>The letter endorsing Harris consists of 741 former high-ranking national security officials, including 233 general and flag officers. Among those 741 officials are 15 four-star generals, 10 former Cabinet secretaries and 10 service secretaries as well as leaders who served in Republican administrations.Â
>We are former public servants who swore an oath to the Constitution. Many of us risked our lives for it. We are retired generals, admirals, senior noncommissioned officers, ambassadors, and senior civilian national security leaders. We are Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. We are loyal to the ideals of our nation—like freedom, democracy, and the rule of law—not to any one individual or party.
>We do not agree on everything, but we all adhere to two fundamental principles. First, we believe America’s national security requires a serious and capable Commander-in-Chief. Second, we believe American democracy is invaluable. Each generation has a responsibility to defend it. That is why we, the undersigned, proudly endorse Kamala Harris to be the next President of the United States…
Trump is a national security risk.
Dat_Boi_Teo on
That should be disqualifying for being president, throw it on the pile
citizenjones on
*I only want to protect myself and I only want the support of others who feel the same* – D.T.
milton911 on
If elected, Trump becomes Putin’s man in Washington.
And America’s safety and security will be massively compromised.
Voting Trump is an act of national suicide.
kronikfumes on
Russian pawn parrots what Putin told him. More at 11.
SuperstitiousPigeon5 on
Which will play fine to Republicans.
They love the idea of isolationism and taking care of the problems at home. Never learning from History and the lessons of WWII. We fight them there, so we don’t have to fight them here.
feral-pug on
Reason 4,725,026 why traitorous Trump can’t come within 50 miles of the Whitehouse again.
We don’t need to accelerate the start of World War 3 and we don’t abandon our allies.
tjk45268 on
Despite his claims and bluster, Trump has demonstrated a profound lack of ability to protect anyone. He can’t even protect himself from prosecution.
macandcheesefan45 on
We Europeans know this. That’s why we are taking steps on NATO to protect ourselves without the USA help.
WallaWalla1513 on
I wish John Bolton would go away. He keeps whining about how bad Trump is, but then insists he can’t vote for his opponent and is writing in Ronald Reagan’s ghost for President.
king_of_the_nothing on
I think a lot of people forget that Canada is part of NATO. Canada is one of the NATO countries that doesn’t meet their military spending levels.
Trump is basically telling Russia they can invade Canada with impunity. He is inviting Russia to our northern border!
annalouaustin on
That’s pretty alarming it sends a message that he might put personal interests over alliances. Trust is key in international relations, and that kind of talk could damage it.
Rated_PG-Squirteen on
So earlier this year when Donald said at a rally that he would tell Putin and Russia to “do the hell whatever they want” to fellow NATO countries “who don’t pay,” which isn’t how NATO fucking works, that was supposed to be your pledge to protect them?
SuperGenius9800 on
Trump would have surrendered to Hitler also.
100cpm on
Once again, everything possible to help Putin’s Russia.
mredofcourse on
NATO country leaders should ask themselves…. “Who did Trump send Covid test devices to?” Because he had no problem sending them to Putin for personal use at the expense of American lives.
AverageFit8300 on
But he will protect you from Haitians eating dogs and cats.
HerbaciousTea on
This is basically an admission of treason.
NATO benefits the US *far* more than it benefits any other member state. It underpins US global influence and is what makes us a superpower.
All that talk about how the US is the only global power because of it’s logistical capabilities is only possible *because* we have strategic partnerships like NATO that let us have bases and prepositioned stockpiles across the globe in securely defended allied countries.
Strategic partnerships allow things like the joint funding of the F-35, which skyrocketed its production so that it’s not only the most advanced system flying, but that there are more of them than all other stealth aircraft on the planet combined, and now only costs *less* to produce than a modernized F-15.
It gives the US defense complex a massively larger pool of capital and investors and manufacturing partners to draw from. It gives the US a millions strong collection of modernized armed forces from allies to rely on to hold ground abroad. It gives the US-led alliance an economic base that makes up *most of the world’s economy*.
