Esper Reverses Course Again, Orders Troops Out Of D.C.: Reports

[mfcorey1]

This is the second time this week he’s made the call and broken from Trump on the need for a military response to the anti-racism protests.

In his second reversal in the last 24 hours, Defense Secretary Mark Esper has reportedly ordered several hundred active-duty troops to return home after being deployed in Washington, D.C., to respond to anti-racism protests.

A defense official shared the decision with multiple media organizations.

“The Department made the decision to return members of some of the active duty units in the capital region to their home base… Return of the remainder of the active duty service members will be conditions-based,” one official told a “PBS NewsHour” reporter. A source from the Pentagon put the number of troops at 700, ABC News reported.

The Pentagon did not immediately return HuffPost’s request to confirm the new plan.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/esper-orders-troops-home-again_n_5ed9597fc5b6dfb3fe4d7581

[bluestarone]

1. Good news BUT i bet he was told to keep them there until

BARR can get his boys in there first! PRE-PLANNED? i have no doubt!

[Beartracks]

10. Right. Sending home the accountable ones who respect a chain of command...

... to be replaced by unaccountable mercenaries with loyalties to their paycheck.

=============

[sfstaxprep]

2. I Expect He Will Be Fired Tomorrow Afternoon nt

[Celerity]

3. Trump rage tweet in 4,3,2,........

[Turbineguy]

4. One of the Generals had a quiet word with him?

[Wellstone ruled]

5. No,it is all about the use of

Military Force against Civilians. Esper does not want to have to Lawyer up because of or for Barr or Trump. If there was use of Illegal Munitions during this event,he will no doubt be charged for his participation in that decision process.

[captain queeg]

6. Esper, Barr, trump, princess-Jarad; this is what I think of going on at the WH now

https://m.

I could picture them
Running from room to room, down to the bunker, back, across the street...

[bottomofthehill]

7. Too little too late

Trying to save any prospect for employment after this administration.

[agingdem]

8. make no mistake Esper is a weasel ...

he had no idea Trump and Barr were going to tear-gas American citizens exercising their constitutional right to gather and peacefully protest...menacing soldiers on horseback...gee whiz where did they come from?...and the photo op "stroll" to St. Johns Church so that piece of non-human garbage, his boss, could brandish the Bible like it was a weapon?.. did not see that one coming!...he was appalled just like the rest of us until his master came down on his ass...now for the conscience wrestling..ok the active duty troops stay...good idea...maybe not...ok, they go...that's not going to make Barr happy..how about some stay and some go...ya that's it...and he gets to keep my job!

[UTUSN]

9. K&R

[Ford_Prefect]

11. My impression is rather than let people discover just how "irregular" the deployed units are,

Esper withdrew them from further exposure. The reasons they had no insignia visible had to do with how those troops were collected for the job. I believe they were not standard MP units nor would you see them listed in divisional org. plans for any regular army group. I don't know where they were stationed but I doubt you'll find any one of them listed in a base directory.

That's my personal opinion. But it is based on how much exceptional effort has been exerted to mask the source and the personnel and disguise the methods used to arrange and deploy them. If they are part of a legitimate unit and were deployed according to the correct military process of orders and authority then there would be none of this BS going on. Someone bent the rules way out beyond reason and they knew it when they did it. As we have heard from many military speakers today that is not something undertaken by a responsible authority.

[Cha]

12. K&R

[muriel_volestrangler]

13. Oh, the grand old Duke of York, He had ten thousand men;

He marched them up to the top of the hill,
And he marched them down again.

When they were up, they were up,
And when they were down, they were down,
And when they were only halfway up,
They were neither up nor down.