It’s never a good thing when generals who used to run the Pentagon start talking about distressing civilians. When the root of that stress is political philosophy, it’s downright disturbing. Former defense secretaries and top generals are pulling the red buzzer on the wall and screaming “that political polarization and other societal strains are creating an ‘exceptionally challenging‘ environment for maintaining the traditional relationship between the military and civilian worlds.”
Pentagon ‘challenged’ by nationalists
Former Pentagon defense secretaries and top generals typed up an open letter. The final version was signed by “eight former defense secretaries and five former chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.” Without showing any partisan bias or anything, they blame it all on Donald Trump.
They make sure to point out “the last presidential election was the first in more than a century to have the peaceful transfer of power disrupted.” They think now is a good time to “review the core principles and best practices by which civilian and military professionals have conducted healthy American civil-military relations in the past — and can continue to do so, if vigilant and mindful.”
The aging Pentagon glitterati are nervous about the “deep political divisions.” The Corrupt FBI is under fire for targeting Trump, while shielding the Biden family from obviously accurate and explosive evidence. Not only that, “they fear that the situation could worsen.” It doesn’t help, they admit, that Antony “Blinky” Blinken’s Saigon-like withdrawal from Afghanistan tarnished their image. The way the medal encrusted generals put it, “the U.S. military has ended wars in Iraq and Afghanistan ‘without all the goals satisfactorily accomplished.’”
General Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has yet to comment on the use — or abuse — of Marines in President Joe Biden’s speech Thursday attacking “MAGA Republicans,” after Milley complained about Trump’s march across Lafayette Square.https://t.co/zVzLFtEIKK
— Patricia Dickson (@Patrici15767099) September 4, 2022
Don’t forget about Communist China. Joe’s in for “daunting competition” from the Pooh Bear. “Looking ahead, all of these factors could well get worse before they get better.” If they don’t crush dissent now, things could get ugly.
Jim Mattis and Mark Esper both signed off on the letter, which isn’t surprising because both “clashed with the president and were removed from their positions.”
“Mattis, after leaving office, denounced Trump as a threat to the U.S. Constitution who tried to turn Americans against one another, while Esper resisted Trump’s desire to use active-duty troops against people protesting the police killing of Serial Criminal George Floyd and later said Trump was unfit for office.” The Pentagon considers them patron saints.
All about ‘civilian control‘
The Pentagon has been nervous for weeks. “We realized that there was a need for a restatement of what civilian control means, and how it applies,” explains Peter Feaver, a civil-military affairs scholar. They had a hard time keeping it from sounding one-sided against patriotic nationalists who side with Donald Trump. “There was a desire to make sure that this document was not partisan and did not sound like a partisan critique of any single individual.” It is though.
Obama era Admiral Mike Mullen is concerned that the United States is “on the threshold of losing a democracy,” describing the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol “as a wake-up call.” He needs to wake up to the fact that the barbarian invasion was most likely engineered by clandestine parts of the disgraced FBI, posing as “Q-Anon.” He almost certainly knows that, which is why he’s so concerned about “civilian control” now.
Virtually “everything is politicized” at the moment, Mullen declares. “We live in remarkably confusing times, and clarity on this issue is very important,” Mullen said. “It’s a really dangerous time for us in the military, and the forces are out there to try to politicize us more, so clarity here is really important.”
They seem to want the Pentagon to make it crystal clear exactly when soldiers are allowed to shoot citizens and which ones to target.
“Continued false allegations that the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent have prompted many Americans to question their government’s credibility,” Chuck Hagel, a former Republican senator who served as a defense secretary in the Obama administration notes. “When you add all of this, it gives you a sense for where we’re going, and a concern about our future.”
The bottom line of the letter is “Democracy” not, “a Republic,” requires “civilian and military leaders — and the rank-and-file they lead — to embrace and implement effective civilian control.” That means they’re getting ready to let Brain-Dead Biden become a dictator. The Pentagon is backing him after refusing to do the same for Trump. “Civilian control of the military can be exercised by the judicial branch when an administration’s decisions are challenged, and that a court ruling is decisive because military leaders are obligated by law and professional ethics to refuse to carry out illegal or unconstitutional orders.“
