Jerry Hendrix and I wrote a piece yesterday in Defense One in which we raised objections to reports of remarks RADM Harley made in London earlier this week. Admiral Harley has defended himself in the comments section of the piece, and in a meeting he held earlier today with Jerry.
Jerry and I were inappropriate in our wording, specifically "Let us be clear: military officers, especially flag and general officers, are not political appointees. Their oath and duty is to the Constitution and the people whose sovereignty it embodies. The rising unwillingness to provide realistic assessments and strategies to protect American national interests is truly disturbing." We have no reason to believe that RADM Harley has been anything but faithful to his Oath of Office, and the implication that he has is regrettable and unfortunate. I apologize for this. Jerry has similarly apologized to the Admiral in the comment section of the original piece.
As for apologizing with a blog post on a Friday afternoon, I weighed the benefits of speed to market against audience and came down on the side of trying to right the wrong more quickly rather than less.
That there have been mixed messages from the Navy--from the very top of the Navy--on China remains for me, troubling. A consistent approach derived of a truly strategic framework vetted at the highest levels of the government is not too much to ask when it comes to great power relations.
But this is very different than treating a good man ungenerously, and in doing so, I was wrong.
Bryan McGrath
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