Gen. Franks Doubts Constitution Will Survive WMD Attack

[Amazon 7]

This is the kind of thing that makes me very very sad. A top general who would even have this kind of thought as a viable alternative.

John O. Edwards, NewsMax.com
Friday, Nov. 21, 2003
Gen. Tommy Franks says that if the United States is hit with a weapon of mass destruction that inflicts large casualties, the Constitution will likely be discarded in favor of a military form of government.
Franks, who successfully led the U.S. military operation to liberate Iraq, expressed his worries in an extensive interview he gave to the men’s lifestyle magazine Cigar Aficionado.

In the magazine’s December edition, the former commander of the military’s Central Command warned that if terrorists succeeded in using a weapon of mass destruction (WMD) against the U.S. or one of our allies, it would likely have catastrophic consequences for our cherished republican form of government.

Discussing the hypothetical dangers posed to the U.S. in the wake of Sept. 11, Franks said that “the worst thing that could happen” is if terrorists acquire and then use a biological, chemical or nuclear weapon that inflicts heavy casualties.

If that happens, Franks said, “... the Western world, the free world, loses what it cherishes most, and that is freedom and liberty we’ve seen for a couple of hundred years in this grand experiment that we call democracy.”

Franks then offered “in a practical sense” what he thinks would happen in the aftermath of such an attack.

“It means the potential of a weapon of mass destruction and a terrorist, massive, casualty-producing event somewhere in the Western world – it may be in the United States of America – that causes our population to question our own Constitution and to begin to militarize our country in order to avoid a repeat of another mass, casualty-producing event. Which in fact, then begins to unravel the fabric of our Constitution. Two steps, very, very important.”

Franks didn’t speculate about how soon such an event might take place.

Already, critics of the U.S. Patriot Act, rushed through Congress in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, have argued that the law aims to curtail civil liberties and sets a dangerous precedent.

But Franks’ scenario goes much further. He is the first high-ranking official to openly speculate that the Constitution could be scrapped in favor of a military form of government.

The usually camera-shy Franks retired from U.S. Central Command, known in Pentagon lingo as CentCom, in August 2003, after serving nearly four decades in the Army.

Franks earned three Purple Hearts for combat wounds and three Bronze Stars for valor. Known as a “soldier’s general,” Franks made his mark as a top commander during the U.S.’s successful Operation Desert Storm, which liberated Kuwait in 1991. He was in charge of CentCom when Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda attacked the United States on Sept. 11.

Franks said that within hours of the attacks, he was given orders to prepare to root out the Taliban in Afghanistan and to capture bin Laden.

Franks offered his assessment on a number of topics to Cigar Aficionado, including:

President Bush: “As I look at President Bush, I think he will ultimately be judged as a man of extremely high character. A very thoughtful man, not having been appraised properly by those who would say he’s not very smart. I find the contrary. I think he’s very, very bright. And I suspect that he’ll be judged as a man who led this country through a crease in history effectively. Probably we’ll think of him in years to come as an American hero.”

On the motivation for the Iraq war: Contrary to claims that top Pentagon brass opposed the invasion of Iraq, Franks said he wholeheartedly agreed with the president’s decision to invade Iraq and oust Saddam Hussein.

“I, for one, begin with intent. ... There is no question that Saddam Hussein had intent to do harm to the Western alliance and to the United States of America. That intent is confirmed in a great many of his speeches, his commentary, the words that have come out of the Iraqi regime over the last dozen or so years. So we have intent.

“If we know for sure ... that a regime has intent to do harm to this country, and if we have something beyond a reasonable doubt that this particular regime may have the wherewithal with which to execute the intent, what are our actions and orders as leaders in this country?”

The Pentagon’s deck of cards: Asked how the Pentagon decided to put its most-wanted Iraqis on a set of playing cards, Franks explained its genesis. He recalled that when his staff identified the most notorious Iraqis the U.S. wanted to capture, “it just turned out that the number happened to be about the same as a deck of cards. And so somebody said, ‘Aha, this will be the ace of spades.’”

Capturing Saddam: Franks said he was not surprised that Saddam has not been captured or killed. But he says he will eventually be found, perhaps sooner than Osama bin laden.

“The capture or killing of Saddam Hussein will be a near term thing. And I won’t say that’ll be within 19 or 43 days. ... I believe it is inevitable.”

Franks ended his interview with a less-than-optimistic note. “It’s not in the history of civilization for peace ever to reign. Never has in the history of man. ... I doubt that we’ll ever have a time when the world will actually be at peace.”

[Lee03 0]

Scary as Hell, but I'm afraid that he is right! If this happens, you can kiss your rights freedom and liberty goodbye forever

--------
To put your life in danger from time to time ... breeds a saneness in dealing with day-to-day trivialities.

--Nevil Shute, Slide Rule

[Guest]

"Given a choice, the people will choose the policeman's truncheon over the anarchist's bomb."

