Editorial
In a September 11, 1991 address to Congress, President George H.W. Bush said, "The crisis in the Persian Gulf offers a rare opportunity to move toward an historic period of cooperation. Out of these troubled times, a new world order can emerge in which the nations of the world, east and west, north and south can prosper and live in harmony. Today the world is struggling to be born." Ten years later to the day, terrorists struck the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Apparently, some people violently oppose Bush's "new world order", and now challenge his son to restore order.
Most military experts have been expecting a major terrorist attack against the United States, although the latest attacks have redefined "major". This is not because a group of crazy, evil people hate the USA, but because American politicians have been meddling in Arab affairs and supporting ruthless dictators who steal most of their nation's oil wealth. Much of the blame falls on the Clinton administration for keeping 20,000 American troops in the Persian Gulf to enforce senseless "no fly zones" and an economic embargo against Iraq. In a "60 MINUTES" television interview on May 11, 1996, Leslie Stahl asked Clinton's arrogant Secretary of State Madeline Albright about the need to continue devastating sanctions against Iraq:
STAHL: "We have heard that a half million children have died as a result of sanctions. That’s more than died in Hiroshima. Is the price worth it?"
ALBRIGHT: "I think this is a very hard choice, but we think the price is worth it."
Stahl should have said: "six times more than died in Hiroshima". As I wrote in my December editorial after the bomb attack against the USS Cole: "The USA is engaged in an unofficial war against Iraq, killing hundreds each year. The USA is also involved in a silent civil war in Saudi Arabia, where many Saudis object to permanent U.S. bases in their country. The simple solution is to leave Saudi Arabia and stop the mindless embargo against Iraq." Conservative groups like Americans Against World Empire have been publicizing the dangers of treating foreign nations like colonies. Details on why some Muslims hate America can be found in a Newsday article by Sheryl McCarthy. Most of the corporate American media have refused to report these facts, fearing that idiots may call them "unpatriotic".
After nine months in office, the new Bush administration had made no change in America's imperial attitude, and continued weekly bombings in Iraq. After the terrorist attack, all nations were disturbed by Bush's "you're with or against us" Nazi style of alliance building. The US State Department lists many countries as state sponsors of terrorism, including Cuba and North Korea. Will the USA attack them? Libya, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Sudan are on the list too, which explains why Bush has trouble lining up an Arab coalition to attack Afghanistan "first". What if the secretive Swiss or Austrian bankers refuse to cooperate in seizing money, will the USA bomb them? There is worldwide support for proportional action against those who perpetrated these terrorists acts. My worry is that American Imperialists and War Racketeers will exploit this tragedy to begin a campaign to conquer the Arab world, starting with Afghanistan, then Iraq, then expanding to Syria, Lebanon, and Iran. A perpetual war by a rogue superpower could result in millions of deaths, incite more terror attacks against Americans, and bankrupt the US Government.
This attack came at an ideal time for President Bush, who had begun to break his campaign promise not to steal from America's Social Security retirement fund to increase spending. He now has strong congressional support for major spending increases for most of the federal government. Bush will not raise taxes to fight this war because too many citizens would look at how "defense" dollars are spent. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is eager to spend money. He had talked for months about transforming the US military from an immobile Cold War relic to a fast and agile machine, but couldn't muster the courage to cancel outdated weapons programs. While US Navy aircraft carriers circled aimlessly off New York and 240,000 American servicemen defending the empire overseas watched New York in ruins on television, Rumsfeld still withheld his secret "transformation" plan.
This attack exposed flaws in Bush and Rumsfeld's National Missile Defense (NMD) scam. As I wrote in my June editorial: "The irony is that, if a workable NMD system is ever fielded, it only guarantees that a better method of delivery would be used, like a civilian airplane, ship, or truck. Tons of drugs are smuggled into the USA each year, can NMD stop that dangerous cargo? Almost two million people illegally cross America's borders each year with un-inspected luggage, can NMD stop them? Why spend billions of dollars each year on NMD while ignoring the real dangers?"... Congress is also reluctant to spend billions of dollars on true "National Defense" by expanding the U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Customs, and the U.S. Coast Guard...Congress shows no interest dedicating money on real programs to protect Americans from weapons of mass destruction because spending on manpower does not result in kickbacks in the form of "campaign contributions".
Unfortunately, this corruption will worsen as the gloves come off to write blank checks to fight this vague "war". Whenever a politician waves a flag in your face and talks about self-sacrifice for yet another foreign war, hold onto your wallet. The US military has plenty of money to deal with this threat; additional spending will go the Cold war racketeers who will waste half and pocket the rest. Last Spring, warmongers demanded a fight with one billion Chinese over an aircraft incident, and I took heat for my May editorial where I explained why the incident occurred and why war was not the answer. These same warmongers now want to leap into Osama bin Laden's trap by starting a crusade to fight one billion Muslims. Of course warmongers never fight in wars, they just profit while young men who thought they joined the US military to defend the USA die in another clumsy foreign adventure. All Americans should support military action to locate and eliminate those responsible for the slaughter of thousands of innocents, but keep in mind there are many powerful people trying to exploit this tragedy.
