From Tom Timberman: This letter from three retired US generals comes from another of my cousins. I thought, if it’s not too long, it might provide our newsletter readers with another perspective on the presidential election.
(Note: Tom is our Dawn Patrol Commander, Mobile Booth Master, and KCDC’s 2019 Volunteer of the Year)
A Nation in Pain
Brigadier General Stephen N. Xenakis, U.S. Army (Retired)
Brigadier General David Irvine, U.S. Army (Retired)
Lieutenant General Charles Otstott, U.S. Army (Retired
We are a nation in deep pain. The COVID pandemic still rages, unchecked and unnerving. Leaders of allied nations have ceased to take us seriously and are skeptical of our ability to lead in case of international crises. Our military leaders are held in disdain by our president. Our intelligence agencies are no longer believed or supported by our president. There is no accountability at the top for egregious errors, miscalculations, violations of normal behavior, and the many lies told by our president to cover up these very actions. Put simply, we are a nation in pain and crisis and are in desperate need of leadership to set these things aright.
Real leadership at the presidential level in this time of pain will be about setting a positive example, establishing behavior and policies that will achieve success, motivating the body politic to want to support those policies, practicing those behaviors, and then actually working with all the great people of this nation to achieve success.
We are three of nearly 500 retired military officers, ambassadors, and other national security leaders who recently signed an Open Letter to America encouraging voters who feel the pain to vote for Joe Biden. Between the three of us we have exactly 100 years of experience in the US Army observing and practicing leadership at many levels.
We know what great leadership can do to facilitate mission accomplishment, and we know how poor leadership often leads to mission failure and even tragedy. We believe that Joe Biden is a true leader of character who will work for all Americans to ease the pain and restore our position and dignity in the world.
Joe Biden will establish a nationally directed campaign to battle the pandemic and set the example by following the informed advice of scientists and epidemiologists. He will lead by example to do what is necessary to control transmission of the virus, reduce the number of cases to a manageable level, promote real treatments and therapies, facilitate a vaccine that can be trusted, and finally bring the death rate down.
Joe Biden will respect all the agencies of the national security apparatus. He will show respect for all members of the armed forces as they continue to serve the nation in peace and war through their devotion to duty and honorable service to the nation. He will show respect for informed intelligence estimates and honor the members of the intelligence agencies that are so necessary to our national security. When he is Commander-in-Chief of our great armed forces, he will certainly not dishonor any of our fallen by calling them a “sucker” or a “loser.” He will return international respect for this nation’s armed forces and our dedication to maintain peace through strength and cooperation with allies.
National security is what our military careers have been all about. We know, and have seen with our own eyes, how divisiveness within any unit can destroy its effectiveness. The pan-demic threatens our national security by polarizing and dividing our citizenry. Criticism of national institutions such as the armed forces and the intelligence agencies by word and deed is extremely divisive. The world is too dangerous to allow this divisiveness to continue.
Real leadership is about setting the example and uniting the country to face the dangers and ease the pain. Joe Biden understands that. He has the character, experience, principles, wisdom, and traits necessary for the tasks at hand. He has the empathy born of humble roots, family tragedies, and personal loss. He will take responsibility and accept accountability. Our national security cannot stand another four years of malign leadership and failure to take responsibility.
All of us – Republicans, Democrats, Independents, and non-partisans – who signed the open letter vigorously support the election of Joe Biden. We urge our fellow citizens to do the same and return a leader of character to the White House to ease the pain and crisis we face.
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Stephen N. Xenakis, a psychiatrist and retired Army brigadier general, serves on the executive board of the Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law at the University of Pennsylvania and is an adjunct professor at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences.
David Irvine is a retired Army brigadier general, and an attorney in private practice. He was commissioned as an Army strategic intelligence officer. He was a member of The Constitution Project’s Task Force on Detainee Treatment, and was a 4-term Republican member of the Utah House of Representatives.
Charley Otstott: Retired Lieutenant General from the Army. West Point Class of 1960. Two tours in Vietnam conflict 1964-68. Commanded 25th Infantry Division (Light) in Hawaii 1988-90. Deputy Chairman NATO Military Committee 1990-92. Advocated against torture with Human Rights First 2004-2015 where he met Joe Biden on three occasions.