Generals warn divided military may fuel new CIVIL WAR if there’s a coup attempt after 2024 election

Three retired US generals warned Friday that America’s divided military could fuel a new civil war if there’s another coup attempt after the 2024 election because ‘more than 1 in 10 of those charged in January 6 attacks had a service record’. 

Former Army Major Gen Paul Eaton, former Brigadier Gen Steven Anderson and former Army Major Gen Antonio Taguba made the worrisome claim in a column for The Washington Post.

‘As we approach the first anniversary of the deadly insurrection at the US Capitol, we – all of us former senior military officials – are increasingly concerned about the aftermath of the 2024 presidential election and the potential for lethal chaos inside our military, which would put all Americans at severe risk,’ the generals penned.

‘We are chilled to our bones at the thought of a coup succeeding next time,’ they added. 

The generals referenced January 6, 2020, when thousands of fiery patriots and Donald Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building, which resulted in the death of five people

Most recently Robert Palmer (pictured), 54, was sentenced to 63 months for his involvement in the January 6 riot, where he assaulted police officers with a fire extinguisher and hurled wooden boards at them 

On January 6, 2020, thousands of fiery patriots and Donald Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building, which resulted in the death of five people.

At least 185 people in attendance have since been charged with assaulting or impeding police in a failed bid to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s presidential election victory. 

Most recently, Robert Palmer, 54, from Largo, Florida, was sentenced to 63 months in jail – the harshest sentence yet – for his involvement in the riot, where he assaulted police officers with a fire extinguisher and hurled wooden boards at them.

Eaton, Anderson and Taguba said the event showed that ‘the signs of potential turmoil in our armed forces are there,’ and were sure to note that ‘more than 1 in 10 of those charged in the attacks had a service record’.

Back in May a group of 124 retired admirals and generals – the ‘Flag Officers 4 America – published an open letter than questioned the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election, which Trump himself claimed was fraudulent.  

The letter read: ‘Without fair and honest elections that accurately reflect the “will of the people” our Constitutional Republic is lost. Election integrity demands insuring there is one legal vote cast and counted per citizen. 

‘Legal votes are identified by State Legislature’s approved controls using government IDs, verified signatures, etc. Today, many are calling such commonsense controls “racist” in an attempt to avoid having fair and honest elections. Using racial terms to suppress proof of eligibility is itself a tyrannical intimidation tactic.’ 

Trump’s Defense Secretary Chris Miller later testified that as his boss clung to power in the White House, he was deliberately withholding military protection of the Capitol building before January 6. 

‘It is evident that the whole of our military was caught off-guard,’ Eaton, Anderson and Taguba wrote.

But Miller said five months after the attack that he had three goals during the final days of the Trump administration: Avoiding a major war, avoiding a military coup, and avoiding sending troops to do battle with citizens on American streets.

Eaton, Anderson and Taguba said the event showed that ‘the signs of potential turmoil in our armed forces are there,’ and were sure to note that ‘more than 1 in 10 of those charged in the attacks had a service record’ 

‘The military and lawmakers have been gifted hindsight to prevent another insurrection from happening in 2024 – but they will succeed only if they take decisive action now,’ the generals said (pictured: Army Major Gen Paul Eaton)

A report revealed how in the weeks after Trump’s election defeat, while he refused to accept the outcome at the polls, he tried to use loyalists to push through a withdrawal troops from Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, Germany and Africa.   

It was revealed that Trump’s plan to withdraw troops completely from Afghanistan before leaving office was opposed by Miller and other senior officials who succeeded in persuading the president to keep to a plan that would decrease the number of troops to 2,500. 

It was apparently part of what Miller, a US Army veteran who was only installed after Trump’s election defeat, saw as his duty. 

Eaton, Anderson and Taguba also mentioned the Oklahoma National Guard’s new commander Army Brigadier General Thomas Mancino, who refused to enforce the US defense department’s Covid-19 vaccine mandate after a change in commanding officers.

Mancino said that he would listen to the state’s governor Republican Kevin Stitt for orders, who he also said is his commander in chief – not President Biden – since the Oklahoma Guard is not federally mobilized. 

In the opinion column Eaton, Anderson and Taguba called Mancino’s refusal to enforce the vaccine mandate ‘worrying’.

They also claimed the decision increases ‘the potential for a total breakdown of the chain of command along partisan lines – from the top of the chain to squad level… should another insurrection occur’.

In such a polarized political atmosphere, ‘with loyalties split,’ the generals observed that ‘some might follow orders from the rightful commander in chief, while others might follow the Trumpian loser’.

‘In this context, with our military hobbled and divided, US security would be crippled. Any one of our enemies could take advantage by launching an all-out assault on our assets or our allies,’ the column read.

They concluded by emphasizing: ‘The military and lawmakers have been gifted hindsight to prevent another insurrection from happening in 2024 – but they will succeed only if they take decisive action now’.  

Ray Dalio (pictured), who has a net worth of $20.3 billion, predicted that there is a 30 percent chance of US Civil War in the next decade

Meanwhile billionaire Ray Dalio predicts there is a 30 percent chance of US Civil War in the next ten years because of ’emotional’ political polarization,’ but said the Constitution will probably save the nation. 

Dalio is the founder of the world’s largest hedge fund firm, Bridgewater Associates. This year he was ranked as the 88th richest person in the world with a net worth of $20.3 billion. 

He made his bold claims in his new book, ‘Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order: Why Nations Succeed and Fail,’ which was published on November 30. 

He makes his bold claims in his new book, ‘Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order: Why Nations Succeed and Fail,’ which was published on November 30

Dalio explained that he believes there is a ‘dangerously high risk’ that the country will have a civil war within in the next ten years and pointed to the rules of governance being ‘ignored’ and the ‘exceptional amount of polarization’ currently seen in the country. 

‘For example, when close elections are adjudicated and the losers respect the decisions, it is clear that the order is respected,’ he wrote, seemingly referencing the Capitol riot.

‘When power is fought over and grabbed, that clearly signals the significant risk of a revolutionary change with all its attendant disorder.’

He noted that people, including high-ranking officials, have openly doubted the validity of recent elections and expressed their willingness to fight for their beliefs. 

Dalio cites several studies as statistical proof of his claims of polarization within the country showing the deep divide specifically between the two political parties.

A 2019 Pew survey found that 55 per cent of Republicans and 47 percent of Democrats viewed the other as more immoral than other Americans, and 61 percent of Republicans and 54 percent of Democrats said that those of the other party don’t share their values.

Also, 79 percent of Democrats and 83 percent of Republicans said they had ‘cold’ or ‘very cold’ feelings for members of the other party; 57 percent of Democrats and 60 percent of Republicans selected ‘very cold’.