‘Extremely Damaging’: 4-Star Gen. Wesley Clark Rips Tuberville For Politicizing The U.S. Military With Holds on Promotions
Gen. Wesley Clark, a former four-star general and Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, joined CNN’s Kate Bolduan on Tuesday to discuss U.S. foreign policy and Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-AL) ongoing hold on all U.S. military promotions.
Bolduan began by reading from a recent op-ed published in the Washington Post by the current Navy, Air Force, and Army secretaries blasting Tuberville for degrading the readiness of the military and threatening the national security of the nation with his holds.
“What these secretaries write is that this hold is eroding the foundation of America’s military. Let me read a little bit of what they write, ‘Across the services, many generals and admirals are being forced to perform two roles simultaneously. The strain of this double duty places a real and unfair burden on these officers, the organizations they lead, and their families. The blanket hold is also exacting a personal toll on those who least deserve it,’” Bolduan began.
“Goes on to say any claim that holding up the promotions of top officers does not directly damage the military is wrong, plain and simple. It’s pretty remarkable if this has been going on now for five-plus months. I mean, what do you think of this? And also remarkable to see the current secretaries of the Navy, Air Force, and Army speaking out in this way. What do you think?” she then asked Clark.
“Well, Kate, I’m very glad to see the current secretary speaking out. I think this hold is very damaging,” replied Clark, adding:
We have seen holds in the past on individual officers’ promotions. But this is something entirely different. This is a wholesale hold on the normal summertime rotation and retirement that happens at the top of the armed forces. It’s extremely damaging and is damaging not only because of the hold, but also for the reason behind it. Because we’re really bringing in domestic politics in such a strong way now into the military arena. You know, the military is nonpolitical. We serve the commander in chief, whoever he is, whatever party or she is, whatever party they are. It doesn’t matter.
Senator Tuberville, former football coach and a darn good one. He knows you can’t have a football team succeed without coaching. So he’s really put his thumb on the jugular here of the U.S. armed forces. I think the Republican Party and the leaders in the Senate need to put a stop to this. And that’s certainly the message that’s been delivered by the service secretaries.
Watch the full clip above via CNN.
