Our own Generals Hoar, Gard and Johns sign onto a Letter on detainees
Nov 29, 2011

General Joseph P. Hoar (USMC, ret.), Lt. General Robert Gard (USA, ret.), and Brigadier General John H. Johns (USA, ret.) signed on to a letter calling for support of Senator Udall's amendment on detainees with 23 other Generals and Admirals. See the letter below.

Dear Senator:

We are members of a nonpartisan group of forty retired generals and admirals concerned about U.S. policy regarding enemy prisoner treatment and detention.

We write to urge you to vote for Amendment 1107 to the National Defense Authorization Act which would strike all of the controversial detention provisions in sections 1031, 1032 and 1033and, in their place, mandate a process for Congress to consider whether any detention legislation is needed.

As retired general and flag officers, we clearly do not make this request lightly. It is clear, however, that there is significant disagreement over the impact on our national security of these provisions. There should be no disagreement that legislation which both reduces the options available to our Commander-in-Chief to incapacitate terrorists and violates the rule of law would seriously undermine the safety of the American people.

We appreciate that our leaders are constantly striving to make America more secure, but in doing so, we must be careful not to overreact and overreach, resulting in policies that will do more harm than good. At the very least, the current detention provisions merit public debate and should not be agreed to behind closed doors and tucked into legislation as important as our national defense bill.

Click here to see the full list of signers.