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CounterPunch
March 31,
2003
Berating the
Generals
The Siege of Washington
By WAYNE MADSEN
March 25, 2003 may serve as a crucial turning
point in American history. On that day, George W. Bush displayed
his increasingly erratic and irresponsible behavior before America's
top military leadership. The friction between Bush and Defense
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on one hand and the Joint Chiefs of
Staff on the other was evident at the afternoon Pentagon press
briefing. This reporter had the pleasure of meeting and chatting
with Joint Chiefs Chairman General Richard Myers at a swank reception
for Afghan leader Hamid Karzai a few months after U.S. troops
launched Operation Enduring Freedom against the Taliban and Al
Qaeda. Myers demonstrated that he is an affable individual and
not one to bask in the conceitedness of constant media attention.
Trailing the pompous Rumsfeld into the
briefing room, Myers' jaws were tight and his lips were pursed
as he stared straight down at his notes during Rumsfeld's opening
statements. I was in the military long enough to know when someone
has either just been chewed out or has had it out with his superiors.
It doesn't matter if you're wearing four stars on your shoulders
or one stripe on your sleeves, the telltale signs are always
same.
Myers, on two occasions, appeared to
differ with Rumsfeld. One was on the issue of Iran's conduct
during the war. Myers said Iran had done nothing to make him
unhappy. Rumsfeld, however, chastised Iran for supporting and
training Iraqi Shia militia in Iraq. In a few days, Rumsfeld
obliquely warned both Iran and Syria of the potential for U.S.
retaliation against them. When Myers was asked about Iraq's possible
use of  chemical weapons, the general responded
that no such weapons had yet been used. Rumsfeld indicated that
he expected Iraq would use chemical weapons and warned that there
was a retaliatory plan to deal with such an occurrence.
The gulf between Rumsfeld and his neo-con
advisers is now wider than both the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
Add to this the increasingly nasty and un-presidential demeanor
of George Bush. Pentagon insiders report that Bush, in a not-too-rare
Hitleresque moment, used his March 25 visit to the Pentagon to
berate the Joint Chiefs for the conduct of HIS war. Moreover,
Rumsfeld did nothing to defend his generals and admirals from
such a verbal beating by a draft dodging and often AWOL member
of a posh and cozy Texas Air National Guard unit. Rumsfeld, from
the outset of his Pentagon stint, treated his generals and admirals
like dog crap. They were not even invited to Pentagon planning
meetings. These were reserved for Rumsfeld's coterie of neo-con
gargoyles like Paul Wolfowitz and Richard Perle, outside and
well-paid "consultants," and wet-nursed GOP political
hacks.
Bush, who fancies himself a "born-again"
Christian, is actually a foul-mouthed and erratic alcoholic.
For example, the "pretzel" incident had nothing to
do with a pretzel. While watching a football game at the White
House, the "leader of the free world" got so drunk
he fell right on his face and blamed it on his inability to remember
his mother's missive about chewing all one's food before swallowing.
Such alibis and ruses are the trademarks of drunks. During the
presidential campaign Bush called a New York Times reporter a
"major league asshole." In 1986, a clearly drunk and
disorderly Bush told The Wall Street Journal's Al Hunt, "You
fucking son of a bitch . . . I saw what you wrote. We're not
going to forget this." The rich frat boy was irate about
an article Hunt wrote about Bush's father. Time magazine is reporting
that during a March 2002 briefing for three senators by Condoleezza
Rice, Bush poked his head into a White House meeting room and
bellowed, "Fuck Saddam. We're taking him out!"
But for Bush to vent his spleen on America's
military leadership defies logic and clearly demonstrates that
he is mentally unfit for his office. Never mind the fact that
Army Chief of Staff, General Eric Shinseki, was harangued by
Rumsfeld and his chickenhawks for suggesting not enough troops
were provided for the invasion of Iraq. The head of the U.S.
Army's V Corps, Lieutenant General William Wallace, said of Iraqi
forces, "the enemy we're fighting is different from the
one we war-gamed against." Score two for the generals and
nothing for the neo-con draft dodgers who planned this idiotic
war.
Richard Perle, the ethically-challenged
former chairman of the Defense Policy Board and virtual agent
for the Russian-mafia dominated Likud government of Israel, got
it completely wrong in the hours leading up to the war when he
suggested, along with a pathetic Iraqi opposition capo, that
U.S. troops would be met with "flowers and candy" upon
entering Iraq. Obviously, Perle's military experience does not
permit him to distinguish between flowers and candy and bullets
and mortar rounds. It is a shame that Rumsfeld still can't pry
his lips from Perle's backside. After Perle resigned as chairman
of the advisory board amid a financial scandal involving personal
war profiteering, Rumsfeld praised him and asked him to remain
as a board member.
