A Military Imperative

Members of the armed forces have been reminded by military authorities that the Uniform Code of Military Justice forbids them to make “contemptuous” remarks in public about the president, their commander in chief. The highly unusual caution was prompted by comments published in several journals aimed at military audiences. The comments related to President Clinton’s behavior in the Monica Lewinsky matter, and among other things they asked why standards applied to military officers involving such issues as sexual relations should not apply equally to the head of the services.

It’s not an unreasonable question, and it has been raised many times in recent months. Why, then, should military officers be gagged when it comes to saying the same thing that members of Congress, columnists and people gathered at water coolers have been saying? The short answer is that tradition and military discipline require it.

Civilian control over the military is a principle as old as the republic, and as necessary for defending democracy as the secret ballot or a free press. Though politically ambitious schemers have sometimes worn the uniform, no military putsch has ever threatened the United States. Respect for the constitutional imperative of civilian supremacy over the military has always prevailed, even when respect for the president as a person may have been low. Military personnel are free to privately express their opinions. The line is properly drawn when it comes to being publicly contemptuous toward the commander in chief.