Two Interesting Documents from 'Parameters,' the Journal of the US Army War College

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A quote from the first one:

"It is time to form a Union of Democratic Nations, of globe-spanning, like-minded states whose people live under the rule of law and choose their own leaders. We need a grand alliance that can act, diplomatically, economically and, when necessary, militarily, for global betterment. Such an alliance would include only true democracies, such as most European states, our own country, and others such as Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Israel, South Africa, and the sturdy English-speaking states down under and to our north. It would exclude false democracies, such as Russia or Malaysia. Corrupt democracies and those in which religious prejudice or ethnic favor are dominant would also be excluded, until they reform. This would leave out for now India and Pakistan, Mexico and Nigeria. The purpose would be to unite in an alliance those states whose behavior has earned them the right to support positive change in troubled regions.

It would also have to be an open alliance, in which a two-thirds majority and not unanimity would be required for action, and in which no member would be required to participate in a specific embargo or deployment against its will. It would, in short, be truly democratic and utterly voluntary. Such an alliance might even prove capable of timely action. At a minimum, it would be the richest, most powerful, and most desirable club in the world.

The full text can be read at:

The American Mission

A quote from the second:

Another important aspect of the Canadian approach to domestic operations is that it dramatically reflects the differences in American and Canadian political and legal cultures. The Posse Comitatus Act appears to limit the use of US armed forces to a series of specific cases and then places severe restrictions on what those forces can do. For example, a state may ask the President to call the state militia into federal service to handle an insurrection versus the state government, or the President may call in federal forces to enforce federal authority within a state. Under the Posse Comitatus Act, soldiers called out for such duty cannot arrest, search, or seize, and may not interdict vehicular movement nor keep it under surveillance. They cannot act as investigators or informants.[67] These constraints may have been appropriate in the late 1800s, but in a world where non-state groups have access to weapons of mass destruction (narcotics as well as chemical and biological weapons) they could prove to be counterproductive. Recent Canadian legislation, by contrast, is simple, straightforward, and flexible while at the same time incorporating important safeguards for the civil population.

Outdated and inflexible American legislation has produced a patchwork consisting of constitutional and statutory exceptions so that the realities of domestic operations can be performed. Examples include the Stafford Act (Disaster Relief Act); convoluted legislation enmeshing the US armed forces in the drug war; contingency planning for US Army assistance in incidents involving use of chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction on American soil, and various methods to facilitate cooperation between the FBI and the US Army in anti-terrorism.[68] The potential consequences of this approach include a convoluted command and control structure, decreased response time, and continuity-of-operations problems; it also leaves the federal response vulnerable to exploitation by the adversary. Most important, the soldiers conducting the operations are constrained by myriad legalities that they are not trained to deal with. Soldiers are soldiers, not lawyers.

The full text can be read at:

Domestic Operations: The Canadian Approach

There are a large number of papers which explore a wide range of long-term policies and decision-making considerations on this web-site. Anyone truly interested in what the leadership of US Military, in general, and the US Army is specific is thinking, can gain a fairly comprehensive overview by what can be found in what they are reading and writing.

The index of papers can be found at:

Cumulative Index of Parameters Articles and Review Essays

A personal note to the alphabet soup organizations and all interested parties:

I am not now, have never been, nor will I ever be a member of any militia, cult, radical or fringe element terrorist cell, or any other group or organization that espouses, teaches, preaches, engages, or in any way reflects an intent, desire, or action for the overthrow, subversion, or any other act against anyone or anything. And BTW: I am not even Judeo-Christian. Hence I do not fit any category in the Project Meggido Report.

As a military veteran, I served my country with honor and pride, and shall unto my death adhere to the oaths I swore upon my induction and upon the attainment of my security clearances.

I now walk a path of peaceful co-existance, seeking to cause no harm to any living thing. I own no weapons, nor do I have any intent to acquire any. I value the sanctity of life too much.

I am a simple Native American, living a simple life. I own little and have no desire to acquire more than my simple needs require.

Aho!

Mike ThunderLight

-- hiding in plain (sight@edge. of no-where), December 19, 1999

Answers

And as an update to the second document linked above...

Wednesday, December 8, 1999

Feds ready for Y2K woes
Don't worry, Eggleton reassures us

By MARK DUNN, OTTAWA BUREAU
Toronto Sun

OTTAWA -- Defence Minister Art Eggleton tried to reassure Canadians yesterday that "scary" scenarios aren't going to rock Canada on New Year's Eve.

Just in case, though, 25,000 troops will be on standby for any emergency that may arise as a result of Y2K glitches, including major power outages that could leave cities in the dark.

"You plan for the worst but hope for the best," Eggleton said, one of eight cabinet ministers ordered by Prime Minister Jean Chretien to remain in Ottawa Dec. 31 in case all hell breaks loose because of Y2K problems.

As The Sun reported yesterday, Chretien's government will be on full Y2K alert and ready to invoke the Emergencies Act, an updated version of the War Measures Act, if needed.

The new law gives cabinet sweeping powers to issue whatever orders or regulations it believes are necessary to deal with emergencies caused by computer glitches, civil insurrections, major riots and prison revolts.

People can be arrested, including those who hoard supplies.

Failure to comply could lead to fines and prison terms of up to five years.

Eggleton said it would be "highly unlikely" for the Emergencies Act to be set in motion and warned against exaggerating the potential for doomsday scenarios such as terrorists threats, mass suicides and crackpots who may want to blow up something.

