Trump Defense Sec: Jan 6 Protesters “Infiltrated” By “Provocateurs”

At 3:44 p.m. January 6, 2021: I was sitting at my computer in the Pentagon holding a phone six inches away from my ear, trying my best to make sense of the incoherent shrieking blasting out of the receiver. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi She was on the line and was in a total nuclear meltdown.

To be fair, the other members of congressional leadership on the call weren’t exactly composed, either. Every Time Pelosi She paused for a moment to catch her breath. Senator Mitch McConnell, Senator Chuck Schumer Congressman Steny Hoyer They took turns hyperventilating into their phones.

Two Hours earlier, a large crowd of Trump Supporters had illegally entered Capitol. Congressional The leadership was taken to a safe location at a predetermined time.Civil War era Army Installations less than two miles away As I was acting secretary of defense and was across the river at PentagonI did this by calling them and watching the chaos unfold on my TV.

“Get troops to the Capitol now, Mr. Secretary,” Pelosi demanded. The irony wasn’t lost on me. Prior The speaker and her are now together. Democrat Friends had spent many months decrying the use National Guard Following the death George Floyd It caused numerous deaths and billions of dollars worth of property damage in the United States. But As soon as she had her ans on the line, Pelosi He was miraculously reborn again as a passionate, but altruistic champion of law order.

When Finally, I managed to squeeze in a comment. I pointed out the fact that I had already ordered the complete mobilization District This is Columbia National Guard And that force was on its way to the Capitol As soon as they had been properly equipped and synchronized to the Capitol Police.

At At this moment, I was President Donald Trump’s acting secretary of defense for approximately two months. It was something I knew from the beginning. But I never could have imagined anything like this—getting reamed out by a histrionic Nancy Pelosi Mitch McConnell as they implored me to send troops to forcibly expel a rowdy band of MAGA supporters, infiltrated by a handful of provocateurs,  who were traipsing through the halls of the CapitolTaking selfies and making fun of the entire institution.

As A lifelong soldier who served nearly twenty-four year in the military. Special Forces, I’d been in my share of shitstorms. I was among the first. Green Berets On the ground Afghanistan after 9/11. I’d dodged bullets, grenades, missiles, and mortars in Iraq. I’d captured genocidal war criminals in Bosnia With the CIA. I’d hunted down the world’s most dangerous terrorists as director of the National Counterterrorism Center. But I had never seen anyone — not even the greenest, pimple-faced nineteen-year-old Army private — panic like our nation’s elder statesmen did on January 6 and the subsequent months.

For The American For our enemies abroad, and for people everywhere, the events of that morning undoubtedly exposed the true character of our ruling classes. Here were the most powerful men and women in the world — the leaders of the legislative branch of the mightiest nation in history — cowering like frightened children for all the world to see.

Do I blame a lot of geriatrics acting like a lot of geriatrics. Of No, of course. But Do I judge them for it or not? You’re damned right I do. Most Most of all, I dislike that we are ruled over by a bunch geriatrics who ruthlessly and selfishly keep their power and refuse to train the next generation.

In Stress is hardwired into the brain of military personnel. It’s always there, and you either learn to live with it, or you don’t live. And you sure as hell don’t run away when you’ve got a job to do.

That’s what I learned from my dad and uncles as a kid growing up in Iowa. They Survived the Depression, fought World War Two KoreaThe couple raised their children to be patriots during the chaos of the war. Vietnam era. All Many of the adults who raised me were tough as nails and taught us to be as tough as them.

At At family get-togethers, the common topic of conversation was asskicking. I would routinely overhear crazy stories about my dad’s service in KoreaOr an uncle who rolls fifty-five-gallon gasoline barrels into caves to heat the fuel. Japanese.

Their conversations absolutely petrified me — yet I was enthralled. To Someday, a small part in me wonders if I ever joined the Army out of a desire to live life like they did — on the edge, in the crosshairs, serving the nation they loved on one death-defying adventure after another. I’ve collected a few of my own crazy stories over the years, which I’ll happily share in the pages to come.

Unlike This is the typical book written by retired military personnel. It is not a book of repackaged policy prescriptions. “lessons in leadership.” This is the story of one soldier’s rise from a private in the Army Reserve To the highest office in the Pentagon. It’s  about the heroes I fought alongside in Iraq Afghanistan who didn’t live to tell their tales, and the sacrifices my generation has made on behalf of our nation. It’s about the rank-and-file troops I humbly served as acting secretary of defense, who bestowed on me an affectionate nickname: the “Soldier Secretary.” This This book is also about our nation, and how our military and institutions have failed to change over the decades. September 11, 2001 — and how we must Future changes may be possible if America To survive.

The battles I’ve fought at home and abroad have left me profoundly worried for our nation’s future. Yet I am not without hope. We can save, I believe. America From self-appointed experts who have led our nation into one terrible war after the other. All It takes some common sense. And common sense is something that our elites have yet take from the American people.

In the pages that follow, I won’t make myself out to be some kind of flawless superhero who always did the right thing. I made plenty of mistakes, as both a soldier and a public servant, and I’ll do my best to give you an honest picture of people and events as I saw them.

I’m not looking to gain the plaudits of a national security establishment that has spent the last two decades losing wars in the Middle East. I’m not looking for fame or fortune or a lucrative deal as a talking head on cable news. Other than my family and a handful of friends, I don’t give two shits about what anybody thinks of me.

I don’t like talking about myself. I’m the first to admit that everything I have accomplished was due to others. I have always seen myself as a man doing his job and trying to serve his family and nation. God With dignity, empathy, honor.

I have written my  experiences  and  thoughts  simply  to help the American People make sense of this short, but probably important, period. American History is what we live through and it may help us to find our way forward. AndMaybe there is a fourteen-year-old boy in the Middle West As I was once, I will be inspired and motivated to serve and contribute to the amazing experiment that is the United States This is America.