While the scope and method of these attacks surprised everyone, no one in Congress has demanded an investigation. No one has asked why the Department of Defense makes so little effort to defend the United States. Warren Rudman, co-chair of Hart-Rudman Commission on National Security for the 21st Century, recently appeared before Congress to explain why everyone ignored their recommendations to improve border security. He said the US military clearly expressed no interest in devoting resources to defend the United States, even though it gets more funding than all other federal agencies combined. Much blame falls on the Chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff, General Hugh Shelton, who did nothing during his four years to transform the US military or shift resources to real National Defense. Many people compared this attack to Pearl Harbor, after which General Short and Admiral Kimmel were hauled before Congress and chastised. Congress should haul Shelton before an investigative committee and ask why he did nothing about the growing threat of foreign attacks on US soil.
President Bush is afraid to force the Pentagon to change, so he proposed a new cabinet position: the "Secretary of Homeland Security". This is the last thing America needs, another "defense" bureaucracy. Perhaps this new "czar" should simply be called the "Secretary of Defense" while Donald Rumsfeld becomes "Secretary of Offense" to reflect the attitude of the US military. Meanwhile, President Bush's only military action was to begin moving even more troops overseas. The USA needs firm leadership to take action to organize military forces to defend America. Here are ten immediate steps President Bush should order tomorrow:
#1 Deactivate one armor division in Germany by the end of this month and add 15,000 soldiers to the Special Forces.
#2 Close excess Cold War bases overseas to cut costs and reduce terrorist targets. This is about half the US bases overseas, mostly in England, Germany, Japan and Korea. Build support from moderate Arabs by announcing that US forces will leave Saudi Arabia (home of key Muslim holy sites) after the anti-terrorist campaign concludes.
#3 Determine why a US military with 1,400,000 active troops and 1,000,000 civilians must mobilize 20,000 reservists to protect America and round up a few hundred terrorists overseas. Reassign troops returning home from closed overseas bases to relieve the reservists within six months.
#4 Permanently assign one brigade from the 10th Mountain division at Fort Drum, New York to help patrol the Canadian Border. Move another army brigade to Fort Bliss near El Paso, Texas and a third brigade to Arizona (Fort Huachuca/Yuma/NAS El Centro) to help patrol the Mexican border. These soldiers will stop people they observe crossing the border illegally, and not man inland checkpoints where they are untrained for encounters with US citizens. The US military with 1,400,000 active troops can certainly spare 12,000 soldiers to augment the measly 9000 agents of the US Border Patrol. This is a permanent mission, not a temporary duty for reservists in the National Guard.
#5 The Marine Corps will pull most of its troops and helicopters off Okinawa, Japan where they do nothing but agitate the locals, and use them to bolster security at US embassies and naval installations. Three of the four infantry battalions now kept on six-month deployments to Okinawa will deploy worldwide on aircraft carriers and to US military bases as company-sized strike/security teams.
#6 Navy aircraft carriers and amphibious ships will no longer make port calls inside the Persian Gulf where they are sitting ducks for suicide planes or ships. They will transit the Suez canal "shooting gallery" only in extreme emergencies.
#7 The Navy will transfer eight frigates to the Coast Guard immediately, and loan their crews. A voluntary inter-service program will allow Navy frigate sailors to transfer to the Coast Guard along with a chunk of Navy funding.
#8 Pull most soldiers out of South Korea where they are not needed and are an obstacle to peace. Use these soldiers to improve security at Army and Air Force bases worldwide.
#9 Stop the ridiculous no-fly zone operations over Iraq, which costs billions of dollars to enforce and ties up much of the US Air Force. It irritates Arabs, kills innocent people, and serves no purpose. If terrorists targets are identified in Iraq, they can be attacked.
#10 Firmly explain to senior military officers that their duty is to DEFEND AMERICA, and they must drop their Imperial mentality that our nation spends $340 billion a year for them to rule the world.
Carlton Meyer editorG2mil@Gmail.com
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October 2001 Articles
Letters - comments from G2mil readers
Rocket rifles - simple powerful rifles
Pneumatic Guns - use compressed air to propel projectiles
Rocket Attack Aircraft - truck launched airpower
The ERGM Fiasco - how to sell a $50,000 projectile
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Special War Supplement
Military Options in Afghanistan
Afghanistan Maps - to help follow events
The Soviet-Afghan war game - yes, there's a board game
Death in the Khyber - former superpower Great Britain's experience
Bear Trap - former superpower Soviet Union's experience
Afghanistan Expert Writes - what to do
Inside Defense - special war reports for non-subscribers
Defense and the National Interest - articles about "Fourth Generation Warfare"
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All material in G2mil Copyright 2001 G2mil, patents pending on some items. Links to the index page (www.G2mil.com) are encouraged, other page names change often.