And all of this adds up to deterrence, which adds up to stability and a peace dividend, which leads to faster and more effective economic growth, which an aggressive and dictatorial adversary cannot hope to match long-term.
War is fucking hell, and the way you avoid it is by making alliances so that your pool of resources is simply so great that no one can ever hope to win a stand up fight against you, and the US has actually achieved that with NATO.
The only hope of autocrats like Xi and Putin is that they can turn NATO members against each other through interference campaigns, and they have to do it in the next decade or two, or they will have lost almost any hope for a superpower bid and for a realignment of global norms away from democracy and towards aggressive expansionist autocracy.
BlushSarah on
Trump is beholden to Putin in the same way as Belarus’ Lukashenko.
He has made it abundantly clear time and again that he works for Putin, not the US, and will do whatever Putin wants. There is zero reason beyond denial to doubt that he would attempt to abandon NATO.
It is unlikely he could actually do this unilaterally, although it would once again bring up another constitutional crisis in regards to the separation of powers, and the ability of congress to intercede.
Kannigget on
Trump will stab every US ally in the back, including Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and South Korea who are being invaded or are about to be invaded by the new axis of evil.
joepez on
And yet his base will not budge one bit and cling to false patriotism. They are too far gone to handle the cognitive dissonance that would occur if they stopped believing.
AskJayce on
Again, and as always: a vote for Trump is a vote for Putin.
Northerngal_420 on
Trump wins, Ukraine falls, Trump pulls out of NATO, Putin invades Poland, Europe is on high alert as is the west and are gearing up for war. The Middle East is a tinderbox and we now have WW3. Because Trump.
somecisguy2020 on
If there is one thing that he,and Republicans in general,has proven it’s that he is willing to hurt the US and Americans if it means he can punish those who oppose him. Believe him!!!
BoltTusk on
John Bolton can go back to his selfish corner where he put his self-interests first instead of country by not testifying against Trump.
hufflefox on
I wish I could believe that it would matter to his base. They won’t ever hear about it and if they do they’ll twist it into something insane.
royaltrux on
Putin’s dream
charcoalist on
trump has been attacking NATO since 1987, when he returned from his first trip to Moscow. He’s been a Kremlin stooge since long before Putin took over.
constantine220 on
Because an isolationist “America First”* policy never led America’s enemies to think they could get away with a direct attack on us (*cough* Japan’s entire rationale for the attack on Pearl Harbor *cough*)
Roevember 5th is coming. STOMP OUT MAGAts, republicans, tRump/Vance & the Heritage Foundation! Go to vote.gov to register, check your registration and registration DEADLINES! VOTE on Roevember 5th
Oceanbreeze871 on
Trump cannot be allowed to become president. America will be over.
castion5862 on
The world is watching in horror that you would consider electing this madman
elephant35e on
The U.S is FUCKED if Trump wins.
Leviathan117 on
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. America is the only country to ever invoke article 5 of NATO after 9/11. We all came and protected you fat boy.
pjflyr13 on
Donny is beholden to Putin but having the richest man in the world as your sycophant friend is donnys wet dream. He has thousand of people feeding his ego and enabling him to keep on his life long criming. We’ve discovered the kinks and holes in our Constitution so it’s no longer a template for successful governing but a guideline of what to endlessness adjudicate, over-explain and delay process until we go numb. All this destruction by one person so unworthy of the title President.
arkuw on
As a Pole this is absolutely terrifying. There is now an election in which I have no say and yet it will almost certainly decide the fate of my country.
If he wins I’m unlikely to even have a country in a few years.
Sharp-End3867 on
Nothing has changed since Trump came down the golden escalator. He is and always was Putins man.
