https://justthenews.com/government/security/retired-generals-who-denounced-trump-could-be-recalled-active-duty-and?amp&__twitter_impression=true
level of groupthink mob mentality, shakes me to my core.”
Said Longell, who served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan: “What world are they living in?”
Retired and active duty military questioned why the vocal four-star officers previously remained silent on issues and policies that sent American troops to their deaths.
“Where were they during the Obama administration, when the rules of engagement (ROE) were getting American soldiers killed?” demanded retired Infantry officer and combat veteran Jim Lechner, a history professor. “The administration imposed an unworkable strategy and ROEs that were criminal. Why didn’t these flag officers speak up about that?”
In 2015, when asked directly by this reporter about the rules of engagement and whether they endangered American lives downrange, McRaven declined to answer.
In his own open letter, Dowd asked Mattis why he did not stop one notorious enemy.
“Perhaps you ought to explain how and why you (and John Allen), as [Commanding General] Central Command, did not engage and take out Iranian Major General Soleimani who roamed the Middle East and wreaked havoc and death of American boys with his infamous IEDs,” wrote Dowd.
Dowd said that he received a response from Mattis, and that their exchange — which he did not share — was “pleasant.”
The retired flag officers have been praised by supporters who believe their comments are warranted and helpful. And, while the criticisms of Trump could bring consequences via the military justice system, charges likely will not be filed, the JAG officer said.
“Could they be recalled to active duty and prosecuted? Yes,” the officer said. “Will they be? Highly unlikely.”
The effects of their words, though, ripple through the ranks.
“The only people who are politicizing the military are the flag officers who are telling our current service members that their commander-in-chief is the greatest threat to our republic,” Longell said. “I can barely think of anything as dangerous to our nation [as] to inject such a thesis as that into the already highly volatile chapter of our history we are in.”
Longell and three other active duty soldiers who spoke to Just the News report wanting neutrality and unity from senior leaders, including those who are retired.
Said Longell: “As a veteran who has tremendous respect for many of these leaders, it is with a painful feeling of disbelief and disappointment that I watch them now become tools of the very dangerous flames of political opportunism which threaten our great republic."