Ten Defense Ministers Warn Against Military Interference In Power Change – NRK Urix – Foreign News And Documentaries

Ashton Carter, Dick Cheney, William Cohen, Mark Esper, Robert Gates, Chuck Hagel, James Mattis, Leon Panetta, William Perry and Donald Rumsfeld say in a column in The Washington Post that the Pentagon must commit to a peaceful transfer of power.

“Attempts to involve the US military in the resolution of electoral disputes could lead us into dangerous, illegal and unconstitutional territory,” the ten former Pentagon chiefs wrote in the newspaper on Sunday.

Former defense ministers point out that the electoral process and a peaceful transfer of power are the hallmarks of democracy in the United States.

All transfers of power since the Civil War have been peaceful, they note.

– This year should not be an exception, they write.

The former ministers come from the two main parties in the United States. Trump himself pointed to Esper and Mattis. All ten say that judicial attempts to challenge the election results have been rejected by the courts and that the state government has confirmed the results.

They ask Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller and the rest of the Pentagon to cooperate fully and facilitate the transfer of power to Joe Biden.

“The Pentagon must also refrain from any political action that undermines the elections or impedes the success of the new administration,” they write.