The United States Army has responded to Congressional questioning over training slides that labeled pro-life groups as terrorist organizations, revealing that over 9,000 soldiers were trained using those slides. Despite this, those responsible are still refusing to give any explanation as to how this was allowed to happen, or how it will be prevented going forward.
This summer, slides from the training presentation at Fort Liberty in North Carolina were leaked, which included National Right to Life and Operation Rescue as potential terrorist groups. Bullet points said being “anti-abortion” and “Pro Life,” as well as opposing “Row v Wade [sic]” were potential indications of terrorist ideations. Examples of pro-life advocacy, like demonstrations, protests, life chains, “the truth display” (displaying photos of abortion victims), and more were likewise said to be indications of terrorist activity, as well as counseling at pregnancy centers and on sidewalks.
A letter from the House Armed Services Committee was sent to Army Secretary Christine Wormuth in July demanding answers. Another letter, written by Senators James Lankford and Ted Budd, and signed by over 50 members of Congress, was sent on the same date. It was then revealed that the slides had been in use for seven years. Now, the Army has released information from further investigation into the issue, which found that approximately 9,100 soldiers were trained using the slides.
According to Military.com, there has been bipartisan pushback to the slides, which is growing as the Army refuses to take accountability.
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“How in the world does something like that go on for so long and [no one] in leadership catches it?” Republican Rep. Jim Banks asked.
Democratic Rep. Jill Tokuda added, “There’s some basic questions on basic accountability we don’t seem to be getting.”
Lt. Gen. Patrick Matlock, who reportedly oversees Army training policies, is refusing to answer any questions on how this was allowed to happen, what will happen to the people responsible, orhow the Army will prevent it from happening again. “I’m not going to talk about specific accountability actions,” he said.
In a statement, Banks said this response is not acceptable.
“The DOD taught nearly ten thousand soldiers stationed at Fort Liberty that pro-life organizations, like the National Right to Life, are dangerous terrorist groups. It’s downright ridiculous to claim the slide deck doesn’t ‘further a personal viewpoint,’ but there have been no consequences for the employee who ran anti-life training sessions at Fort Liberty that clearly violated Army policy,” Rep. Banks said. “The Biden-Harris DOD won’t back off its efforts to politicize our military. Until that changes, I will keep pushing the DOD to reject far-left politics and focus on fighting and winning wars, including at next week’s hearing.”
