Sept. 14, 2001

"Whether we bring our enemies to justice, or bring justice to our enemies, justice will be done. .... They will hand over the terrorists, or they will share in their fate. .... And they will follow that path all the way, to where it ends: in history's unmarked grave of discarded lies."
     . . . . President, George W. Bush, Sept 20, 2001

In minutes, invaders killed more than the number killed at Pearl Harbor!

[This is an edited version of an essay written on September, 14, 2001. This version does not depart from the content of the original. Instead, it clarifies and simplifies the points made then.]

POINT ONE:
War, under the U.S. Constitution, is a legal concept. The U.S. may be engaged in an armed conflict and not be at war. Any armed conflict may or may not be a war. The "Korean War" was not a "legal" war. The action was legal but WAR was never declared. President Truman called it a "police action" even though 35,000 U.S. soldiers were killed. In 1958, five years after a cease-fire was agreed to, Congress finally conjured up enough guts to provide Korean veterans war-like benefits, but Congress never declared war.

Only the U.S. Congress can DECLARE war... The President CANNOT. The President is commander-in-chief of the U.S. armed forces and may use those forces for defense of the country and protection of U.S. interest, but he/she cannot DECLARE war.

Twelve-years of combat in Vietnam was NOT a war although over 60,000 U.S. soldiers were killed. Congress never declared war. The last war declared by the U.S. Congress before or during armed conflict was WW II.

POINT TWO:
The U.S. Constitution defines separate powers for the three branches of government: executive, legislative, and judicial. Under the Constitution, Congress has the responsibility to create and fund a military force. The President is the commander-in-chief of that military and is responsible for national defense and protection of U.S. interests. In 1973, Congress -- over President Nixon's veto -- usurped the role of the commander-in-chief and enacted the War Powers Act. Now, Congress is determined to hold onto that usurped power. CONGRESS HAS NOT DECLARED WAR ON TERRORISM.

POINT THREE:
Because war was not declared for Korea or Vietnam, the Presidents had no NEW authority to conduct those conflicts. They had Constitutional authority, as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, to engage military forces but Congress could easily have stopped them at any time by simply NOT funding the operations. A declaration of war would make cutting funds much more difficult.

POINT FOUR:
During war, the Constitution gives the commander-in-chief new specific powers, i.e., suspension of habeas corpus, and history and tradition provide broad expansion of powers beyond our borders. For instance, killing an enemy wherever found. In the present situation, there is an extremely high risk that if a U.S. agent kills a terrorist in another country, the International Court for Human Rights could demand that the President be arrested and turned over for trial.

POINT FIVE:
The world knows that the United States has NOT declared war. To the rest of the world it looks as though, once again, a U.S. President is sending military forces overseas to fight HIS personal battle for political purposes. Of course that's not true, but you can bet that radical Muslim clerics will tell the masses that this effort is just another Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, or Somalia. The masses will be told that the UN and the USA have not declared war and that Bush is just getting even because Saddam Hussein beat his Daddy in Iraq (Saddam survived).

ISLAM VERSUS INFIDELS

For the most part, Islam teaches peace, love, and high morality. The Koran tracks stories and prophets of the Christian Bible. However, there are hateful and detestable tenets in Islam: It provides no tolerance for other religions; it tolerates slavery; and the Koran describes a heaven that is clearly male dominated, especially a promise of dozens of virgins available for the pleasure of each man.

One who does not accept the teachings of Islam is an Infidel, a non-believer, not worthy of the considerations afforded other humans. . . and not worthy of life.

More than 200 years ago Thomas Paine wrote in "A LETTER TO MR. ERSKINE."

He said:

"OF all the tyrannies that afflict mankind, tyranny in religion is the worst: Every other species of tyranny is limited to the world we live in, but this attempts a stride beyond the grave, and seeks to pursue us into eternity."

WHY IT HAPPENED
The motive

For 1400 years, radical fundamentalist Islamic clerics have terrorized their own people and whipped them into a state of total obedience in the name of Muhammad and the shield of Allah. Radical clerics fear freedom because it would destroy their absolute power, their tyranny, their control over their own people.

Today, radicals teach Muslim children from birth that the United States is the Great Satan, Israel the Little Satan, and that the U.S. and Israel are the head and tail of an Evil Serpent. In reality, our beliefs, our freedoms, and our democracy, represent very serious threats to the power of the despots: radical Muslim clerics.

Those who claim that terrorist target us because we support Israel have it dead wrong; The U.S. has always been the primary target. Terrorists have now attained a level of sophistication to strike here, on our turf. The acts of September 11, 2001, were not the culmination of a lone terrorist plot; The assaults were another salvo in a continuing, declared, "holy war," or "jihad," against our democratic principles and against freedom around the world.