38 Comments
[More than 700 high-ranking national security officials endorse Harris ](https://thehill.com/homenews/4892381-national-security-officials-endorse-harris/)
>The letter endorsing Harris consists of 741 former high-ranking national security officials, including 233 general and flag officers. Among those 741 officials are 15 four-star generals, 10 former Cabinet secretaries and 10 service secretaries as well as leaders who served in Republican administrations.Â
And here’s the letter itself:
[https://www.nsl4a.org/nsl4a-announcements/nsl4a-endorsement-harris](https://www.nsl4a.org/nsl4a-announcements/nsl4a-endorsement-harris)
>To the American People,
>We are former public servants who swore an oath to the Constitution. Many of us risked our lives for it. We are retired generals, admirals, senior noncommissioned officers, ambassadors, and senior civilian national security leaders. We are Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. We are loyal to the ideals of our nation—like freedom, democracy, and the rule of law—not to any one individual or party.
>We do not agree on everything, but we all adhere to two fundamental principles. First, we believe America’s national security requires a serious and capable Commander-in-Chief. Second, we believe American democracy is invaluable. Each generation has a responsibility to defend it. That is why we, the undersigned, proudly endorse Kamala Harris to be the next President of the United States…
Trump is a national security risk.
That should be disqualifying for being president, throw it on the pile
*I only want to protect myself and I only want the support of others who feel the same* – D.T.
If elected, Trump becomes Putin’s man in Washington.
And America’s safety and security will be massively compromised.
Voting Trump is an act of national suicide.
Russian pawn parrots what Putin told him. More at 11.
Which will play fine to Republicans.
They love the idea of isolationism and taking care of the problems at home. Never learning from History and the lessons of WWII. We fight them there, so we don’t have to fight them here.
Reason 4,725,026 why traitorous Trump can’t come within 50 miles of the Whitehouse again.
We don’t need to accelerate the start of World War 3 and we don’t abandon our allies.
Despite his claims and bluster, Trump has demonstrated a profound lack of ability to protect anyone. He can’t even protect himself from prosecution.
We Europeans know this. That’s why we are taking steps on NATO to protect ourselves without the USA help.
I wish John Bolton would go away. He keeps whining about how bad Trump is, but then insists he can’t vote for his opponent and is writing in Ronald Reagan’s ghost for President.
I think a lot of people forget that Canada is part of NATO. Canada is one of the NATO countries that doesn’t meet their military spending levels.
Trump is basically telling Russia they can invade Canada with impunity. He is inviting Russia to our northern border!
That’s pretty alarming it sends a message that he might put personal interests over alliances. Trust is key in international relations, and that kind of talk could damage it.
So earlier this year when Donald said at a rally that he would tell Putin and Russia to “do the hell whatever they want” to fellow NATO countries “who don’t pay,” which isn’t how NATO fucking works, that was supposed to be your pledge to protect them?
Trump would have surrendered to Hitler also.
Once again, everything possible to help Putin’s Russia.
NATO country leaders should ask themselves…. “Who did Trump send Covid test devices to?” Because he had no problem sending them to Putin for personal use at the expense of American lives.
But he will protect you from Haitians eating dogs and cats.
This is basically an admission of treason.
NATO benefits the US *far* more than it benefits any other member state. It underpins US global influence and is what makes us a superpower.
All that talk about how the US is the only global power because of it’s logistical capabilities is only possible *because* we have strategic partnerships like NATO that let us have bases and prepositioned stockpiles across the globe in securely defended allied countries.
Strategic partnerships allow things like the joint funding of the F-35, which skyrocketed its production so that it’s not only the most advanced system flying, but that there are more of them than all other stealth aircraft on the planet combined, and now only costs *less* to produce than a modernized F-15.
It gives the US defense complex a massively larger pool of capital and investors and manufacturing partners to draw from. It gives the US a millions strong collection of modernized armed forces from allies to rely on to hold ground abroad. It gives the US-led alliance an economic base that makes up *most of the world’s economy*.
And all of this adds up to deterrence, which adds up to stability and a peace dividend, which leads to faster and more effective economic growth, which an aggressive and dictatorial adversary cannot hope to match long-term.
