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Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was criticized Friday after reports said his mandate for servicemembers to be vaccinated for coronavirus will lead to 40,000 guardsmen and 22,000 reservists being barred from service while seeing their benefits slashed.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Fox News it is another example of the United States’ defense being weakened under the Biden administration, as chief rivals China and Russia are only bolstering their corps, not hindering them.
Pompeo said the military is already facing recruitment problems under Austin, a former Raytheon executive and retired general.
Previously having condemned the “wokeness” shift under Austin, Pompeo added the latest situation could lead to a mathematical 10-15% reduction in National Guardsmen.
POMPEO: CHINA CONTINUES TO ROLL BIDEN’S AMERICA AS XI REACHES DEAL WITH KEY PACIFIC ARCHIPELAGO
President-elect Joe Biden looks as retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin, Biden’s choice to be secretary of defense, speaks at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del., Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
“This is really dangerous. I assure you that Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin aren’t worried about the vaccines. They’re worried about making their militaries more capable,” he said.
“We should be focused on the same thing. There’s a real risk to readiness, a real risk to making sure that we have units that are capable of deploying should something be required of them.”
He added that the vaccine mandate isn’t based on science and “makes no sense” at this point.
POMPEO: BIDEN’S TAIWAN COMMENTS SIMILAR TO OBAMA’S ‘RED LINE’ IN SYRIA
Pompeo said Biden’s successor should reinstate every guardsmen cut or effectively rubber-roomed by this administration.
He also called out the left-wing media for criticizing former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on account of his assassination earlier Friday, as CBS News, the AP and NPR all had politically critical things to say about the leader.
“It’s sick to see these left-wing media folks go after a man who was just assassinated,” he said. “There is a reason he was the longest serving prime minister. The people of Japan loved him and revered him. He’d become a friend of mine, too. He was a great partner for the United States of America.”
Pompeo and his former boss Donald Trump were close with Abe, as the ex-president released a glowing statement calling Abe a “unifier” saying, “few people know what a great man and leader Shinzo Abe was — but history will teach them and be kind.”
Source: www.foxnews.com