Pentagon Bans Confederate Flags On All US Bases

The Associated Press reports:

After weeks of wrangling, the Pentagon on Friday will ban displays of the Confederate flag on military installations, in a carefully worded policy that doesn’t mention the word ban or that specific flag.

The policy, laid out in a memo obtained by The Associated Press, was described by officials as a creative way to bar the flag’s display without openly contradicting or angering President Donald Trump, who has defended people’s rights to display it.

Signed by Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Thursday night, the memo lists the types of flags that may be displayed at military installations. The Confederate flag is not among them — thus barring its display without singling it out in a “ban.”

BREAKING: Pentagon to effectively ban Confederate flags from military installations, in policy written to skirt Trump’s objections. https://t.co/ULSBlVjf0I

— The Associated Press (@AP) July 17, 2020