Surrounded by a group of veterans and former top brass, retired four-star general John Allen, a powerful voice in the military community gave a resounding–and bombastic–endorsement to Hillary Clinton at the Democratic National Convention on its last day.
“This is the moment, the opportunity and that of the world. We must seize this moment to elect Hillary Clinton as president of the US,” he said.
Allen, who recently decide to endorse Clinton, said he trusted her as a commander-in-chief, he trusted her judgement and her vision–an important statement for those Americans who doubt her ability to lead the country’s military.
“To our allies, we will not abandon you. To our enemies, we will defeat you; ISIS, we will hunt you down,” he said.
Allen, who spoke in a commanding military staccato, painted a stark picture of the election, the choice between Clinton and Donald Trump as commander-in-chief. He said that under Clinton, “our armed forces will not become an instrument of torture.” He added: “I also know that with her as our commander in chief our international relations will not be reduced to a business transaction.”
Throughout his speech, he was interrupted by Bernie Sanders supporters chanting “No More War!” who were quickly being drowned out by an arena-wide “USA! USA!”
“With her as commander in chief, America will continue to lead this world,” Allen said. ”We must be a force for unity; every race, every ethnicity, every gender and every gender orientation.”
Allen was deputy commander in the Iraqi province of Anbar between 2006 and 2008. From 2011 to 2013 he was the top commander of US and NATO troops in Afghanistan. He later led US and international efforts against ISIS, but resigned suddenly in 2015, reportedly because he disagreed with the Obama administration and Pentagon officials about strategy. He also publicly disagreed with Obama in June, when he signed a letter urging the president to keep 10,000 US troops in Afghanistan until the end of his term.