OPINION: 'Our nation in deep peril,' say retired generals, admirals

What follows is an open letter to America warning that "our nation is in deep peril," signed by 317 retired generals and admirals.

How serious? "We are in a fight for our survival as a constitutional republic like no other time since our founding in 1776."

Who are the combatants? "The conflict is between supporters of socialism and Marxism vs. supporters of constitutional freedom and liberty," each defining the other as domestic terrorists. In this war of information, this message will be likely censored or undermined by the largely socialist press and, thus, not be available to most Americans.

Senior military leaders are in consensus that the 2020 election was the most important election since our country was founded.

"With the Democrat Party welcoming socialists and Marxists, our historic way of life is at stake."

The letter follows:

"Without fair and honest elections that accurately reflect the 'will of the people,' our constitutional republic is lost. Election integrity demands ensuring there is one legal vote cast and counted per citizen. Legal votes are identified by State Legislature's approved controls using government IDs, verified signatures, etc. Today, many are calling such commonsense controls 'racist.' ... Using racial terms to suppress proof of eligibility is itself a tyrannical intimidation tactic. ... The FBI and Supreme Court must act swiftly when election irregularities are surfaced and not ignore them as was done in 2020. Finally, H.R.1 & S.1 (if passed) would destroy election fairness and allow Democrats to forever remain in power, violating our Constitution and ending our Representative Republic.

"The current administration has launched a full-blown assault on our constitutional rights in a dictatorial manner, bypassing the Congress, with more than 50 executive orders quickly signed, many reversing the previous administration's effective policies and regulations. Moreover, population control actions such as excessive lockdowns, school and business closures and, most alarming, censorship of written and verbal expression are all direct assaults on our fundamental rights. We must support and hold accountable politicians who will act to counter socialism, marxism and progressivism, support our constitutional republic, and insist on fiscally responsible governing. ..."

The military identified eight actions that must change very soon to preserve liberty.

"Open borders jeopardize national security by increasing human trafficking, drug cartels, terrorist sentry, health/covid-19 dangers and humanitarian crises. Illegals are flooding our country, bringing high economic costs, crime, lower wages, and illegal voting in some states. We must re-establish border controls and continue building the wall while supporting our dedicated border control personnel. Sovereign nations must have controlled borders.

"China is the greatest external threat to America. Establishing cooperative relations with the Chinese Communist Party emboldens them to continue progress toward world domination, militarily, economically, politically and technologically. ...

"The free flow of information is critical to the security of our republic, as illustrated by freedom of speech and the press being in the first amendment of our constitution. Censoring speech and expression, distorting speech, spreading disinformation by government officials, private entities, and the media is a method to suppress the free flow of information, a tyrannical technique used in closed societies. We must counter this on all fronts, beginning with removing Section 230 protection from big tech.

"Re-engaging in the flawed Iran Nuclear Deal would result in Iran acquiring nuclear weapons along with the means to deliver them, thereby upsetting Mideast peace initiatives and aiding a terrorist nation whose slogans and goals include 'death to America' and 'death to Israel.' ...

"Stopping the Keystone Pipeline eliminates our recently established energy independence and causes us to be energy dependent on nations not friendly to us while eliminating valuable U.S. jobs. We must open the Keystone Pipeline and regain our energy independence for national security and economic reasons.

"Using the U.S. military as political pawns with thousands of troops deployed around the U.S. Capitol building, patrolling fences guarding against a nonexistent threat, along with forcing politically correct policies like the divisive critical race theory into the military at the expense of the warfighting mission, seriously degrades readiness to fight and win our nation's wars, creating a major national security issue. ...

"The "Rule of Law" is fundamental to our republic and security. Anarchy as seen in certain cities cannot be tolerated. We must support our law enforcement personnel and insist that DAs, our courts and the DOJ enforce the law equally, fairly and consistently toward all.

"The mental and physical condition of the commander in chief cannot be ignored. He must be able to quickly make accurate national security decisions involving life and limb anywhere, day or night. Recent Democrat leadership's inquiries about nuclear code procedures send a dangerous national security signal to nuclear-armed adversaries, raising the question about who is in charge. ...

"Under a Democrat congress and the current administration, our country has taken a hard left turn toward Socialism and a Marxist form of tyrannical government which must be countered now by electing congressional and presidential candidates who will always act to defend our constitutional republic. The survival of our nation and its cherished freedoms, liberty and historic values are at stake. ..."

The reason military leaders express such strong feelings on this subject is that many died on foreign soils defeating socialists and communists and are now forced to oppose them again on their own soil -- America.

Harold W. Pease, Ph.D., is an expert on the United States Constitution and a syndicated columnist. He has dedicated his career to studying the writings of the Founding Fathers and applying that knowledge to current events. He taught history and political science from this perspective for more than 30 years. To read more of his weekly articles, visit www.LibertyUnderFire.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author.