Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Military on Red Alert over Trump's Talk of Martial Law


Fri 25 Dec 2020 | 10:15 AM
Basant ahmed

US media said that military commanders in the Pentagon and Washington are on red alert, fearing what President Donald Trump might do in his remaining days in office.

Though far-fetched, ranking officers have discussed what they would do if the president declared martial law.

Military commands responsible for Washington DC are engaged in secret contingency planning in case the armed forces are called upon to maintain or restore civil order during the inauguration and transition period. According to one officer who spoke to Newsweek on condition of anonymity.

"I've been associated with the military for over 40 years and I've never seen the discussions that are being had right now, the need for such discussions," says a retired flag officer, currently a defense contractor who has mentored and advised his service's senior leaders. He was granted anonymity in order to speak without fear of reprisal.

“A half-dozen officers in similar positions agree that while there is zero chance that the uniformed leadership would involve itself in any scheme to create an election-related reversal, they worry that the military could get sucked into a crisis of Trump's making, particularly if the president tries to rally private militias and pro-Trump paramilitaries in an effort to disrupt the transition and bring violence to the capital,” Newsweek reported.

Media reports said during the past days, that Trump inquired about the possibility of deploying US military forces to cancel the results of the presidential elections that took place last month.