BE CAUTIOUS WITH THE MEDIA

We must not be duped by the press that these terrorist die for Allah, the Muslim deity. Au contraire! this is about power and control right here on earth. Terrorists know how to exploit an age-old custom: Leveraging religious faith to subdue the masses. The press feigns confusion. The press claims that these terrorist acts are committed for religious principles. In reality, there are two distinct things in play: Control of the people through religion AND, terrorism for power on earth.

For those who doubt it, consider this: In the radical Islamic faith, it is a mortal sin to consume alcohol; the offender will be executed and his soul sent to hell. Yet, just days before they flew hijacked airliners to massive destruction, at least two of the suicidal pilots spent an evening getting drunk in a Florida bar.

So much for holy wars, praise to Allah, and other b.s. that is jammed into our ears by the American press. It would help the media to read up on the kamikazes of WW II. There were no religious claims when Japanese by the thousands slammed their aircraft into American targets. That's because it was known that kamikazes were devoted to winning wars, not souls.

The media have an agenda on this point. Most are atheist or agnostic and, just like radical Muslims, egregiously push their views on others. Therefore, it is in the interest of TV reporters to make the point that the killing, the carnage, destruction, and mayhem, are done in the name of religion. Ergo, all religion is bad.

WHAT CONGRESS DID

Two days after the attack, Congress met behind closed doors and made a pact. Despite their collective rhetoric over the previous 48 hours, they decided to hamstring the President, the FBI, the CIA, and the Secretaries of Defense and State. Their secret pact provides that a few members of the Senate and House will be the ones who pull the strings in whatever war may be waged against terrorism. Contrary to the Constitution--that they declare war, and the commander-in-chief prosecute it--they decided that they, a few little wannabe generals, should manage the terrorist hunt from Capitol Hill.

Congressional leaders ruled out any consideration for a Declaration of War... They claimed to have a better plan. Instead of providing support for the commander-in-chief, they said in the words of John Warner (R-VA), "...we're adopting an improved plan. We'll grant authority to the President under the War Powers Act." Then, they raised the money pot from $20 billion to $40 billion, and--although America was being scammed like the mark in Three Card Monte--they passed a resolution: Without debate, without consideration of a declaration of war, and without ANY new authority to the President.

THE WAR POWERS ACT

The War Powers Act was passed when Congress over-rode a Presidential veto. It transfers the Constitutional powers of the commander-in-chief from the President to a bunch of wannabe generals in Congress. The Act is illegal under our Constitution and an honest review by the Supreme Court would kill it, but so far no one has had the guts to challenge it in court.

The public has been told that Congress approved $40 billion and authorized the President to "use whatever force is necessary" to pursue terrorist. What wasn't told was the fine print of the War Powers Act, i.e., that the President must consult with committee members from both House and Senate before taking certain actions. He cannot spend the money without approval line-item by line-item. The money has yet to be appropriated; it has only been authorized. It also leaves intact all other laws, rules, practices, and legal processes--such as requiring the Department of Justice and Immigration Service to go to court before taking action against anyone whose feet are on American soil--regardless of how those feet got here.

Without a Declaration of War, the military must treat Osama bin Laden with respect. [Unless met in battle and killed], Bush must now arrest him. Instead of an object of war, bin Laden is now a target for justice.

It is predictable from prior experience what the results of any consultations with Congress will be.

Watch carefully: Capitol Hill will spring a huge leak and, like water through a sieve, information will flow--every plan, every utterance from the White House, from the Pentagon, and the State Department--announced to each member's favorite reporter. Any foreign military action will look like another Somalia with reporters waiting on the beaches as our troops land. American soldiers will die, and TV anchors will fake a grimace as they play their video images to the world... And in the background we'll see the Taliban: dragging dead, naked bodies of brave Americans, slaughtered, so that a few Congressmen can play general.

WHAT THEIR ACTION FAILS TO DO

Congress has failed to grasp the magnitude and potential danger of the moment. We have been successfully invaded by an enemy that is within our borders for the first time since the War of 1812. The FBI and State Department estimate that there are more than 200 suspected terrorist here. I'll bet there are many more. [We now know there are thousands.]

By using the War Powers Act instead of a declaration of war, the President is hamstrung. He cannot do anything within the country to fight terrorism except follow existing laws. That means he cannot SECURE our borders, take EFFECTIVE emergency action at our airports, roundup suspected terrorist without proper warrants, deport suspected terrorist without court proceedings, implement an effective intelligence gathering system, control and protect local drinking water (remember state sovereignty), exercise absolute safety controls over food supplies, manage sales of dangerous chemicals to the general public, and much more. This list could go on and on.

