All 10 former US defense secretaries still alive, including two who worked for Donald Trump, asked the president and his supporters to accept that he lost the election and warned against attempts to involve the military in its ever-increasing efforts. desperate to reverse the result.
In an unprecedented joint letter published in the Washington Post, the defense secretaries addressed the worst fears of what could happen in the remaining 17 days of Trump’s administration before Joe Biden’s inauguration: an attempt by Trump to foment a crisis with the aim of unleash military intervention in their last battle to maintain power.
“Efforts to involve the US armed forces in resolving electoral disputes would take us into dangerous, illegal and unconstitutional territory,” said the letter.
“Civilian and military officials who direct or execute such measures would be responsible, including potentially facing criminal penalties, for the serious consequences of their actions in our republic.”
Among the signatories were James Mattis and Mark Esper, who served as defense secretaries in the Trump administration. Esper openly contradicted Trump in June, insisting that there was no reason to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows American troops to be dispatched on American streets in extreme circumstances.
Dick Cheney, secretary of defense for George HW Bush, and vice president of his son, George W Bush, and Donald Rumsfeld, secretary of defense in the younger Bush administration, also signed. The other signatories were William Perry and William Cohen, defense secretaries in the Bill Clinton administration; Leon Panetta, Chuck Hagel and Ashton Carter, who served in the government of Barack Obama; and Robert Gates, who served both young Bush and Obama.
“Transitions, which we all experience, are a crucial part of the successful transfer of power. Often, they occur in times of international uncertainty about the United States’ national security policy and posture, ”wrote the former defense secretaries. “It could be a time when the nation is vulnerable to the actions of opponents who seek to take advantage of the situation.”
They summoned the current secretary of defense, Christopher Miller, and his officials to resume cooperation with the Biden transition team, who complained that their instructions were interrupted and the Pentagon stopped responding to their investigations.
The Washington Post quoted Eric Edelman, a former US ambassador and defense official, as saying that the genesis of the remarkable letter was a conversation he had with Cheney about how the military could be used in the coming days.
There are concerns about the unrest on Wednesday, when a dozen Republican senators say they will challenge Congress’s normally routine ratification of the poll results.
Trump urged his supporters to demonstrate in Washington, tweeting, “Be there, it will be wild!” The far-right Proud Boys are expected to be among the pro-Trump crowd in the capital.
Cohen told the Post that he was concerned about the mention of the possibility of martial law by former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn, especially after Trump used military and other federal forces to remove protesters outside the White House in June.
“It is a very dangerous course of action that needs to be announced before it happens,” said Cohen.
“[It is] so important to see the country’s defense secretaries send this message, ”wrote Risa Brooks, associate professor at Marquette University who studies civil-military relations and political violence. “The civilians who command the military need to be at the front and center of getting this message out to the public and not leaving it to the military alone.