Sunday, March 6, 2016

Open letter to Donald Trump from GOP national security leaders

  1. I saw this letter on Fahreed Zacharia's GPS (Global Public Square) program on CNN and thought you might like to see this:

  1. Begin quote from:

     Open Letter on Donald Trump from GOP National...

    http://warontherocks.com/2016/03/open-letter-on-donald-trump-from-gop-national-security-leaders/
    4 days ago ... We the undersigned, members of the Republican national security community, represent a broad spectrum of opinion on America's role in the ... 


    Commentary

    Open Letter on Donald Trump from GOP National Security Leaders

    March 2, 2016
    We the undersigned, members of the Republican national security community, represent a broad spectrum of opinion on America’s role in the world and what is necessary to keep us safe and prosperous. We have disagreed with one another on many issues, including the Iraq war and intervention in Syria. But we are united in our opposition to a Donald Trump presidency. Recognizing as we do, the conditions in American politics that have contributed to his popularity, we nonetheless are obligated to state our core objections clearly:
    His vision of American influence and power in the world is wildly inconsistent and unmoored in principle. He swings from isolationism to military adventurism within the space of one sentence.
    His advocacy for aggressively waging trade wars is a recipe for economic disaster in a globally connected world.
    His embrace of the expansive use of torture is inexcusable.
    His hateful, anti-Muslim rhetoric undercuts the seriousness of combating Islamic radicalism by alienating partners in the Islamic world making significant contributions to the effort. Furthermore, it endangers the safety and Constitutionally guaranteed freedoms of American Muslims.
    Controlling our border and preventing illegal immigration is a serious issue, but his insistence that Mexico will fund a wall on the southern border inflames unhelpful passions, and rests on an utter misreading of, and contempt for, our southern neighbor.
    Similarly, his insistence that close allies such as Japan must pay vast sums for protection is the sentiment of a racketeer, not the leader of the alliances that have served us so well since World War II.
    His admiration for foreign dictators such as Vladimir Putin is unacceptable for the leader of the world’s greatest democracy.
    He is fundamentally dishonest. Evidence of this includes his attempts to deny positions he has unquestionably taken in the past, including on the 2003 Iraq war and the 2011 Libyan conflict. We accept that views evolve over time, but this is simply misrepresentation.
    His equation of business acumen with foreign policy experience is false. Not all lethal conflicts can be resolved as a real estate deal might, and there is no recourse to bankruptcy court in international affairs.
    Mr. Trump’s own statements lead us to conclude that as president, he would use the authority of his office to act in ways that make America less safe, and which would diminish our standing in the world. Furthermore, his expansive view of how presidential power should be wielded against his detractors poses a distinct threat to civil liberty in the United States. Therefore, as committed and loyal Republicans, we are unable to support a Party ticket with Mr. Trump at its head. We commit ourselves to working energetically to prevent the election of someone so utterly unfitted to the office.

    Ken Adelman
    David Adesnik
    Michael Auslin
    Mike Baker
    Christopher Barton
    Kevin W. Billings
    Robert D. Blackwill
    Daniel A. Blumenthal
    Max Boot
    Ellen Bork
    Anna Borshchevskaya
    Joseph A. Bosco
    Michael Chertoff
    Patrick Chovanec
    James Clad
    Eliot A. Cohen
    Carrie Cordero
    Michael Coulter
    Chester A. Crocker
    Patrick M. Cronin
    Seth Cropsey
    Tom Donnelly
    Daniel Drezner
    Colin Dueck
    Eric Edelman
    Joseph Esposito
    Charles Fairbanks
    Richard A. Falkenrath
    Peter D. Feaver
    Niall Ferguson
    Richard Fontaine
    Aaron Friedberg
    Dan Gabriel
    Greg Garcia
    Jana Chapman Gates
    Jeffrey Gedmin
    Reuel Marc Gerecht
    David Gordon
    Christopher J. Griffin
    Mary R. Habeck
    Paul Haenle
    Melinda Haring
    Robert Hastings
    Rebeccah Heinrichs
    Francis Q. Hoang
    Jeffrey W. Hornung
    William C. Inboden
    Jamil N. Jaffer
    Ash Jain
    Marc C. Johnson
    Myriah Jordan
    Robert G. Joseph
    Tim Kane
    Kate Kidder
    Robert Kagan
    Rep. Jim Kolbe
    David Kramer
    Stephen Krasner
    Matthew Kroenig
    Frank Lavin
    Philip I. Levy
    Philip Lohaus
    Mary Beth Long
    Peter Mansoor
    John Maurer
    Matthew McCabe
    Bryan McGrath
    Richard Miles
    Paul D. Miller
    Charles Morrison
    Michael B. Mukasey
    Scott W. Muller
    Lester Munson
    Andrew S. Natsios
    Michael Noonan
    John  Noonan
    Roger F. Noriega
    Stephen E. Ockenden
    Robert T. Osterhaler
    Mackubin T. Owens
    Daniel Pipes
    Everett Pyatt
    Martha T. Rainville
    Stephen Rodriguez
    Marc A. Ross
    Nicholas Rostow
    Michael Rubin
    Daniel F. Runde
    Benjamin Runkle
    Richard L. Russell
    Andrew Sagor
    Kori Schake
    Randy Scheunemann
    Gary J. Schmitt
    Gabriel Schoenfeld
    Russell Seitz
    Kalev I. Sepp
    Vance Serchuk
    David R. Shedd
    Gary Shiffman
    Kristen Silverberg
    Michael Singh
    Ray Takeyh
    Jeremy Teigen
    William H. Tobey
    Frances F. Townsend
    Jan Van Tol
    Daniel Vajdich
    Ruth Wedgwood
    Albert Wolf
    Julie Wood
    Dov S. Zakheim
    Roger Zakheim
    Sam Zega
    Philip Zelikow
    Robert B. Zoellick
    Laurence Zuriff
    Number of Signatories: 117

    The statement above was coordinated by Dr. Eliot A. Cohen, former Counselor of the Department of State (2007–8), and Bryan McGrath, Managing Director of The FerryBridge Group, a defense consultancy. They encourage other members of the Republican foreign policy and national security communities wishing to sign the declaration to contact them.

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