U.S. Military Opposes War

U.S. MILITARY OPPOSES WAR

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, military brass may be roadblock to neo-con dream of global war

By James P. Tucker Jr.

A few brave patriots in high places are fighting to avoid an invasion of Iran and destruction of the Constitution in the four months left of the reign of President Bush. They do so at great personal risk.

Congress, under both Republican and Democratic control, has given Bush the power to usurp the Constitution and remain in power after Jan. 20, 2009. There is fear in high places that the power-mad administration may do so.

Immediately after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Bush issued his “Declaration of Emergency by Reason of Certain Terrorist Attacks” under authority of the National Emergencies Act. This declaration, which could be rescinded by a joint resolution of Congress, has instead been extended and expanded.

In 2007, the declaration was strengthened with the issuance of the National Security Presidential Directive 5, which gave Bush the power to do whatever he decides is necessary in a “catastrophic emergency”—including canceling elections and suspending the Constitution. His constant threats to bomb Iran on behalf of Israel concern these patriots. Military chiefs who oppose attacking Iran are “retired.”

Victims include Adm. William Fallon, commander of CENTCOM, and Vice Adm. John Stufflebeem, Sixth Fleet commander. In jeopardy is Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the joint Chiefs of Staff who went to Tel Aviv to warn Israel against staging another attack on an American ship in an attempt to blame it on Arabs or Persians and draw the U.S. into a Mideast war (AFP Aug. 11, 2008).

He was referring to Israel’s deliberate attack on the USS Liberty during the 1967 Six-Day War. It was an attempt to sink the ship and blame it on Arabs so America would enter the war on Israel’s side. Thirty-four Americans were brutally murdered.

J. Scott Carpenter, former deputy secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs, said Vice President Dick Cheney pressed hard for air strikes against Iranian Revolutionary Guard bases last summer. He was deterred by Pentagon officials.

There is a grim struggle within the government. On one side are the war-mongering neo-cons who egged the country into the war in Iraq and envision a “new American century.”

They are opposed by the Republican Party Old Guard, led by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who replaced the despised Donald Rumsfeld. Rumsfeld thought the invasion of Iraq would be a quick success with few troops and casualties by relying on new military toys. The war has dragged on for five years and the number of American combat deaths has reached 4,155 and counting.

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