General Martin Dempsey
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
The Pentagon
Arlington, VA
Sir,
In November 1965, the Chairman and other members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) met alone with President Lyndon Johnson to express their concerns that an increasingly dangerous U.S. role in Vietnam would prove disastrous.
The Korean War had ended twelve years earlier, leaving an indelible mark upon their collective psyche. A war with North Korea — aided by China and the Soviet Union — ended in stalemate, making victory unlikely for a conflict in Vietnam similarly supported.
After quietly listening to his service chiefs, Johnson erupted into a profanity-laced verbal attack, calling them cowards. They were ordered to stay the course — he would not allow history to label him as the first American president to lose a war.
Following Johnson’s order, the JCS would continue fighting a war they opposed for another decade. But they had done their duty — advising the President America’s national security interests were best served not fighting it.
General Dempsey, if ever a need existed for a united JCS to confront a U.S. president over a policy endangering U.S. national security, it is now.
The difference today is the urgency of doing so — the 1965 threat to us was not a direct one; this one is.
This threat will reach a new peak this week if a nuclear deal with Iran is announced over the objections of our allies, which Obama has attempted to bully into acceptance despite the risks of doing so. Meanwhile, he damages alliances that have thrived for decades.
The soon-to-be-announced agreement may well spell out either a long-term path by which Tehran can develop nuclear weapons or a short-term one by which it can “break out” at a time of its own choosing.
General, this agreement comes at a time the Iranian mullahs’ apocalyptical mindset must be fully understood — one clinging to the belief the Mahdi, who disappeared in the ninth century, will return. But that return will only occur in the wake of world chaos which they seek to trigger.
We choose, at our own risk, to ignore what for them is “Apocalypse Now.” This has been documented in a film commissioned by former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad suggesting Iran’s end-of-world scenario is their reality. And, as another sign the prophecy is playing out, the current Supreme Leader claims in 2010 to have met the messianic Mahdi.
This deal comes at a time the IAEA continues to express concerns Iran’s nuclear intentions may not be “peaceful” as it so claims.
It comes at a time the IAEA’s position is supported by a secretly obtained Iranian military document referencing a plan for an EMP, or electromagnetic pulse, attack against the U.S. — achievable only by a high-altitude nuclear bomb detonation.
It comes at a time Iran has yet to honor any agreement made with the West, as President Obama relies on a yet-to-be-produced fatwa by the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini opposed to nuclear arms. Iran’s belief in “taqiyya” (deception of its enemies) makes reliance on any such fatwa, even if produced, irresponsible.
It comes at a time Iran, already boasting three other nation’s capitals under its influence (Baghdad, Damascus, and Beirut), seeks a fourth by supporting Shiite militants in Yemen. Coordinating Tehran’s effort is an all-too-familiar face — its al-Quds commander, General Qassem Solemani — who has led Iran’s push for chaos in Afghanistan and Iraq as well.
It comes at a time Saudi Arabia has become so concerned about Iran’s unchallenged march to establish a global caliphate that Riyadh formed a ten-nation coalition to take military action against Iranian assets in Yemen.
It comes at a time Iran continues to pursue its constitutional mandate to spread the Islamic Revolution globally; at a time Iranian-backed Shiite groups in Iraq are slaughtering their Sunni-minority counterparts to further tighten control of Baghdad; at a time Hezbollah is building a missile base in Venezuela from which members link up with the Mexican drug cartels to breach our southern borders.
Yet, despite all this, Obama inexplicably removes the terrorist label from both Iran and its proxy group Hezbollah in his annual National Intelligence report sent to Congress this year — while both remain actively involved in terrorist activities.
Obama also embraces the Muslim Brotherhood, providing access at the highest U.S. government levels to representatives of front companies—several of whom have been convicted of funding terrorist groups. The Brotherhood is following a secret blueprint (discovered in 2004) to undermine the U.S. Constitution and whose spiritual leader has declared war against America.
General Dempsey, the JCS must no longer remain silent as Obama continues endangering our national security.
Retired Admiral Ace Lyons recently said the Obama administration has a strategy for the Middle East which any “thinking American” should grasp: “It is anti-American, anti-Western; it’s pro-Islamic; it’s pro-Iranian and pro-Muslim Brotherhood.”
General, if Obama announces a deal this week that fails completely to stop Iran’s race for nuclear weapons, you, sir, must lead the JCS in taking a step never before taken to draw public attention to its danger. As a neutered Congress shirks its responsibility to rein in a rogue president, the JCS remains our only hope.
To underscore the seriousness of a nuclear-armed Iran to the American people, the JCS must take the unprecedented step of resigning en masse. Then, and only then, will an apathetic American public and irresponsible media wake up to the danger a nuclear-armed Iran poses.
Had the JCS done this in 1965 when our Vietnam war casualties were 2,344, another 56,876 lives might well have been saved. If the JCS fails to act now, the casualties will be far greater.