McRaven's op-ed gives a military imprimatur to what President Donald Trump has already likened to a "coup," as Democrats attempt to impeach him with barely a year to go before the next presidential election.
The admiral, well-respected for his role in overseeing the operation to kill Al Qaeda terrorist Osama bin Laden in 2011, argues that senior military leaders have lost confidence in the president and feel he is a threat to the nation.
"As I stood on the parade field at Fort Bragg," McRaven recalled, "one retired four-star general, grabbed my arm, shook me and shouted, 'I don't like the Democrats, but Trump is destroying the Republic!'"
McRaven does not argue that President Trump has done anything wrong in particular, but that he has no respect for America's values. These values, McRaven declares, involve a commitment to "help the weak and stand up against oppression and injustice" around the world.
Comment: What complete and utter bulls***. McRaven's head is so far up his posterior that he seems honestly to believe that murdering millions of Iraqis, Libyans and Afghans (to name just three of the nations invaded by the American military) is in line with those 'values'. Well, if that's the case, then the world would be a better place with maniacs like McRaven foaming at the mouth at the bottom of a well-padded cell. He can take his 'values' with him.
"[W]hat will happen to the Kurds, the Iraqis, the Afghans, the Syrians, the Rohingyas, the South Sudanese and the millions of people under the boot of tyranny or left abandoned by their failing states?" McRaven asks, without explicitly calling for military intervention in any of the regions mentioned.
Comment: And the U.S. had no role in creating these failed states, apparently. McRaven can get bent.
His criticism goes beyond that voiced in a Washington Post op-ed last year, in which he merely promised "criticism" of the president in the wake of the removal of former CIA director John Brennan's security clearance.
The admiral is unwilling to wait for the 2020 presidential election to see a change of power. He declares (emphasis added): "[I]t is time for a new person in the Oval Office — Republican, Democrat or independent — the sooner, the better. The fate of our Republic depends upon it."
Moreover, McRaven makes no reference to voting, or elections — or even impeachment.
Article 88 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice bars "contemptuous words against the President," and applies to retired members of the armed forces entitled to pay.
Read McRaven's full op-ed here.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He earned an A.B. in Social Studies and Environmental Science and Public Policy from Harvard College, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. He is also the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
Reader Comments
The original obit is out there. As you know, 'our' (sic) 'government' (sic) needed our boogeyman to 'hang in there' using the First Class facilities Afghanistan mountain caves are known for having. (Sarcasm.)
NRN
R.C.
Spoken like a true lobbyist / salesperson for the MIC.....FOAD old war dude....
But WHO are you saying is doing the attacking?:
1)The Democratically controlled (better said, 'out of control') House?
2) Our 'Infinitely Better Than Killary Choice (i.e., he was better than the alternative) Trump?; or,
3) Other? (If so, who?)
Thanks!
R.C.
Majority of the members of these gangs are ready to change side immediately when a better option emerges. That is why the elite is afraid of "influence" in the elections. Not because the voters may be influenced but because their own gang-members are so easily influenced to change side at a notice.
The real thread to democracy, to the status quo, is not the people but the members of the gangs. For example: You know the game is over when the police changes side from the government to the people.
R.C.
Let's start with Afghanistan in 2010 (though there's a lot more.) Remember THIS war crime? It was McCraven's: (And it gets the softball approach by wee wee pee pee ahh. [Link]
Remember the death of the supposed (re) killers of OBL in a chopper loss? That was McCraven's also:
I still remember a comment from some British former Spec. Ops guy, who knew OBL was - and had been - dead long befor 2011. It was written just after that alleged event. and about a week before they all got whacked. Well, this McCraven was behind that fake OBL op, PLUS likely behind taking out ST6 as detailed by the father of one of the dead Seals: McCraven sounds like the deep state guy who would have happily followed LBJ's orders to turn back the fighter jets approaching the the USS Liberty in 1967. The guy who probably helped Killary with Benghazi, etc.
I'm certain the MSM will cover these points as well. (Sarcasm.)
R.C.
R.C.