Biden's Pentagon to unleash culture war against U.S. allies

FPI / March 19, 2021

On Feb. 4, Joe Biden issued a directive to all U.S. departments and agencies that engage abroad to "undertake a number of actions related to promoting and protecting the human rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex (LGBTQI+) persons."

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin issued a March 12 memo saying that it is "now the policy of the DoD to pursue an end to violence and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or sex characteristics and DoD will lead by example in the cause of advancing the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons around the world."

It is now part of U.S. military strategy "to fight the culture war with nations that do not share progressive social values regarding sexual orientation and gender identity," Rod Dreher noted in a March 17 report for The American Conservative.

"It is one thing to put U.S. government policy behind supporting gay rights at home and abroad. But to put U.S. armed might behind that same policy, especially when not all U.S. allies share that goal, is something else," Dreher wrote.

Hungary, which is a U.S. NATO ally, in 2020 changed its constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman and asserts that the “foundation of the family is marriage and the parent-child relationship. The mother is a woman, the father is a man.”

Because it codified that definition of marriage in its constitution, Hungary is now considered an enemy of the the Biden administration's defense strategy.

"Think about that,"Dreher wrote. "Hungary’s definition of marriage is the orthodox Christian definition of marriage. And now, the new administration has set the Defense Department against nations that believe what orthodox Christians believe marriage is. If you don’t think that persecution of orthodox Christians and other dissenters is coming to the United States, you are living in a dream world."

Poland, also a U.S. NATO ally, defines marriage in its constitution as between one man and one woman. Polish gay couples cannot legally adopt. The Polish parliament is considering a move to ban all LGBT adoptions — a move that is popular in the majority Catholic country.

"Is Poland now the enemy of America? Do the Poles have to worry that the U.S. Department of Defense is setting its sights on them as enemy combatants in the culture war? Yes, they do," Dreher wrote.

Turkey is also a NATO ally.

Dreher noted: "Do I even have to tell you how that Muslim country regards LGBT rights? But now the Turks have to regard American military personnel stationed in that country as culture-war enemy combatants, because of the order of the U.S. Commander in Chief."

Greece is a NATO ally. It does not have same-sex marriage. Is the Pentagon now Greece’s culture war enemy?

Dreher noted that what the Biden administration is doing is sending a message to Hungary, Poland, and other NATO member states that: “Diversity is our strength — and if you hold diverse opinions about what marriage and homosexuality are, we are going to use U.S. military might to strong-arm you into submission.”

Dreher concluded: "Seriously, what does it mean that the U.S. military is now formally committed to combating homophobia, transphobia, etc., in other countries? What do NATO allies like Hungary, Poland, and Turkey have to worry about? What do other allies, like Arab states, have to take into consideration under these new Biden-era rules?"

Free Press International