The Military Conundrum: Follow Orders, Or Follow The Constitution?

by | Feb 22, 2010 | Headline News | 19 comments

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    This article has been generously contributed by Neithercorp Press for your reading pleasure.

    By Giordano Bruno

    Neithercorp Press – 02/18/2010

    posse_comitatus.jpg

    I should preface this article by saying that I am not a military man, nor have I ever been.  Something in my genetic or spiritual makeup prevents me from taking orders from those who have not yet earned my personal respect, an act which a professional soldier is expected to conform to on a daily basis.  I did spend a good part of my adolescence next to one of the largest military bases in the country, and I remember vividly the effect this had on the atmosphere of the city I lived.  Many of my high school friends had considered no other career beyond joining the armed forces.  Most joined immediately after graduation, and very few did so because they wanted to go to war, or imagined themselves as “rough riders” off to kill evil doers.  Of course, there was the random guy who had played too many computer games, thinking he would fall right into the Navy Seals and become a comic book superhero, but for the most part, those I knew who had joined did so because job options were limited, and the military offered financial security.

    I relate this because I have found an increasingly inaccurate view being promoted on both sides of the debate over the moral path and the proper role of military forces.  One side hates the military passionately, viewing it as a venomous monstrosity, a dark creature sent to do the bidding of crooked politicians and Globalist puppeteers.  The other side idolizes and romanticizes the military as some kind of infallible shield of the West, an organization touched by the heavens that deserves our unquestioning reverence.  The reality is much less cinematic or fantastical.  The reality, is that most military personnel are simply regular people, not angels, or demons, but normal individuals like you and I in an extraordinarily difficult position.

    For them, the search for a stable life and perhaps a college degree has led them into unjust wars based on the lies and political maneuvering of Elitists, fighting an enemy created using smoke and mirrors magic tricks and CIA compartmentalization.  Now, they must fight a “war on terrorism,” a war which can never be won because anyone can be labeled a terrorist, and therefore, the enemy never disappears, he is never defeated, his face only changes from one campaign to the next.

    Some in the military have bought into the war on terror fairytale wholeheartedly.  Some because they feel they have to in order to give purpose to their actions and the lives they lead in those far off deserts.  Many others are questioning why they are being sent to these places to find Al-Qaeda, only to end up fighting the local civilians who see them as an occupying force.  Some military men are questioning the intentions and even the legitimacy of our government altogether.  In the very near future, it is quite possible that all men and women of the armed forces will be confronted with a fundamental dilemma of conscience; does the government they fight for truly represent the people they are tasked to defend, and what will they do if that same government turns on the people it is meant to represent?

    Martial Law and the Constitutional Imperative

    A currency crisis looms on the horizon for the United States with the very real possibility of ending in hyperinflation and the bankruptcy of the Treasury.  The deliberately faulty monetary policies of our government and the private Federal Reserve have made this occurrence inevitable.  Such an event would result in the most intensely threatening social atmosphere America has seen since the Civil War.  Hyperinflation causes not just a breakdown of the general economy, but also erases the savings of the entire nation by devaluing the dollar to worthlessness.  Unlike the Great Depression (a deflationary collapse), a hyper-inflationary disintegration would shut down ALL economic activity except for trade and barter.  Civil unrest would be difficult to avoid.  When people begin to starve, even the most apathetic will take to the streets.

    Preparations for a breakdown of this magnitude have already been made, most likely because elements of the government know full well that their financial actions will cause an economic disaster.

    Towards the end of his second term, George W. Bush issued Presidential Security Directive 51, which under continuity of government gives the Executive Branch and the head of the Department of Homeland Security full control over state and local governments without the consent of Congress during a national emergency.  The document was considered so volatile that the White House censored most of its contents.  In fact, not even Congress has been allowed to see the entire PDD 51 document, which in itself is a gross violation of Constitutional Law.  PDD 51 along with the Patriot Act also allows the President to declare a “national emergency” whenever he sees fit, thus giving him the power to pronounce himself de facto dictator of the U.S. without any checks or balances from the other branches of government.

    Barack Obama, to the shock of many Democrats who believed he would rescind such orders after taking office, has actually supported them fully and is now quietly hiding Patriot Act legislation in his latest jobs bill so that Congress will be forced to pass it. (Note that politico.com buried this info on the last page of the article.)

    The provisions of the Posse Comitatus Act are meant to prevent military forces from occupying American soil in a law enforcement capacity.  However, the act has been all but eroded away through legal wrangling, as was evident in the actions taken during the Hurricane Katrina incident in New Orleans:

    Under martial law, all Constitutional rights and personal liberties are no longer legally protected.  For instance, the Patriot Act and the Homegrown Terrorist Act allow the government to label anyone, regardless of how ambiguous the charges, as an enemy combatant.  This includes American civilians.  As an enemy combatant, you would no longer have rights under Habeas Corpus.  You could be apprehended, charged, and locked away without ever seeing a lawyer, without ever contacting your family, and you could be held indefinitely (life imprisonment without a trial).  Many Americans have a tendency to take for granted such official protections as the right to a trial or even a simple phone call.  In a martial law scenario, it would be difficult to conjure even the semblance of a fair legal system.

