Luke Skywalker
Super Moderator
{vb:raw ozzmodz_postquote}:
Retired general Michael Flynn addresses delegates on the first day of the Republican National Convention on July 18, 2016, at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.(Photo: Robyn Beck, AFP/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>The recent plunge into presidential politics by<span style="color: Red;">*</span>retired generals is prompting a debate over whether top<span style="color: Red;">*</span>officers should be taking sides at the expense of their independence as military experts.
Both political conventions last month featured prominent speeches by retired generals. At the Republican National Convention, Michael Flynn, a retired Army three-star general and former<span style="color: Red;">*</span>head of<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the Defense Intelligence Agency, endorsed party nominee Donald Trump and unleashed<span style="color: Red;">*</span>a blistering critique of the Obama administration’s war on the Islamic State.
At last week's Democratic convention, John Allen, a retired Marine Corps four-star general, endorsed party nominee Hillary Clinton, praising her judgment and saying she was the best choice to keep the country "safe and free."
“The military itself must not be politicized,” said Wesley Clark, who ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 after he<span style="color: Red;">*</span>retired as an Army general in charge of NATO.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Clark said elected<span style="color: Red;">*</span>leaders must depend on<span style="color: Red;">*</span>independent advice from military commanders without worrying about political bias.
Maintaining a neutral stance has not been easy in a campaign where national security issues have produced<span style="color: Red;">*</span>vociferous disagreements.
Trump has supported waterboarding<span style="color: Red;">*</span>—<span style="color: Red;">*</span>considered a form of torture —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>to get information<span style="color: Red;">*</span>from suspected terrorists. Clinton has come under fire for allegations that she didn’t do enough as secretary of State to respond to the 2012<span style="color: Red;">*</span>attack in<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Benghazi, Libya, that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.
Trump also has talked about ramping up airstrikes<span style="color: Red;">*</span>against the Islamic State and suggested at times that the NATO alliance may be obsolete.
This past week<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Trump's<span style="color: Red;">*</span>public feud with<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Khizr Khan, a Muslim who lost a son in the Iraq war and spoke at the Democratic<span style="color: Red;">*</span>convention, has kept the focus on veterans and military issues.
Active-duty military leaders have spent much of the current campaign dodging<span style="color: Red;">*</span>questions about those positions.
Clark<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said officers have the right to add their voices to the political debate, but only after they have retired.
“When someone who is retired speaks out, they speak out on their own behalf,” Clark said. Such comments no more represent the armed forces as an institution "than Meryl Streep, when she endorsed Hillary Clinton, could represent all of Hollywood.”
Others, however, say political activity by<span style="color: Red;">*</span>retired officers could undermine the military's<span style="color: Red;">*</span>traditional non-partisan<span style="color: Red;">*</span>leadership.
The appearance of Allen and Flynn at the political conventions drew an unusual<span style="color: Red;">*</span>rebuke from Martin Dempsey, who retired last year as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
“As generals, they have an obligation to uphold our apolitical traditions,” Dempsey wrote in a recent letter to<span style="color: Red;">*</span>The<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Washington Post.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>“They have just made the task of their successors — who continue to serve in uniform and are accountable for our security — more complicated.”
USA TODAY
The Trump-Khan feud: How we got here
Generals and admirals are no strangers to politics, and many went on from military careers to the White House.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>The first president, George Washington, commanded the Continental Army.
The most recent president to make a similar leap was<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Dwight Eisenhower, a retired five-star general, who entered<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the White House 7½<span style="color: Red;">*</span>years<span style="color: Red;">*</span>after the end of World War II.
Dempsey draws a distinction between those who turn in their uniforms and run for office, such as Eisenhower, and those who dive into partisan politics<span style="color: Red;">*</span>as former senior officers.
“If they choose to run themselves, they become accountable to voters,” he wrote in Defense One, a<span style="color: Red;">*</span>website that focuses on defense and national security trends.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>“In simply advocating — or giving speeches — they are<span style="color: Red;">*</span>not.”
Political leaders often have<span style="color: Red;">*</span>a complex relationship with the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>military because so many issues involve partisan politics, from the Pentagon<span style="color: Red;">*</span>budget to war strategy.
Yet<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the fates of military and political leaders often are intertwined.
“Contrast the (2011)<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Osama bin Laden takedown with what happened in 1980 when the military under President Carter went in to rescue the hostages,” Clark said.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>The failed effort to rescue 52 hostages in Iran<span style="color: Red;">*</span>was a debacle that helped defeat Carter's re-election<span style="color: Red;">*</span>that year.
“If the military does a good job, the president gets praise,” Clark said. “When the military doesn’t do a good job, the president looks bad.”
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