It is the responsibility of Congress to review these things, but it will take years to debate remedies to resolve such problems and make laws which maintain our rights and liberties. Meanwhile, we are left vulnerable, wide open to attack by whatever means terrorist may devise.

[What has really evolved is a Congress in virtual panic. In their zeal to hold on to power over the President while managing the "war on terrorism," bills are rushed into law that will not work.]

Even if I'm 100% wrong on every one of these points and there is no danger, it is totally irresponsible and outrageous that Congress has decided that its more important that they play general than to pass a revocable declaration of war.

Paine said about this kind of conduct:
To The Inhabitants Of America. March 21, 1778.

"The worst of all policies is that of doing things by halves."

That's what Congress is doing... halving it up. They become the stealth commanders, pulling the strings and playing war games but if anything goes wrong they have the President and Pentagon to blame. Please don't plead that some are innocent. I could agree only if the innocent step forward and denounce what the others have done. It’s like the terrorist: Those who harbor the perpetrators are just as guilty.

What's more important for America: our liberty, or appeasing a few members of Congress so they may play in the sandbox of foreign policy?

NATIONAL SECURITY

Paine also said:

"... What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated."

The American public doesn't realize that we have no national security. Half-ass plans and posturing by politicians is NOT national security. Real security must start here, in the Congress of the United States. Wimps will not act alone. They need a little push from us. Congress must provide the President the power to secure our borders, and to then extend security worldwide. We have the money, the technology, and the means. The question is: do we have the will?

Tuesday, September 11, 2001, was a demonstration--a wake-up call. Terrorists didn't want to do more--or they would have done so. They prefer to dole out tragedy... extend the pain. But most of all, terrorists know something that most Americans do not. Terrorists know the psychology, the mentality, of Congress. From their part of the world, terrorists know something else. They know that camels were meant to be fine racehorses but they were designed by committee, and that Congress--if allowed by the people--will run the war by committee. That’s the reason terrorists know they can win. They're betting we'll not wake up.

Instead of playing general, Congress should meet its constitutionally assigned responsibilities. For example, in my state of North Carolina, anyone, let me repeat, anyone--illegal or not--from anywhere in the world, can walk into any Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) office and get a driver's license and that includes a commercial driver's license, or CDL. Elopers have Las Vegas.... Terrorist needing driver's licenses have North Carolina.

Also, in North Carolina and across this country, anyone, let me repeat, anyone--illegal or not--from anywhere in the world, can purchase any amounts of Ammonium Nitrate and diesel fuel. Ammonium Nitrate is fertilizer, folks, but not just ordinary, every day fertilizer. Ammonium Nitrate is a concentrate of highly volatile chemicals and, under the right conditions, it is capable of releasing great energy. Anyone, from anywhere, can buy it by the ton, no questions asked. Those two ingredients are all that's needed to make bombs just like the one used in Oklahoma City. The Oklahoma City bomb was roughly two tons--4,000 pounds. A driver with a CDL and a rented truck can legally and readily buy Ammonium Nitrate at 20-24 tons per load. That's 40,000-48,000 pounds, the legal limit for an ordinary tractor-trailer, and each load would be ten times larger than Timothy McViegh's bomb and exponentially more powerful.

Most tractor-trailers hold about 300 gallons of diesel fuel and that size truck--fully loaded--would destroy any bridge, any tunnel, any dam, any building, anywhere in the United States. It would drop the Golden Gate Bridge like a rock. It would totally destroy the Lincoln Tunnel. That size blast would leave a large hole in the ground where the Empire State Building now stands. There would be one consolation... There wouldn't be much rubble to sift through.

On a given day, in this country, no one would notice if five hundred or more 18-wheelers were rented out to complete strangers. They could easily get 50 or more right here in North Carolina and no one would know until it was too late.

Think I'm talking out of school? I shouldn't write this kind of stuff? Well, the only people who don't already have this knowledge are average folks that haven't given it any thought--and, apparently, 535 members of Congress. Every would-be terrorist in the world knows this and much, much more.

Also, consider this: If people can roam into the U.S. and, with no questions asked, become qualified to fly Boeing 767's, what about those who could walk in, rent a few airplanes, and destroy the entire supply of drinking water? Or rent 1,000 cars to drop a little anthrax around?

Think a thousand terrorist at one time is too high? Consider this: In 1986 we issued a blanket amnesty to clean up the illegal residents mess. Now, 15 years later, there are 2 million illegal immigants from Mexico alone [See Note 1]. That's an average of 133,000 illegals per year, or over 350 per day. I'm not worried about Mexicans, most are honest, hard working people trying to earn a living. I'm worried about the others who get here the same way. There are more than a million of them and, like the Mexicans, they simply walked across the border.

Ever wonder what happened to all that missing plutonium from the Soviet Union? I hope we're not naïve enough to think it just got lost or misplaced.

