Allen West: 'Unbelievable' That Pentagon Says Diversity Is Critical To Mission Success

Former Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) criticized the Pentagon for promoting "diversity and inclusion" in a post on his website Thursday.

West's post referred to comments made by Jessica L. Wright, the acting undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, at an event hosted by The German Marshall Fund of the United States. Wright said the Defense Department has an "ongoing commitment" to promoting diversity in the U.S. military, and said the department's employees perform well because they “represent the nation in our workforce.”

“And I will tell you, that we talk about diversity in the terms of race and gender, and ethnicity, but it is much more than that in my mind," Wright said.

West doesn't agree, according to his blog post.

"Silly me, I thought a trained and ready force needed to be proficient in its war fighting tasks in order to fight and win our nation’s wars -- that was what mattered for mission success," West wrote. "It seems this new perspective on our military is based upon the misguided progressive socialist vision of social egalitarianism."

West recalled an incident from his own time in the military when he was required to undergo "consideration of others" training "that enabled the members of the unit to discuss their feelings." (Emphasis West's.) West discounted the training, citing other struggles with maintenance and his crew.

"Our US military should not be based upon fairness, diversity, or inclusion. It should be about having the most dedicated and prepared warriors who will instill fear in the enemy," West wrote. "I don’t think Islamic terrorists will fear our military because we are inclusive and give everyone a trophy for showing up."

Read West's full post here.