The gun control debate, relentlessly politicized by Democrats every time a jihadist or immigrant with foreign ties shoots up a gun-free zone here in the U.S., has taken what I regard as an ominous turn.

High-ranking former military officers are now promoting gun control.

In a New York Times editorial, retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal endorsed gun control after the Orlando jihadist shooting.  This follows an announcement a week ago that retired Gen. David Petraeus will be joining Mark Kelly, husband of former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, to promote gun control.

McChrystal, as you may recall, was the top-ranking officer in Afghanistan until he was relieved for mocking Vice President Biden.  Petraeus was the highly regarded architect of the “Iraq surge” and then director of the CIA until, like Bill Clinton, he sabotaged his own career due to his inability to keep his pants on. 

McChrystal and Petraeus rose through the ranks during decades of abysmal military and foreign-policy failure in the Middle East.  The U.S. military has been involved in Afghanistan, covertly or overtly, since the 1979 Soviet invasion.  The U.S. military has been overtly involved in Iraq continuously since 1990.  Neither country is better off, or less of a threat, after decades of U.S. involvement.  Had it not been for U.S. involvement in Afghanistan in the 1980s, shooter Omar Mateen’s father, and Mateen himself, probably would never have been in the U.S. at all.  The U.S. policy of assisting mujahedeen in the 1980s backfired when some of the so-called “freedom fighters” morphed into al-Qaeda in the 1990s.  And the U.S. attempt to back militias to overthrow Bashar al-Assad in Syria very likely led to the rise of ISIS.

Now, two generals who achieved prominence for their contributions to those failures think you shouldn’t have a gun.  And it is supremely ironic that Afghan and Iraqi civilians in war zones formerly commanded by these generals were allowed to have an AK-47 for self-protection; now they are trying to deny Americans the same right.

Until recently, the military was the last bastion of conservative values.  Loyalty, patriotism, toughness, and discipline were encouraged; adultery and homosexuality were banned.  No more.  In the Age of Obama, the Pentagon celebrates Gay Pride Day.  Homicidal Muslim jihadists like Maj. Nidal Hasan are overlooked by the chain of command when they give out warning signals.  Top-ranking officers like retired Gen. George Casey prize “diversity” over ferreting out Muslim crazies like Hasan.  And Congress recently refused to prevent illegal aliens from serving.

The military has become an adjunct of the left-wing Deep State.  It has become a mercenary force at the behest of the executive branch.  High-ranking officers in the military are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.  They are, in point of fact, politicians who get ahead by being yes-men for the political elite.  No high-ranking officers have questioned the illegal wars in Syria and in Libya; it fell to a 28-year-old captain to sue the president over Syria.  (You can bet that his career is finished.)  

It should not be forgotten that the Second Amendment was written because Gen. Thomas Gage declared martial law in Boston in 1774 and sent out a detachment of Redcoats to disarm the colonial militias in Lexington and Concord.  We all know how that turned out.

McChrystal and Petraeus know, too.