Saturday, May 15, 2004
The Origins of the American Military Coup of 2012
The Guardian UK ran a piece on Thursday called America's Military Coup. It begins to show the historical roots of Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld perverting the checks and balances of American government and military.
Demonstrating why such an exploration is, at the least, timely, the article ends with the following:
This 12 year old essay is well worth your time, as these current military strategists are also concluding. It is 13 pages with another dozen of exhaustive footnotes. It may be too soon to confirm the author's prescience, yet it is not difficult to trace a clear trajectory from the origins being referenced in the late 80's/early 90's through today and onward toward a predictable future we should all hope to avoid. The essay's clincher, quoted above by the Guardian, is reminiscent of another historical quote in wide circulation since 9/11:
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Demonstrating why such an exploration is, at the least, timely, the article ends with the following:
"In 1992, General Colin Powell, chairman of the joint chiefs, awarded the prize for his strategy essay competition at the National Defence University to Lieutenant Colonel Charles Dunlap for The Origins of the American Military Coup of 2012 (.pdf). His cautionary tale imagined an incapable civilian government creating a vacuum that drew a competent military into a coup disastrous for democracy. The military, of course, is bound to uphold the constitution. But Dunlap wrote: "The catastrophe that occurred on our watch took place because we failed to speak out against policies we knew were wrong. It's too late for me to do any more. But it's not for you."
The Origins of the American Military Coup of 2012 is today circulating among top US military strategists."
This 12 year old essay is well worth your time, as these current military strategists are also concluding. It is 13 pages with another dozen of exhaustive footnotes. It may be too soon to confirm the author's prescience, yet it is not difficult to trace a clear trajectory from the origins being referenced in the late 80's/early 90's through today and onward toward a predictable future we should all hope to avoid. The essay's clincher, quoted above by the Guardian, is reminiscent of another historical quote in wide circulation since 9/11:
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." -- Edmund Burke
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