to this event being a surprise. They knew trouble could happen given the politically charged atmosphere surrounding the 2020 election but chose to do nothing apparently. The command chain was screwed, and mayhem ensured because of it.
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