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In an article published in The Washington Post, Ashton Carter, Leon Panetta, William Perry, Dick Cheney, William Cohen, Robert Gates, Chuck Hagel, Donald Rumsfeld, James Mattis and Mark Esper called on the Pentagon to commit to a peaceful transfer of power. .
Mattis was the first Secretary of Defense in the Trump administration; He resigned in 2018 and gave way to Esper, who was fired just days after the November 3 presidential election.
“Efforts to involve the United States Armed Forces in the resolution of electoral disputes would lead us into dangerous, illegal and unconstitutional territory,” they said, adding that officials who seek to do so could have serious professional and criminal consequences.
Speaking of the electoral process and the peaceful transfer of power as “hallmarks of our democracy,” former defense secretaries noted that, with the exception of the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, which led to the secession of the South and civil war American, the country had a continuing tradition of peaceful transfer.
“This year should be no exception,” wrote the former Pentagon leaders.
They noted that all the lawsuits challenging the results of the presidential elections were dismissed by the courts and the voting results were approved by the heads of state.
The Defense Secretaries stressed that the time has come to formally confirm the votes of the Electoral College.
They also called on Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller and all Defense Department officials to facilitate “fully, cooperatively and transparently” the coming to power of President-elect Joe Biden’s administration.
“They must also refrain from any political action that jeopardizes the election results or hinders the success of the new team,” the article said.
Trump, who refuses to admit he lost the election to Biden, until very recently prevented government agencies from cooperating with the president-elect team, as is customary.
Several high-ranking military officers, including General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have publicly stated in recent weeks that the armed forces play no role in determining the winners of American elections and that they are loyal to the Constitution and not a particular leader or political party.
Without giving a specific example, the former defense secretaries wrote that the return process “often takes place in the face of international uncertainty about the United States’ national security policy and position.”
“At that time, the State is vulnerable to the actions of opponents who seek to take advantage of the situation,” the article adds.
One of those moments is the tension in relations between Washington and Tehran. Sunday marked the first anniversary of the assassination of influential Iranian general Qassem Soleimani during a US drone strike.
The Shiite republic has vowed revenge for the attack, and US officials say it has not lost vigilance in recent days over a possible Iranian attack on US forces or interests in the Middle East.
As tensions escalate between the United States and Iran, Acting Defense Secretary Ch. Miller said Sunday night that he had changed his mind about the return of the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier from the Middle East, a warship that would remain in the Gulf region. For the previous chapter. Miller’s decision, announced last week, was rejected by high-ranking officials.
According to the acting Pentagon chief, “recent threats from Iranian leaders to President Trump and other US government officials led him to change his mind.” Ch. Miller did not elaborate on his position and the Department of Defense did not answer additional questions.
According to The Washington Post, the idea to publish the article stemmed from a conversation between Cheney and Eric Edelman, a retired ambassador and former senior Pentagon official, about how Trump might seek military use in the coming days.
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