The fact of the matter is that Bush,
Rumsfeld, the other war makers in the administration, and their
political allies in Britain, Denmark, Australia, and Spain, are
all dangerous megalomaniacs. On March 30th, Rumsfeld continued
his deception by claiming on Fox "News" that Bush's
war coalition has expanded to 66 countries. This is a bald-faced
lie. Some of the countries on the list published by both the
White House and Pentagon claim they are not members of any coalition
and never have been. The list is false propaganda. It is worthy
of Joseph Goebbels
Slovenian Prime Minister Anton Rop said
the State Department told him his country had been listed by
mistake. But Slovenia remains on Bush's coalition list. The Prime
Minister of the Solomon Islands, Allan Kemakeza, said his country
was erroneously listed as a member of the coalition. But the
Solomons, which don't even have a military, remains on the White
House list.
The White House and Pentagon lie purveyors
include Croatia in their coalition but Croatian President Stipe
Mesic has condemned America's war on Iraq as "illegitimate."
The White House claims the Czech Republic is a coalition member
but the country's president, Vaclav Klaus, said that anyone who
thinks democracy can be imposed on Iraq is "from another
universe." Klaus means that people like Bush, Tony Blair,
Rumsfeld, and the other neo-Crusaders are just plain nuts. Indeed
they are.
U.S. ambassadors in Canada, Norway, Barbados
and the Eastern Caribbean, Jamaica, and New Zealand have publicly
condemned the host governments for failing to support the U.S.
war on Iraq. Such behavior in modern times is unprecedented.
Bush heralds Tonga's accession to his pitiful coalition but continues
to lose the support of major countries like Italy, Norway, and
South Korea. Also, Bush just can't understand why the "Grecians"
and "East Timorians" are opposed to his unlawful war.
As U.S. troops began to get bogged down
in Iraq with heavy Iraqi resistance and sporadic supply lines,
forcing the down to one meal ration a day instead of three, U.S.
Marines were handed a pamphlet called a "Christian's Duty."
The Marines were exhorted to pray for Bush, his family, and his
staff and then mail in a pledge form to Bush to prove that such
prayers were rendered. I cannot even begin to fathom a young
American military man or woman, risking life and limb on an Iraqi
battlefield for U.S. oil companies, being asked to pray for the
likes of Ari Fleischer, Andy Card, or John Ashcroft. It rates
about a "10" on the puke meter.
But I have a better idea for our brave
troops who are being mishandled by the crowd that incrementally
seized unconstitutional power between January 20, 2001 and in
the weeks after September 11th. Instead of being forced to offer
prayers for Bush and his cabal, their commanders should seek
a pledge of their support for a military action to return the
United States to its people.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff, armed with
enough support from their subordinate commanders, troops, and
civilian staff, could place a team of Delta Force commandos and
armor on the South Lawn of the White House and in front of the
North Portico on Pennsylvania Avenue. Using large loudspeakers
designed for use in civil action campaigns like the ones currently
taking place in Umm Qasr, Basra, and Safwan, Iraq, the Delta
Force commander would instruct the Secret Service to exit the
White House and lay down weapons. Five minutes should be sufficient.
They should then secure the "football" and the military
officer who maintains it. The football is actually a large briefcase
that contains the nuclear firing codes and it would have to be
quickly separated from the madmen in the White House.
Bush, Cheney, Card, Rove, Fleischer,
Rice, and the rest should then be taken into custody and transferred
to a remote facility like Wackenhut's large detention center
in Kern County, California, which was originally designed to
hold American political prisoners and anti-war protestors.
The Joint Chiefs should quickly name
a transition Executive to plan for new presidential elections.
Executive authority could be vested in the man who received the
majority of votes in the 2000 election. Al Gore would be sworn
in as the 44th President of the United States. In the interest
of national unity, Gore would be asked to pledge not to seek
re-election in the upcoming presidential election, which should
be held no later than nine months from his inauguration.
Former Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy
Carter could be named as co-Vice Presidents (it would be constitutional
since neither ever served two full presidential terms). These
one-time political adversaries are also the best of friends.
Although the Joint Chiefs would also have to remove Rumsfeld
and his war hawk advisers, Bush Cabinet members (sans Ashcroft
and Tom Ridge) who pledged to support the transition government
could remain in office pending new elections. However, in all
likelihood, many of the Bush appointees would probably be too
embarrassed to remain in any official capacity. Washington, DC
has a huge reservoir of talented people who could assume Cabinet
and other governmental functions - there are a number of ex-senators,
representatives, ambassadors, and cabinet members who could step
up to the plate during such a national emergency transition.
The first act of the new Defense Secretary
would be to extricate U.S. and allied troops from the Iraq morass.
The new Secretary of State would be charged with trying to help
stabilize the Persian Gulf region, seeking widespread international
support for a new Iraqi administration with the help of the United
Nations but without an Anglo-American occupation force. The UN
and Red Cross should facilitate the repatriation of refugees
and prisoners of war. The autonomy of the Kurdish zone in northern
Iraq should be internationally guaranteed. The European Union
should apply pressure on Turkey not to take advantage of new
transitional governments in both Washington and Baghdad.
