James Mattis denounces Trump for dividing country

Former Secretary of Defense James Mattis denounced President Trump, the "militarization" of Washington, D.C., and the "abuse of executive authority" of forcing protesters from Lafayette Square in a stunning statement that made the case that the country is witnessing the consequences of a president who has sought to "divide" the nation for three years. .

Instead he tries to divide us," Mattis said in his lengthy statement titled, "In union there is strength." "We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort.

We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership.

cities and streets as a "battlespace." He also rejected the president's insistence that the military needs to "dominate" the streets. .

"We must reject any thinking of our cities as a 'battlespace' that our uniformed military is called upon to 'dominate.' At home, we should use our military only when requested to do so, on very rare occasions, by state governors," Mattis wrote.

"Militarizing our response, as we witnessed in Washington, D.C., sets up a conflict — a false conflict— between the military and civilian society.

When I joined the military, some 50 years ago, I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution.

Never did I dream that troops taking that same oath would be ordered under any circumstance to violate the Constitutional rights of their fellow citizens—much less to provide a bizarre photo op for the elected commander-in-chief, with military leadership standing alongside. .

We must reject any thinking of our cities as a "battlespace" that our uniformed military is called upon to "dominate." At home, we should use our military only when requested to do so, on very rare occasions, by state governors.

Militarizing our response, as we witnessed in Washington, D.C., sets up a conflict—a false conflict— between the military and civilian society.

Instructions given by the military departments to our troops before the Normandy invasion reminded soldiers that "The Nazi slogan for destroying us...was 'Divide and Conquer.' Our American answer is 'In Union there is Strength.'" We must summon that unity to surmount this crisis—confident that we are better than our politics. 

We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort

We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership