WASHINGTON: Cracks are starting to appear in the
Trump
administration and in the Republican Party after Tuesday’s fiasco involving President Donald Trump’s use of the military to evict peaceful protestors in front of the White House so he could pose in front of a church with a
bible
in hand — and his general eagerness to deploy the military to contain civic strife.
US Defense Mike Esper and the military establishment have now made it known that they were virtually conned into accompanying Trump on his photo-op walk-across to the church opposite to the White House after protestors were dispersed with brute force even before curfew in the area. They have also conveyed they do not support deploying active duty troops to quell protests, even as Trump has shown an alarming keenness to use the military and its lethal weapons against protestors, ostensibly to contain the violence and looting.
“The option to use active duty forces in a law enforcement role should only be used as a matter of last resort, and only in the most urgen