- Reaction score
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The Pentagon will prohibit the Confederate battle flag from US military installations despite Donald Trump's insistence that flying the symbol is "freedom of speech" amid a national reckoning over racist icons and political battles to remove the flag across the US.
Secretary of Defence Mark Esper's memo says "the flags we fly must accord with the military imperatives of good order and discipline, treating all our people with dignity and respect, and rejecting divisive symbols" – but he does not explicitly mention the Confederate battle flag, in an effort to avoid directly contradicting the president.
In recent weeks, the president has rejected calls to rename military bases named after Confederate generals and has defended the battle flag while threatening prison sentences for people who burn the American flag.
During a House Armed Services Committee hearing on 9 July, Secretary Esper said that "there is a process underway, by which we affirm what types of flags are authorised on US military bases."
"I want to make sure that we have an approach that is enduring and that could withstand legal challenge but that unites us and most importantly helps build cohesion and readiness," he said.
Read more here. (Independent UK)
Secretary of Defence Mark Esper's memo says "the flags we fly must accord with the military imperatives of good order and discipline, treating all our people with dignity and respect, and rejecting divisive symbols" – but he does not explicitly mention the Confederate battle flag, in an effort to avoid directly contradicting the president.
In recent weeks, the president has rejected calls to rename military bases named after Confederate generals and has defended the battle flag while threatening prison sentences for people who burn the American flag.
During a House Armed Services Committee hearing on 9 July, Secretary Esper said that "there is a process underway, by which we affirm what types of flags are authorised on US military bases."
"I want to make sure that we have an approach that is enduring and that could withstand legal challenge but that unites us and most importantly helps build cohesion and readiness," he said.
Read more here. (Independent UK)
