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Pentagon issues new rules on extremism in the army
The Pentagon has issued new guidelines designed to fight extremism within the military
The Pentagon issued new rules on Monday aimed at fighting extremism within the United States military.
The guidelines come nearly a year after the deadly January 6 attack on the Capitol, which dozens of current and former service members attended.
“The vast majority of men and women in our armed forces as of course you know, serve honor ably. And while extremist activity in the force is rare, any instance can have an outsize effect.”
U.S. Defense Department Spokesman John Kirby
The new measures include everything from prohibiting “liking” extremist content on social media to fundraising or demonstrating for an extremist organization.
The Pentagon, however, avoided weighing in on specific scenarios, like a soldier’s view of the legitimacy of Biden as president.
It also stopped short of creating a list of extremist groups that military members cannot join.
“Groups can, and do, change their methodology, their ideals, three motivations, and they can reform themselves, they can disband and form into something else. So, if we got into coming up with a list of extremist groups, It would be only probably as good as the day we published it — because these groups change.”
Monday’s announcement comes just weeks after the Pentagon’s Inspector General cited nearly 300 allegations of extremist activity by U.S. service members.
The goals and timeline for enforcement of the new policy are unclear, including when U.S. troops might start getting punished for inappropriate use of social media.