War is fucking hell, and the way you avoid it is by making alliances so that your pool of resources is simply so great that no one can ever hope to win a stand up fight against you, and the US has actually achieved that with NATO.
The only hope of autocrats like Xi and Putin is that they can turn NATO members against each other through interference campaigns, and they have to do it in the next decade or two, or they will have lost almost any hope for a superpower bid and for a realignment of global norms away from democracy and towards aggressive expansionist autocracy.
Trump is beholden to Putin in the same way as Belarus’ Lukashenko.
[https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/03/connections-trump-putin-russia-ties-chart-flynn-page-manafort-sessions-214868/](https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/03/connections-trump-putin-russia-ties-chart-flynn-page-manafort-sessions-214868/)
His inner circle is a web of Russian linked ties who are either in prison or investigation.
His closest supporters in Congress regurgitate Kremlin propaganda and receive praise from Russian state media.
Re:NATO-Â *What do you think?*
[https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/22/ukraine-aid-marjorie-taylor-greene-new-york-post](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/22/ukraine-aid-marjorie-taylor-greene-new-york-post)
[https://www.newsweek.com/marjorie-taylor-greene-russia-state-tv-margarita-simonyan-1892691](https://www.newsweek.com/marjorie-taylor-greene-russia-state-tv-margarita-simonyan-1892691)
He has made it abundantly clear time and again that he works for Putin, not the US, and will do whatever Putin wants. There is zero reason beyond denial to doubt that he would attempt to abandon NATO.
It is unlikely he could actually do this unilaterally, although it would once again bring up another constitutional crisis in regards to the separation of powers, and the ability of congress to intercede.
Trump will stab every US ally in the back, including Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and South Korea who are being invaded or are about to be invaded by the new axis of evil.
And yet his base will not budge one bit and cling to false patriotism. They are too far gone to handle the cognitive dissonance that would occur if they stopped believing.
Again, and as always: a vote for Trump is a vote for Putin.
Trump wins, Ukraine falls, Trump pulls out of NATO, Putin invades Poland, Europe is on high alert as is the west and are gearing up for war. The Middle East is a tinderbox and we now have WW3. Because Trump.
If there is one thing that he,and Republicans in general,has proven it’s that he is willing to hurt the US and Americans if it means he can punish those who oppose him. Believe him!!!
John Bolton can go back to his selfish corner where he put his self-interests first instead of country by not testifying against Trump.
I wish I could believe that it would matter to his base. They won’t ever hear about it and if they do they’ll twist it into something insane.
Putin’s dream
trump has been attacking NATO since 1987, when he returned from his first trip to Moscow. He’s been a Kremlin stooge since long before Putin took over.
Because an isolationist “America First”* policy never led America’s enemies to think they could get away with a direct attack on us (*cough* Japan’s entire rationale for the attack on Pearl Harbor *cough*)
*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America_First_Committee
Roevember 5th is coming. STOMP OUT MAGAts, republicans, tRump/Vance & the Heritage Foundation! Go to vote.gov to register, check your registration and registration DEADLINES! VOTE on Roevember 5th
Trump cannot be allowed to become president. America will be over.
The world is watching in horror that you would consider electing this madman
The U.S is FUCKED if Trump wins.
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. America is the only country to ever invoke article 5 of NATO after 9/11. We all came and protected you fat boy.
Donny is beholden to Putin but having the richest man in the world as your sycophant friend is donnys wet dream. He has thousand of people feeding his ego and enabling him to keep on his life long criming. We’ve discovered the kinks and holes in our Constitution so it’s no longer a template for successful governing but a guideline of what to endlessness adjudicate, over-explain and delay process until we go numb. All this destruction by one person so unworthy of the title President.
As a Pole this is absolutely terrifying. There is now an election in which I have no say and yet it will almost certainly decide the fate of my country.
If he wins I’m unlikely to even have a country in a few years.
Nothing has changed since Trump came down the golden escalator. He is and always was Putins man.