On last night's Glenn Beck Program, Glenn asked his guests what members of the military and high ranking officers are supposed to do when orders make less and less sense and the administration moves in a direction that seems counter to the best interests of America. Does there come a point where generals and admirals lay down their stars to draw attention to the danger facing America?
After discussing what is happening in Syria and what happened in Benghazi, Glenn said that he believes the country could be on a path where the military is put in a position of "just following orders".
"So what should people in the military do then?" Glenn asked.
Former U.S. Navy SEAL Pete Scobell said, "You know, you have to have principles. You have to stand up for what you believe in. I mean, you take an oath to the Constitution of the United States. You don’t taken an oath to a man. You don’t take an oath to Congress. You take an oath to the Constitution to support and defend it. You have to do what the right thing is every time, and you can’t compromise."
"And when you see your senior military officers compromising their own integrity in support of an administration that quite frankly like I said before is a rudderless ship on a sea of wishful thinking, you’re just getting Americans killed," Scobell said.
Lieutenant General Jerry Boykin said, "Harold K. Johnson was the Chief of Staff of the Army, and in his memoirs he said his greatest regret was the day he went to the White House to walk in and lay his stars on Lyndon Johnson’s desk and say I quit, and I’m going to the media because you refused to activate the guard reserve and bring all of America into this unpopular war. He got out of his limo, he had a change of heart, and he went back to his office in the Pentagon. And he said he lived to regret that."
"Now is the time when there are general officers and admirals that need to walk in and lay their star down and say my country means more than my career. Now’s the time, and that will get people’s attention."
But is there anyone who will stand up?
"Not at the appropriate level. This has to be at the three-four-star level regardless of the service, and I right now cannot identify one of those that has the courage to do it," Boykin told Glenn.
"We pride ourselves in following orders, and we believe in the concept of civilian control of the military. It’s fundamental. We’re the, you know, the longest-serving democracy that hasn’t had a military coup, so we believe in that, but there comes a point where you have to stand on principle. And it’s not a matter of disobeying orders; it’s a matter saying I cannot support this," Boykin added.
