Ideas have consequences; bad ideas certainly have deplorable consequences. Analysts focus on political decisions and strategic calculation. There is another cause, moreover a major one, of the ignominy that America suffered in Afghanistan: a kind of doctrines which hollow out the most powerful nation in the world. These are essentially New Left or postmodern doctrines, the most important of which is Critical Race Theory (CRT).
According to Encyclopedia Britannica, CRT is a “loosely organized intellectual movement and framework of legal analysis based on the premise that race is not a natural and biologically grounded characteristic of physically distinct subgroups of human beings, but a socially constructed category ( culturally invented) which is used to oppress and exploit people of color. Critical race theorists argue that the law and legal institutions in the United States are inherently racist in that they function to create and maintain social, economic and political inequalities between whites and non-whites, particularly those who are not whites. African Americans.
At first glance, this is one of the many wacky Marxist theories that haunt tenured professors. Loony, because it is based on the absurdity that race is not a natural and biological characteristic. But, one wonders, how on earth does such an abstruse spiel impact something as eventful as the failed Joe Biden administration? The answer is: because this claptrap has infected politics, society, culture and even the military of the United States.
In the second half of June, as the Taliban captured large swathes of Afghanistan, General Mark Milley, chairman of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff, promoted the CRT study to soldiers. , airmen and sailors. Admiral Michael Gilday, chief of naval operations, defended the recommendation that sailors read an obviously anti-American book.
Milley’s justification was: “I have read Mao Tse-tung. I read Karl Marx. I read Lenin. That doesn’t make me a Communist. That may be true, but when authorities prescribe or recommend something, they legitimize it even if they don’t explicitly support it. So recommending a theory or a book that preaches the false doctrine of systemic racism in America to the men and women in uniform is… well, that might have sounded weird if the consequences hadn’t been so dire.
Imagine Indian soldiers being invited to read a book by an ultra-left scholar who preaches that the soul of India is iniquitous and that caste is not an evil of Indian society but its main characteristic. It should come as no surprise if, upon reading this book, some jawans and officers show a lack of enthusiasm to fight for their country.
But Milley wants to expose his soldiers to the biologically untenable, empirically questionable, and logically unhealthy CRT. Perhaps this is because he and many other military leaders know which side of the bread is buttered; they know that the CRT and its champions played a major role in bringing Biden to the White House. They also know that the CRT and its related doctrines inform and animate the radical left which, in turn, has come to dominate the Democratic Party. Vice President Kamala Harris, for example, represents the radical left.
When non-military elements enter the civil-military equation, the road to success takes many unusual turns; genuflection to dominant dogmas and political masters takes precedence over professional sense. This seems to have happened in the United States. People like Milley are more concerned with the inconsequential, if not mythical, “white rage” than the real jihadist rage and the diversity of the armed forces than their use in the evacuation of American citizens and Afghan collaborators.
In general, leftist ideas weaken the fighting spirit of a nation (Lenin did not like Russian nationalism, but during World War II Stalin had to fall back on Russian patriotism. In fact, the Communists call the fight against Nazi Germany the Great Patriotic War). The CRT is particularly dangerous because it was designed to vilify and demean America.
It was the CRT that inspired the predominantly left-wing Black Lives Matter and Antifa movements last year, movements that, in addition to sparking an orgy of violence and arson, left Trump electorally hurt. The CRT champions, whose hatred of America is visceral, despise Trump because he loves America.
And Milley loves the cathode ray tube. He abrasively confronted Republican members of Congress who questioned him about his CRT embrace. CNN reported that an exasperated Republican Representative Matt Gaetz, who was seen shaking his head during Milley’s comments, then tweeted a video of Milley’s remarks, writing in the tweet: “With generals like this, it is no wonder that we have fought many more wars than we have won.
The United States has such generals because their hearts and minds were infected with the CRT virus and the infection became symptomatic. We know that even the healthiest individuals and strong young men and women can fall victim to a deadly virus. This is what appears to have happened to the US military in Afghanistan.
Disclaimer
The opinions expressed above are those of the author.
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