By John Hughes, USMA ’96
“WASHINGTON, March 25 (Reuters) – China remains the top military and cyber threat to the U.S., according to a report by U.S. intelligence agencies published on Tuesday that said Beijing was making “steady but uneven” progress on capabilities it could use to capture Taiwan.
China has the ability to hit the United States with conventional weapons; compromise U.S. infrastructure through cyber attacks; and target its assets in space, the Annual Threat Assessment by the intelligence community said, adding that Beijing also seeks to displace the United States as the top AI power by 2030.”1
This is not news. If Russia’s nuclear arsenal is disregarded, China is the largest near peer rival/threat to the US. They have been ramping up military spending exponentially in recent years and have escalated threats against Taiwan.
President Trump is now almost four months into office. As he refines his guidance to the Secretary of Defense and the US military, is he factoring in the allegiance (or lack thereof) of his general officers to the United States?
Four years ago, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) took hold under former President Biden’s executive orders. It was nearly fully embraced by US military leadership.
My Book, West Point’s Cult of DEI laid out hundreds of pages of evidence of DEI’s grip on the US Military Academy under Superintendent LTG Gilland.2
Almost as quickly as they embraced DEI under Biden, DoD’s major commands and leaders have worked to eliminate the superficial traces of DEI to appear obedient to their new Commander in Chief. As of the time of this writing, none have appeared to condemn DEI though.
Recall that during the Cold War, the US fought numerous wars in the ideological conflict between democracy and communism. US servicemembers bravely risked their lives and in many cases gave their lives in the defense of freedom against communism.
Also recall the very obvious roots of DEI – Marxism. DEI was the culmination of decades of Marxist evolution from class warfare to Critical Race Theory to the more benign sounding DEI movement that leaders in the military and private sector just couldn’t embrace fast enough to influence the organizations under their command/charge.
In 1995, Kimberle Crenshaw and others who founded Critical Race Theory published their manifesto Critical Race Theory – The Key Writings That Formed the Movement. The book is very open that it is rooted in Marxism and aims to overturn the United States’ system of democracy by using race warfare:
“Organized by a collection of new-Marxist intellectuals, former New Left activists, ex-counter-culturalists, and other varieties of oppositionists in law schools, the Conference on Critical Legal Studies (CLS) established itself as a network of openly leftist law teachers, students, and practitioners committed to exposing and challenging the ways American law served to legitimize an oppressive social order.” 3
I do not believe that many if any of America’s generals are Marxists or even ‘woke.’ I do believe that they are weak and this weakness is cause for concern. In the American Revolution, General Benedict Arnold became infamous as an example of a heroic American general who turned on his country for money.
When it influenced promotion and likely monetary gain, US generals seemed to have no problem standing up to be counted with those pushing the ideology that is the sworn enemy of everything that the Constitution stands for.
Few if any had the courage to ‘throw their stars on the table’ and refuse to embrace DEI.
America’s generals are some of the most educated in history. If they didn’t know the origins of DEI they are academically lazy and shouldn’t be allowed to lead anyway.
The masses of generals who endorsed an ideology rooted in the same Marxism that killed over 100 million people in the 20th Century and was the root issue of the multi-decade Cold War that turned hot on many occasions demonstrated that they too are willing to turn against their country and democracy for promotion and/or the golden ticket as a board member in the military industrial complex by playing the game and keeping quiet.
In the possible coming conflict with China, America needs generals with unquestioning loyalty to the Constitution, not just those that patronize Americans with lip service in the form of endless loyalty buzzwords they throw at government officials.
President Trump and SECDEF Hegseth have spoken of a purge of American generals. This cannot happen soon enough.
Any general allowed to remain in uniform must publicly voice condemnation for DEI and its Marxist origins.
They must acknowledge that they served as ‘useful idiots’ by trying to confuse ‘equity’ with ‘equality,’ knowing full well that they are not the same thing. One is the foundation of freedom in America.
The other is a Marxist attempt to destroy our military from within by sowing seeds of discontent to fracture our service members and make them less prepared for war.
- https://www.reuters.com/world/china-presents-top-military-cyber-threat-united-states-us-report-says-2025-03-25/
- https://www.amazon.com/West-Points-Cult-John-Hughes/dp/B0DWJVRLKV
- Crenshaw, Kimberle, et al. Critical Race Theory. The Key Writings That Formed the Movement. New York: The New Press, 1995. Pp xvii-xviii
_
John Hughes: Emergency Physician. United States Military Academy Class of 1996. #1 graduate. 3rd Generation West Pointer. USUHS Grad c/o 2002. 4 combat tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. STARRS member. MacArthur Society Member. Author – American Doctor – Coming Home to War Author – West Point’s Cult of DEI www.americandoctor.org
Leave a Comment