New authority in the Pentagon aims to remove questionably extremist behavior from the U.S. military but Army veteran Rob Smith revealed on "Fox News Primetime" Thursday that this is merely an attempt to dismantle the nation’s defense.
"Stuff like this will destroy the military from the inside out if a light is not shone upon it," he said.
Senior adviser to the secretary of defense Bishop Garrison has recently asserted his dominance by pushing to purge patriot extremism, which specifically targets military personnel who support conservative thinking. Smith argued that there is no such thing as extremism coming from the right.
"This is not extremism. This is what they’re using to, sort of, purge political enemies," he said. "These are pretty much… center-right Republican-leaning people who may have voted for President Trump, may have voted for other Republicans and may have said as much on social media."
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Smith explained that to the opposition, a political enemy is any person who does not lean left, which he called "dangerous" for free speech and men and women in service.
Former Navy SEAL Jack Carr said he’s not surprised by the move on Garrison’s part and made the argument that military members are only extreme about completing missions and fighting for freedom.
"We’re extremely focused on the mission and we’re extremely focused on the task at hand," he said. "Because that’s what we owed our country… the guys on the right and left. That’s what we were extreme about and nothing else."
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Carr reiterated that the military’s ultimate mission is to prepare for war and anything that deters attention away from completing that goal should be questioned. The former SEAL pegged it as an "erosion of trust" in the military by the left.