--Lyndon B. Johnson



mh

"The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat."

[freeflir29 0]

Quote

Scary as Hell, but I'm afraid that he is right! If this happens, you can kiss your rights freedom and liberty goodbye forever

I don't think it would be so bad here.....but think of all the places that would be glass floored, self lighting, parking lots.

[vonSanta 0]

Hm, I'm more worried about what a few well placed WMDs that went off could do to the world economy.

That's where we're vulnerable. Our entire society is based on global trade. 9/11 had some economic effect; four nuclear devices going up at once will make the great depression seem like a minor inconvenience...

It'd also mean "no more skydiving". Now, isn't that a nightmarish scenario?

Santa Von GrossenArsch
I only come in one flavour
ohwaitthatcanbemisunderst

[leroydb 0]

just think about all the bandit jumps that will take place from ultralight aircraft.... or how many people will start to base jump....

Leroy


..I knew I was an unwanted baby when I saw my bath toys were a toaster and a radio...

[vonSanta 0]

Heh, true enough.

yet a couple of years ago there was a strike of sorts and bread became rare for a bit. i saw people fighting over what was available - literally. And these were ordinary decent moral housewives!

Any society is about three meals from a revolution.

Would be cool to launch 5 ultralights to get a FS dive though .

And be shot at in the air by hungry people on the ground. "Them there big birdies gonna feed me for a month!".

Santa Von GrossenArsch
I only come in one flavour
ohwaitthatcanbemisunderst

[Nightingale 0]

to quote Patrick Henry

"Give me Liberty or give me death!"

If the US becomes a police state, I'm going elsewhere. I love my country, but the USA stands for freedom. If the day comes when our flag no longer represents freedom, then it is time to move on.

[AndyMan 7]

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If this happens, you can kiss your rights freedom and liberty goodbye forever

Nope. If this happens, I'd keep my liberty and freedoms, but kiss this country goodbye. It's easy for me, I'm not a citizen, but my wife is and I know I speak for her, too.

The move does seem entirely self-destructive. It would take away exactly what makes America great.

It will happen, I have no doubt. Every great nation falls, usualy from preasure exerted by internal forces, just like those expressed here. History will repeat itself, I only hope its not in my, or my (future) kids lifetime.

_Am

__

You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

[tbrown 26]

Franks isn't the first military man to state that kind of an opinion, history is full of hardass and vainglorious generals who are ready to pitch the Constitution over the side at the drop of a hat. Present circumstances are somewhat different, we've never had to deal with the possibility of a dirty bomb or a smallpox epidemic, and I'm rather apprehensive about getting through the holiday season without something ugly happening.

But we should look to our own Civil War for some hopeful inspiration. Abe Lincoln was leading this country through the worst and bloodiest war in our entire history, before or since. Americans were killing each other and ravaging their own countryside. On the downside, Mr. Lincoln gave in enough to suspend the right of Habeas Corpus, which goes all the way back to 12th century England. But on the positive side, Lincoln decided to go ahead with the 1864 elections, even though many of his advisers suggested they should be suspended for the national emergency. He had the sense to realize that if he couldn't be re-elected, he wouldn't win the war either and the country would be finished. So he not only held a free election, but permitted a General (McClellan) to run against him as a peace candidate, who would've made peace with and recognized the Confederacy if he'd won. Lincoln was re-elected by a landslide, in no small part because of all the soldiers who were fighting and dying, who cast their votes for him.

We've had other bouts of authoritarianism in times of war and conflict, mass roundups and deportations of leftists in WWI, and of course the imprisonment of American citizens of Japanese descent during WWII. But we've always manged to find our way back from the edge of the abyss.

It could happen, but I think the Constitution and the American people are more durable than Gen Franks does. Maybe we would have martial law for a while - San Francisco did after the 1906 earthquake, right down to looters being shot in public. But we find our way back because our freedoms are the most important thing in our life and we won't accept anything less. Look at the Patriot Act, it's already under attack and will likely be amended by the Congress. Meanwhile the Supreme Court heard arguments this week against the Constitutionality of imprisoning "enemy combatants" without charges, trial, or contact with lawyers or family. Americans are not quite so ready to kiss off their freedoms.

Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

[narcimund 0]

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the Constitution could be scrapped in favor of a military form of government.

That certainly would be convenient for any politicians who were worried about their chances in an upcoming election.

First Class Citizen Twice Over

[billvon 3,130]

>A top general who would even have this kind of thought as a viable alternative.

I wouldn't worry about it. Generals see military solutions; when all you have is a hammer all problems are nails. The constitution has survived WMD threats much more serious than this one. It has survived civil wars. It survived the Great War, the War to End All Wars - and then it survived _another_ world war after that one. It's survived foreign attacks on our country. It's survived terrorism, it's survived a time when US troops fired on US student protesters, it's survived presidential assassinations, impeachments and incompetence. It will survive this.