"I think you have to be realistic about this and not paint scary scenarios that are just not going to happen," said Eggleton, the minister in charge of contingency plans.

He said there are always contingency plans and the Emergencies Act "is always there if we need it. It's been there for a whole decade."

Maj. John Blakely of the Defence Department said 1,500 military personnel will work over New Year's. The remaining troops and reservists on standby will be at home but on call.

He said should a major emergency arise there would be plenty of time to deploy.

[ENDS]

-- John Whitley (jwhitley@inforamp.net), December 19, 1999.


Thanks John - great follow-up. :-)

-- hiding in plain (sight@edge. of no-where), December 19, 1999.

Is this gentleman serious? He claims an oath to the Constitution, "one Republic", yet wants the US to be a democracy instead, wants the elimination of national sovereignty by 2/3rds vote of a global organization, and martial law by giving the federal military the authority to arrest civilians. That's just from the clips. Not trying to be rude, but I am confused, is this a joke? Are these pastings this Mike Thunderlight's opinions, or are they from the protagonist of his novel?

-- Hokie (nn@va.com), December 19, 1999.

If this is legit, then no wonder this guy didn't make it past LTC; look how ignorant he is of American history. He has the insight into American history that I have only encountered in persons who have defected from the USSR. If this guy is a spook, then he ain't even a good one. If this guy is for real (rather than this being a creative excerpt from a novel) then he would have to kill every American with a 5th grade education, cause they wouldn't fall for this idiotic assessment any more than I did.

Bio snip from 1st Link"

"Ralph Peters (LTC, USA Ret.) is a novelist, essayist, and lecturer whose commentaries on military and strategic issues have appeared in a wide range of media outlets. His two most recent books, published in spring 1999, are Traitor, a novel about corruption in America's defense industry, and Fighting for the Future, a look at coming conflicts based upon his essays in Parameters. "

text snip

"The United States, history's most powerful force for human liberation, now finds itself in a perverse and ill-considered position. Due to inertia and the fears of bureaucrats, we have slipped into the role of defending inherited, utterly dysfunctional imperial borders. Our Department of State, administrations drawn from both parties, lawyers, and academics all oppose "violations of sovereignty" and even the most logical and necessary amendments to borders. Future historians will be amazed at America's actions across the past decade. One administration initially tried to convince the Soviet Union to remain together, while successive administrations opposed the breakup of Yugoslavia, an entity as unnatural as any cobbled-together state could be. In our addiction to stasis and our obsession--for it is nothing less than that--with "inviolable" interstate boundaries carved out by imperial force in a different age, we are putting ourselves on the side of the empires we destroyed. America thoughtlessly supports oppression because we find the lines on the map familiar and convenient. The ghosts of kaisers, kings, and czars must be howling with glee in hell.

We must rethink this blind and destructive policy. Instead of using our might in vain attempts to force those who hate one another to live together--our "no-divorce" approach to foreign policy--we should lead the way in developing mechanisms to amend borders peacefully--or as peacefully as possible. Of course this will be difficult to do, for many of those in power profit from the present arrangement, and the sufferings of the powerless do not move them. And justice will be relative, for the redefinition of many borders will involve population transfers: even when statistically just, such changes will prove unfair to many individuals. Amending borders is not a formula for a perfect world, only an approach to improve the present one and lessen slaughter.

The alternative is ethnic cleansing, genocide, and violence without end. We cannot force a man to love his neighbor. And, most important, redrawn borders and population transfers work. Those conducted at the end of World War II in Europe resulted in the longest period of peace in European history--until the disintegration of Yugoslavia, where borders had not changed.

Certainly the least mention of just borders will bring howls from every scruffy dictatorship in the United Nations. But should the nation that changed human history for the better and shattered the imperial model quake at the protests of Balkan thugs, African strongmen, or Asian authoritarians? "

-- Hokie (nn@va.com), December 19, 1999.


So: Ralph Peters (LTC, USA Ret.) publishes his fancies. My Q: any active military with similar fantasies? And the second Q: anybody in Congress, judicial, executive with those fantasies?

-- johno (jobriy2k@yahoo.com), December 19, 1999.


Johno,

None I know of:)

-- Hokie (nn@va.com), December 19, 1999.


To all alphabet soup parties:

As an American I have been endowed by my creator with certain rights, including free speech and free association. I do not have to pray to any elected representative or prove my allegiance. If you wish to terrorisze or arrest me for my views or beliefs. Here I am.

American, not afraid of the Dragon, the bear, nor of the government.

-- Squid (ItsDark@down.here), December 19, 1999.


Hokie:

The quotes, that you erroneously assume are attribted to me, are most assuredly NOT my opinions nor my writings. If you have taken the time to read any of my other informational contributions on this forum, you should be able to accurately surmise my personal position. If you have not read them, I suggest you do prior to making broad accusations and summary judgements about me, my character, or my alliegances. Next time might I also suggest that you might want to READ the topical heading. You might gain some insight into what you are reading in the textual body of the post.

The quotes are extract from the two documents referenced in the links that follow the quotes. They are the opinions of the authors contributing those articles to "Parameters." The Army War College exists to teach the officers of the US Army "How to think," hence these writings include thoughts and 'opinions' designed to plant seeds into the minds of officers on some things that they are expected to either think or think about.

Dr. Rev. Michael ThunderLight aka:

-- hiding in plain (sight@edge. of no-where), December 19, 1999.


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