All ten surviving defense ministers in the United States called on President Trump to recognize the outcome of the presidential election. They also warned him, in an opinion piece in the Washington Post, not to involve the military in its battle to challenge the outcome.
Without any evidence, Trump claimed that he lost the election to Joe Biden due to fraud. He lost countless lawsuits the president has brought about that Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security advisor, suggested in December that the president might declare martial law for new elections under military auspices.
Trump denied this as a possibility, but invited Flynn to the White House shortly after Flynn was pardoned for his role in Russia’s interference in the previous presidential election.
The group of ministers who wrote the opinion piece consists of both Democrats and Republicans, such as Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and Leon Panetta. The piece was signed by Trump’s two former defense ministers, James Mattis and Mark Esper, who had to leave the field in November.
And they wrote, “The time for questioning the result is over, and the time has come to formally count the votes of the Electoral College, as required by the constitution.”
The Electoral College
On Wednesday, the US Congress will count the votes cast by the Electoral College on December 14th. This is the final official step in Biden being elected president. However, a group of about 12 Republican senators and more than 100 House members want to challenge that number.
Senators and other delegates, including prominent Republicans, strongly opposed the plan. “Biden’s victory is completely legitimate,” former House Speaker Paul Ryan said in a statement. According to Ryan, casting doubt on the election results “affects the foundations of our republic.”
The ten defense ministers think so, too. Attempting to engage the US armed forces in resolving an electoral dispute will move us into dangerous, illegal, and unconstitutional territory. They can be found criminally guilty for the harmful consequences of their actions on our republic. “
Enemies
They also believe that opposition to the transfer of power to the next Biden government should end. The Biden team says many ministries, including the Department of Defense, are not cooperating well.
Former defense ministers say this endangers America’s security: “This may be a time when the nation is vulnerable to the actions of our enemies who want to take advantage of the situation.”
Tensions are rising again with Iran, among other things, a year after the murder of the most important US military commander, Qassem Soleimani. The United States announced two days ago to withdraw the aircraft carrier Nimitz from the Gulf region, but this decision was canceled due to new threats from Iran.
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