(ETH) – Nearly 90 retired generals and admirals have called on Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley to resign after overseeing the debacle that was President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from Afghanistan.
According to The Washington Examiner, The letter, released by the group Flag Officers 4 America, states that “the hasty retreat has left an unknown number of Americans stranded in dangerous areas controlled by a brutal enemy.”
The group’s letter notes that Austin and Milley “were the top two military officials in a position to recommend against the dangerous withdrawal” and that even if they did all they could to prevent Biden from going forward with it, they should still resign out of conscience.
According to the NYP, The signatories, who claim membership in a group called “Flag Officers 4 America,” claim Austin and Milley “should have recommended against this dangerous withdrawal in the strongest possible terms. If they did not do everything within their authority to stop the hasty withdrawal, they should resign.”
Conversely, the letter adds, if Austin and Milley fought President Biden’s pullout order tooth and nail, they still should resign “as a matter of conscience and public statement.”
The letter had 87 signatories as of Monday night, including retired Navy Rear Adm. John Poindexter, a former national security adviser under President Ronald Reagan; Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas), a former Navy rear admiral and longtime White House physician; and retired Army Brig. Gen. Donald Bolduc, a Republican candidate to represent New Hampshire in the US Senate next year.
The letter also calls on Austin and Milley to resign for reasons of “leadership, training, and morale” and accuses them of “placing mandatory emphasis on PC ‘wokeness’ related training which is extremely divisive and harmful to unit cohesion, readiness, and warfighting capability. “Our military exists to fight and win our Nation’s wars and that must be the sole focus of our top military leaders,” it concludes.