A PROBLEM AT HOME

In our society, elected officials worship false Gods, especially in Washington. We can name, on a very short list, the people up there who would put country, family, what's right, or God, ahead of their political party. Across the board, they worship the party... not the purpose. Name the Republicans who would put country ahead of party. Name the Democrats who would. This week (Sept. 13, 2001) we watched as they arrogantly and callously placed personal ambitions, desires, and whims ahead of the public interest.

American politicians are exactly like the mullahs... They want power, and more power... and to hell with everybody else. But there's one thing that will stop them cold: Our voices, letters from home. It’s time to take aim and make sure they listen. A letter per week from every constituent would do wonders for this nation.

HOW IT GOT THIS WAY

I'm sick and tired of the blatant nonsense espoused by media and spin-doctors that character doesn't matter... That people like Gary Condit and others, Republican and Democrat, who have super secret lives of deception, lying, and betrayal, are qualified to serve in Congress. Or, that it’s between him and his constituency -- or, it’s all about sex. These creeps are making laws and public policy that affect this entire nation. Worse, some sit on intelligence committees effecting national security [and, therefore, are vulnerable to blackmail]. It's the responsibility of the other members of Congress to kick the scumbags out. The Constitution is plain on this point:

Article I, Sec. 5
"Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behaviour, and, with the concurrence of two thirds, expel a member."

By God... its time they were told. Leading double or triple deceptive lives and lying to everyone on substantive matters is "disorderly behaviour" and we want it stopped. If there are members there who must act like over-sexed roosters, send them to the hen house. Just get the hell out of Washington. This is the Congress of the United States, not some third world sewer where any slime-bug can crawl from under a rock and then sit in the same chair that cradled James Madison. Regardless of the spin others try to put on it, I'm NOT talking about sex... I'm talking about a public figure's fidelity to his job, his country, and the people.

Mark Twain wrote: "Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest." Some in Congress have never grasped the essence of Twain's simple morality lesson. If SOB's in Washington don't know the difference between right and wrong, the others there must send them home.

There's nothing in the Constitution or our code of honor that implores the nation to yield to the emotions and whims of one Congressional district over all others. When these bums reveal the character of Bill Clinton, Newt Gingrich, and Gary Condit, send them home!

For too long now we've allowed the media to falsify our morality, usurp our will, define our purpose, and denigrate our religions. We've allowed political correctness to consume our virtue, blunt our objectivity, dull our reason, and destroy our common sense. I don't know your religion or politics and its none of my business, but I do know that Dan Rather, Peter Jennings, CNN, et al, are not my empyrean proxy... and I don't believe they're yours.

ASIDES

You may have guessed, I'm mad as hell. I worked in New York City for over a decade and have many friends there. I was also in the military, and before retirement I traveled a lot by plane. Those bastards hit me hard, but they will lose in the end because I'm an American and I know that sooner or later this country will fight back. Sadly, if we allow Congress to act as commander-in-chief, -- it'll be later.

When those "damn-Yankees" come south we love to harass them because they sometimes marry our beautiful women or because they talk funny. But in these times I must confess--just like here in the South--they are the salt of this earth. I've watched their response to this crisis and they have reacted exactly as I knew they would. I can assure you, they'll do their part. Will the rest of us to do ours?

For a time, my NYC office was on Wall Street, a brief walk from The World Trade Center, and I've spent many hours walking through the plaza, enjoying that marvelous place. I now have a sense of great personal loss, but mostly I'm worried about all those wonderful people: their anguish, grief, and their eternal heartache.

CONCLUSION

In war, effectiveness against any enemy requires that the commander-in-chief act quickly, without placing every plan before Congress. If we had tried "doing things by halves" in WW II we would have lost that war. If we try it now, we'll lose this one.

Only a declaration of war will give the President the necessary power to gain control of our borders, control of the military, control of our airspace, control over the intelligence system, and the authority to act quickly in pursuit of the enemy. Congress should use its time to ponder immigration laws, revamp the intelligence service, restructure home security, and modernize the military. That's their role as defined by the Founding Fathers and it’s their duty as human beings. They must get on with it and leave military operations to the commander-in-chief.

Failure to properly secure this country is tantamount to treason. There is no higher crime. Every other duty of the federal government is incidental to that purpose. The good times must be placed on hold. We no longer have time to pacify a dozen little wannabe generals.

Are we ready for battle or is it business as usual? Do we do something now, or wait for Armageddon? ... My friends in New York and at the Pentagon are just curious.

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Note 1: 2,000,000 turns out to be a gross under-estimate (which was based on earlier press reports). We now know (2002) that the number is well over 10,000,000! and still growing at more than 1,000,000 per year!