Don’t Treat Anti-Gitmo Letter as Last Word from Retired Military

This week, a group of twenty-eight retired generals and admirals signed a letter to President Obama, posted by Human Rights First.  In the letter, the signatories express support for Obama’s misguided efforts to shut down detention/interrogation operations at Guantanamo Bay, and urge him to submit as soon as possible a plan to Congress that lays out the details of how he will get this done.

The letter comes at a time when Obama is indeed about to turn over a plan to Congress to shutter Gitmo, and at the same time has not ruled out unilateral executive action that would include bringing detainees to the U.S.  He will no doubt point to this letter, or perhaps others like it that may be forthcoming in the weeks and months ahead, to bolster his case that he has the backing of numerous retired flag and general officers in his attempt to close Gitmo.

No one should doubt that these individuals served their country with honor and distinction during their time in uniform.  At the same time, however, no one should be under the impression that these individuals necessarily represent the community of retired flag and general officers writ large on the subject of closing Gitmo.

As we learned with President Obama’s campaign to sell the Iran nuclear deal to the public – during which the administration highlighted a letter by three dozen retired flag and general officers in support of the Iran nuclear deal, only to be outdone weeks later by a letter opposing the Iran deal and signed by over 200 retired generals and admirals – a letter from retired military leaders in support of one of Obama’s initiatives probably doesn’t tell the whole story.

Such is the case here.  In February of 2015, 37 retired generals and admirals, joined by key civilian national security leaders including former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, former Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Rep. Pete Hoekstra, and others, signed a letter to President Obama making the case for keeping Gitmo open and fully operational.  They cited, among many other reasons, the security and legal risks associated with transferring Gitmo detainees stateside.

Congress is rightfully pushing back on Obama’s attempts to close Gitmo, including by executive action.  As Congress makes its case, they should do so with the knowledge that the retired military figures Obama will lean on for support in this endeavor cannot be said to represent a consensus view.