Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has come under fire for his apparent embrace of “critical race theory.” When questioned by Republican members of Congress about the teaching of the theory at the U.S. Military Academy, he replied that although he had to “get smarter” on critical race theory, he thought it necessary “for those of us in uniform to be open-minded and be widely read, and the United States Military Academy is a university, and it is important that we train and we understand. And I want to understand white rage — and I’m white, and I want to understand it.”

He continued, “I’ve read Mao Tse-tung. I’ve read Karl Marx. I’ve read Lenin. That doesn’t make me a communist.” He added, “I personally find it offensive that we are accusing the United States military, our general officers, our commissioned and noncommissioned officers, of being, quote, ‘woke,’ or something else because we’re studying some theories that are out there.”

Let me say that I know Gen. Milley. As a lieutenant colonel, he was a student of mine at the Naval War College. He has always struck me a fine officer. President Donald Trump nominated him for chairman of the Joint Chiefs because of his reputation as a serious war fighter. I am appalled by the personal attacks on him. But I believe he is the victim of bad advice. For instance, his characterization of critical race theory is simply wrong.

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