WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th May, 2021) The growing militarization of US foreign policy and increasingly extreme, polarized national politics are crippling rational policymaking in the United States, former Assistant Secretary of Defense Chas Freeman told Sputnik.
Freeman was commenting on the letter from 120 retired US generals and admirals published on Thursday that called for the removal of President Joe Biden from office on the grounds of his allegedly impaired mental and physical condition.
The letter was an example of "manifestation of both the increasing militarism evident in US foreign policy since the end of the Cold War and the polarization of politics that now impedes rational policymaking in the United States," Freeman, former assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs in the Clinton administration said.
Freeman said the letter marked an "ominous departure" from the long-established US tradition of separating politics from military affairs going back at least a century and a half.
"I can think of no precedent for an attack on the commander-in-chief of this sort by retired flag officers. This is an ominous departure from the American tradition of military self-exclusion from politics," he said.
The letter reflected the fading of civilian control of the military that has been a proud and much-celebrated tradition throughout US history, Freeman pointed out.
"It is symptomatic of a breakdown in civilian control of the military that has been in progress for some time, aided and abetted by members of Congress who seek to enlist military officers in partisan attacks on incumbent administrations," he said.
In the past, such officers, whether on active duty or retired, sought to remain apolitical, as their oath to defend and protect the constitution requires, Freeman recalled.
World War II and Korean War commander General "Douglas MacArthur, a great strategist who disagreed with President Truman about policy during the Korean War, was fired for violating this standard. It is now routinely ignored," Freeman said.
Recent political party conventions have featured flag officers delivering highly partisan speeches, Freeman noted.
"The now ever more frequent advocacy of specific policies by military officers, including some disapproved by their civilian leadership, is a manifestation of ...the increasing militarism evident in US foreign policy since the end of the Cold War," he said.
In their letter, the 120 retired generals and admirals called on all US citizens to get involved at all levels to elect politicians who would act to save the nation and hold those currently in office to account.