The new State Department leadership would
fan out across the world to reassure allies, friends, and potential
adversaries that America once again adheres to multilateralism,
international law, and collective action by the UN, NATO, and
other regional bodies. Fences would have to be quickly mended
with France, Germany, Russia, Canada, and Mexico. The war against
Al Qaeda should continue with a primary focus on the governments
of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. Both countries should be warned
that the "business as usual" policies of the Bush regime
will not be continued. The new administration would warn that
the bankrolling of Al Qaeda in any form will be considered an
act of war against the United States. Saudi assets in the United
States should be identified for possible seizure in the event
of non-cooperation. Pakistan should be required to bring to justice
military and intelligence officers who have aided Al Qaeda.
In the United States, special care would
have to be taken in appointing a new Secretary for Civil Defense
(the new name for the Department of "Homeland Security").
This individual would have to be committed to the U.S. Constitution
and the laws of the land status quo ante to September 11th. His
or her first steps would be the dismantling of Bush's surveillance
web. Gone would be the Total Information Awareness program, the
Freedom Corps, "Tips" programs, invasive airline passenger
profiling, government "data mining," routine wiretaps,
"First Amendment Zones," and unlawful detentions. Back
would be the writ of habeas corpus, the unhindered right to an
attorney, open government, the right of peaceful assembly, and
the right to vote without intimidation. New would be the real
and well-funded coordination of public safety across federal,
state, county, and municipal lines.
Ashcroft, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, and Doug
Feith would join their fellow war criminals in Kern County. The
new administration should ensure that photos of the inmates in
their bright orange coveralls are transmitted around the world.
Post-Bush regime America would demonstrate that America's democracy
is unshakable and resilient.
As for Congress and their responsibilities,
this doesn't really matter. Congress abrogated its constitutional
responsibilities long ago. They could continue to voice their
opinions, because that is all they are - opinions. But knowing
how vapid and pimp-like most members of Congress are, they would
probably quickly support the military's actions and the transition
government. After all, why irritate the military when they could
pump a few more military contracts into a member's district?
That's all that motivates these so-called "representatives
of the people."
But contingencies should be made to handle
some congressional troublemakers. The Kern County detention facility
could add people like Tom DeLay, Dennis Hastert, and Zell Miller
to their inmate roster. Others, like John McCain, Arlen Specter,
Joe Lieberman, Joe Biden, Steny Hoyer, and Dick Gephardt, should
be offered an Air Force ride to a retirement place of their choice.
The Supreme Court is the only institution
that would be problematic. But international law would trump
the Supremes in this case. The Kern County detainees would eventually
be turned over to the International Criminal Court for trial.
The temporary administration's first action would be to adhere
to the treaty setting up the international court in The Hague.
The new administration could also argue before the Supreme Court
that the 25th Amendment could not be properly invoked since a
significant number of Cabinet members were too mentally unstable
or incompetent to properly vote on declaring both the President
and Vice President as being mentally incapable of carrying out
their duties.
Although military coups often obliterate
democratic rule, there have been a few cases when the military
has stepped in to return a country to democratic rule or protect
a democratic government from an anti-democratic rebellion. Portugal
in 1974, Spain in 1981, and the Soviet Union in 1990 serve as
cases in point.
An American Truth and Reconciliation
Commission, which would be named by President Gore, would look
into what Bush and his cronies really knew about the September
11th attacks and whether they allowed them deliberately to occur
in order to seize unconstitutional power, who was responsible
for the anthrax attacks on the Democratic leadership of the Senate
and the media, i.e., the attempted assassinations of the Democratic
Majority Leader and the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee,
Jeb Bush's malfeasance in the 2000 presidential election in Florida,
the alleged profiteering of George H. W., Marvin, and Neil Bush
in post-September 11th Middle East business deals, and the role
of The Carlyle Group, Halliburton, Enron, and others in disastrous
pipeline politics in both Afghanistan and Iraq.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission
should also be empowered to direct the new Attorney General to
bring criminal charges against criminal conspirators. For example,
if there was one shred of evidence that anyone in the Bush regime
had advance knowledge of the September 11th attacks, treason
charges should be brought against the conspirators.
Our Founding Fathers established the
blueprint for such an action to remove Bush and his criminals
and gangsters from office. Let us remember these words from Thomas
Jefferson:
"Governments are instituted among
Men, deriving their Powers from the Consent of the Governed,
that Whenever any form of Government becomes destructive of these
Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it,
and to institute a new Government ... it is their Right, it is
their Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new
Guards for their future."
And these from Abraham Lincoln:
"This country, with its institutions,
belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow
weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional
right of amending it, or exercise their revolutionary right to
overthrow it."
Amen.
Wayne Madsen
is a Washington, DC-based investigative journalist and columnist.
He wrote the introduction to Forbidden
Truth.
Madsen can be reached at: WMadsen777@aol.com
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