On Thursday's CNN Newsroom, host Jim Sciutto welcomed retired Lt. Gen. and military analyst Mark Hertling onto the program to discuss and defend Joint Chiefs chairman Gen. Mark Milley's defense of Critical Race Theory being taught at West Point.
Sciutto led Hertling by playing a clip of Milley's remarks referring to the dreadful January 6 riot, where he declared, "I do think it’s important... I want to understand white rage, and I’m white, and I want to understand it.”
Former Obama aide Sciutto oozed "those words, relatively simple words, led to seeming outrage from some on the far right. As a former commander yourself, is Milley showing the qualities of a good commander there, listening, as he's describing it?" Hertling said "Yes, Jim, absolutely."
He's faced with extremism in the ranks. He's faced with an enemy that is based on white rage or that the FBI has said is our biggest terrorist threat right now. So what he's doing is studying them. You know, military leaders often use the phrase of Sun Tzu, 'know yourself, know the enemy, know the terrain.' He's trying to get to know the enemy. He said this. What caused this white rage? How do you define it and how do you eliminated from within the military ranks?
Hertling is explicitly saying "the enemy" is within the military itself, and wants it "eliminated." Hertling then doubled down, "And also if faced with it, how do you counter it? He implied, you know, rightfully so, the same thing I did right now, the Capitol Police and potentially military personnel were in harm’s way in combat at our Capitol Building."
But is that "enemy" the entire Republican Party? This is what Rep. Michael Waltz was getting at. There was a West Post class entitled "Understanding Whiteness and White Rage," and the class was "taught by a woman who described the Republican Party platform as a platform of white supremacy."
Sciutto stuck to the CNN line that conservative media were terrible: "Well, other conservatives, including right wing media, they're attacking the military as somehow soft for discussing issues of race." He noted racial diversity in the ranks, and "What's your reaction to that, you know, criticism that somehow Milley's being soft by having this discussion?"
Hertling dismissed those concerns as "ludicrous, ridiculous" and:
Having, you know, been in the military that really requires individuals to study their surrounding, study their enemies, study how cultures come together and work, it's not woke-ism, it's an attempt to analyze and digest and then deal with problems that are facing our country as we protect and defend the Constitution.
Nobody said studying enemies and cultures was woke-ism, it's teaching the next generation of officers that the country they will defend is inherently racist. Still, Hertling went on to add, "I think those on the right or anyone, right or left, who is saying anything about the military being woke, first of all, they're usually not part of the military. They've never served."
Hertling was able to make that comment because the viral moment of the hearing came with Rep. Matt Gaetz, but Waltz is a colonel in the National Guard. Other members of Congress outspoken on this issue include veteran Sen. Tom Cotton and naval reservist Rep. Jim Banks.
This segment was sponsored by Sleep Number.
Here is a transcript of the June 24 show:
CNN
CNN Newsroom with Poppy Harlow and Jim Sciutto
9:39 AM ET
JIM SCIUTTO: So, those words, relatively simple words, led to seeming outrage from some on the far-right. As a former commander yourself, is Milley showing the qualities of a commander, listening as he's describing it?
MARK HERTLING: Absolutely, Jim. I was very proud of General Milley in his testimony and as you know he’s been pilloried for some things he did and as he transfers from one administration to the other, he shown what a true military leader does. He's faced with extremism in the ranks. He's faced with an enemy that is based on white rage or that the FBI has said is our biggest terrorist threat right now. So what he's doing is studying them. You know, military leaders often use the phrase of Sun Tzu, “know yourself, know the enemy, know the terrain.” He's trying to get to know the enemy. He said this. What caused this white rage? How do you define it and how do you eliminated from within the military ranks? And also if faced with it, how do you counter it? He implied, you know, rightfully so, the same thing I did right now, the capitol police and potentially military personnel were in harm’s way in combat at our Capitol Building. So, yeah, I'm fully supportive of General Milley and what he said yesterday because that's what smart military leaders do. They find out what is causing the enemy to do the things that they're doing.
SCIUTTO: Other conservatives, including right-wing media, they're attacking the military as somehow soft for discussing issues of race. As you know, people of color are disproportionately represented in the military. The people that folks like Milley and yourself commanded. What's your reaction to that criticism that somehow Milley’s being soft by having this discussion?
HERTLING: It's ludicrous, ridiculous. You try and become enlightened of your environment. That's the quality of a leader. The slams and the pejorative comments about being woke are just ridiculous. Having, you know, been in the military that really requires individuals to study their surrounding, study their enemies, study how cultures come together and work, it's not woke-ism, it's an attempt to analyze and digest and then deal with problems that are facing our country as we protect and defend the constitution. So I think those on the right or anyone, right or left, who is saying anything about the military being woke, first of all, they're usually not part of the military. They've never served. And secondly, they really truly don't understand the requirements of a commander and a leader in today's professional force.
