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Former Secretaries of State and Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Warn of Politicization [1]

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Date: 2022-09-06

A group of 13 former secretaries of defense, including James Matthis, Bob Gates and Leon Panetta, and former chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have published an open letter decrying the growing polarization in the United States, and warning about how “an exceptionally challenging civil-military environment”made it harder to face the country’s growing geopolitical, social and political threats. The letter hinted at their disgruntlement with Trump’s Big Lie of a stolen 2020 election.

In the letter, the thirteen say that, “Politically, military professionals confront an extremely adverse environment characterized by the divisiveness of affective polarization that culminated in the first election in over a century when the peaceful transfer of political power was disrupted and in doubt”. The letter is important because it reminds us that the Big Lie is not simply an annoying myth of a deranged political leader, rather, it poses a direct challenge to the ability of our military to protect the country. At a time when the United States is confronted with Putin’s war machine in Ukraine, and China prepares for an eventual assault on Taiwan, the country needs unity. That old unity that we last had on the eve of the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, before the Bush Administration’s lies were exposed, is sorely needed for the advancement of our interests.

In the wake of the FBI’s search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, Trump referred to the Department of Justice and the FBI as “vicious monsters” , despite clear evidence from the FBI that he did in fact have secret material, and not only that, that a lot of it has gone missing. Never mind that, Republicans have firmly aligned themselves behind Trump, and impugned the integrity of the Department of Justice and FBI.

The polarization of the country, a polarization accelerated by a denial of the election, has, according to the thirteen, hurt civilian control of the military. These former secretaries of defense and chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are aware that our nation’s democracy depends upon everyone embracing civilian control. Civilian control is harmed when the military is called upon to ignore the Constitution and to be loyal to one individual. Of course, they do not name Trump, but it is clear that they are referring to him. Trump’s politicization of the military, and justice, is a threat to democracy.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/9/6/2121142/-Former-Secretaries-of-State-and-Chairmen-of-the-Joint-Chiefs-of-Staff-Warn-of-Politicization

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