Letter Questioning Biden's Mental Health Prompts Criticism Among Retired, Serving Officers

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 13th May, 2021) The recent letter in which over 120 retired US generals and admirals expressed concern over the mental and physical condition of President Joe Biden, as well as the policy of the current administration, raised alarm among many current and former military members.

All eyes are now on the open letter published on Monday by a group called "Flag Officers 4 America" which argues that the US is currently "in a fight for [its] survival as a Constitutional Republic" and "in deep peril." Apart from Biden and his administration, the retired officers raise a number of other hot topics, including the Chinese threat, the Iran nuclear deal, as well as the US border wall with Mexico.

The notable signatories of the letter include retired Army Brigadier General Donald Bolduc, who is currently running for a Senate in New Hampshire in 2022, former Army Lt. General William Boykin, who served as the US Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence under President George W. Bush; as well as retired Vice Admiral John Poindexter, who was a national security adviser in the administration of Ronald Reagan during the Iran-Contra scandal.

According to the website of "Flag Officers 4 America," the group "pledged to support and defend" the US constitution "against all enemies, foreign and domestic" and though retired, its members are "bound by that oath to do what we can, in our capacity today, to protect our nation from the threats to her freedom."

The letter prompted severe reprimand from other retired officers, as well as those in active service. Speaking to Politico on condition of anonymity, one Navy officer branded the letter as "disturbing and reckless."

"I think it hurts the military and by extension it hurts the country," retired Admiral Mike Mullen, who served as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 2007-2011, added.

Meanwhile, retired colonel Marybeth Ulrich, who now works at the US Army War College, called the letter "anti-democratic.

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"They are absolutely violating the norm to be apolitical. They are being used for partisan purposes. They are going against their constitutional oath," she added.

Retired Army Colonel Jeffrey McCausland admitted that it was a dangerous development for these officers to take part in an anti-democratic campaign.

"This is really, to my mind, a classic very bad example of the erosion of civil-military relations in America, which is the bedrock of our democracy," McCausland told HuffPost.

Retired Army Major General Joe Arbuckle, a Vietnam veteran, who organized the letter, told Politico, that the US is "facing threats greater than at any other time since our country was founded."

"Aside from China, many of these threats flow directly from policy positions and actions of our own government. It is critical that the threats to our national security be brought to the attention of the American people and that is the main purpose of the letter. To remain silent would be a dereliction of duty," he insisted.

Bolduc, who received the worst backlash on Twitter due to the fact that he is a public figure and eyeing a Senate seat, insists that he stands by what is written in the letter.

"The truth in today's world can make people uncomfortable, but that should not stop anyone from speaking their truth," he tweeted.

Some experts have drawn parallels between this letter and the one that stirred the current crisis in civil-military relations in France. Over 1,000 military personnel, including some 20 prominent retired generals, who called on President Emmanuel Macron and his government to act against the dangers of Islamism and religious fanaticism, which threaten to destroy French society. The French letter was followed by another one, this time from the country's active servicemen, who agreed with their retired colleagues.