    Military control over civilian affairs often leads to totalitarianism, and not always because this is what military personnel wish for.  The military system itself is not built on Constitutional ideals, and is therefore philosophically and politically incapable of administrating a society based on personal liberty.  The military does not operate on democracy.  Soldiers do not vote on decisions.  They are not given the legal option of choice.  They live in a highly restrictive social structure in which orders are passed and followed generally without question.  Most importantly, soldiers are not trained to dispense balanced justice or mediate civilian affairs; they are trained to kill enemies, and that is all.  Martial law not only tears down much need barriers between the military and civilian dichotomy, but it also simultaneously creates a dangerous division.  The military is trained to fight and destroy the opposition, but what happens when the citizenry itself is painted as the opposition?  Without a Constitutional framework, only disaster will result.

    Even more disturbing is the philosophical methodology being fed to military personnel over the past two decades.  Concepts put forward by propagandists like former Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Peters, who purports that a soldier’s only concern should be killing, that questions of morality and ethics are “relative” (ideas pushed by men like Machiavelli and The Marquis De Sade), and that in order to win, the modern American soldier must set aside his conscience and become as monstrous as his enemy:

    The New Warrior Class

    In Praise of Attrition

    Ralph Peters was an advisor to John McCain during the last presidential election, and his views are widely circulated to this day.  The moral relativism Ralph Peters promotes is designed in a very specific and psychologically strategic way.  He preaches the need for a sense of national pride and defense of democracy and invokes images of evil cave dwelling Islamic goblins driven by religious blood lust and a complete lack of empathy for human life.  We are the righteous “crusaders,” and they are the “invading horde.”  Then, Peters states unequivocally that in order for us to “win” the war on terror (which cannot be won), our men and women in the armed forces must BECOME the demon they have been sent to thwart.  It is a strange but effective manipulation; invent an enemy from thin air, build that enemy up as the most vicious and malevolent force the world has ever seen, then, tell your soldiers that they cannot fight effectively against such a force unless they are willing to be just as vicious and unethical.  If successful, this manipulation could lead our armed forces towards a collective mindset drowned in shadow, enabling acts so horrendous, a repeat of WWII-like genocide and wholesale oppression would not be out of the question.  The crimes of those working at Abu Ghraib are only one small example.

    The Next Fake Enemy:  Homegrown Terrorists

    Since 2007, the government has worked in tandem with the Department of Homeland Security and globalist disinformation groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League to push a new brand of propaganda aimed at diffusing the growing influence of the Liberty Movement and the philosophy of Constitutionalism, apparently in preparation for the institution of martial law.  This propaganda is designed to categorize and label all Constitutionalists as “homegrown terrorists” and in some cases even attempts to link them with Al-Qaeda.  This is a common disinformation tactic called “False Association.”  Globalists in our own government hope that by drawing false connections between the Liberty Movement and terrorism, they can dissuade the public from listening to our arguments objectively, or perhaps even make the public fear us as a threat to their safety.  Their hope is that by polarizing sections of the populace against each other, Americans will be completely distracted from the real threat; the dissolution of our Democratic Republic and the centralization of power into the hands of an elite minority.

    The move to brand anyone who opposes globalization, or anyone who supports a Constitutional foundation as a terrorist is made quite obvious in a recently leaked DHS supported document now known notoriously as the MIAC Report.

    This report was part of a wider effort by the Virginia “Fusion Center” and their work on “threat assessment.”  The documents they released were so broad in their definitions of terrorism that in fact, under their guidelines, almost ANYONE could be labeled as a potential terrorist.  Not only this, but the documents also set the stage for false flag attacks.  There will come a day when any event, real or engineered, will be immediately accredited to “homegrown extremists” regardless of evidence.

    One example of ADMITTED terrorism engineered by our government in conjunction with the CIA and security agencies in Europe would be “Operation Gladio.”  American Special Forces with the consent of European officials killed innocent civilians and then falsely blamed communist subversives and terrorists.

    The Fusion Center documents were for law enforcement eyes only, and were not meant to be seen by the public.  They show conclusively that the government is indeed making every effort to pigeon-hole average citizens as a threat to national security.   They show that this is not some random and misguided report by an overzealous politician, but a widespread and organized move by several sectors of government to demonize Constitutionalists.  In fact, fusion centers like that in Virginia have been set up all over the country.

    What these documents reveal, is that there may come a time in the near future where military and law enforcement personnel could be ordered to forgo the Constitutional laws they were originally mandated to protect, and suppress American citizens whose rights they were supposed to defend.

    The Choice:  Rationalize The Crime, Or Follow Your Conscience

    In the event of an economic collapse, many rationalizations will be used to manipulate the military and the public into conforming to martial law.  Military men and women will be told that it is necessary to maintain a sense of order, and without this order, many people will die, and the country will fall to ruin.  They will also be told that anyone who opposes martial law is simply an “extremist,” and that these people should be dealt with accordingly.  The public will be told that while the government along with central banks did in fact trigger the financial crisis, it was merely an “accidental blunder” and that the only solution is to dissolve personal liberties for our own safety and the “greater good.”  We will be told that these restrictions are “temporary,” and that one day our rights will be returned once all is well again.  Eventually, when these rights are not returned as promised, they will tell us that the Constitution is an outdated concept, that its tenets are no longer feasible in our modern age of terrorism, that we must progress to a more “realistic” way of constructing and governing our society.  That a new order has dawned…

    Men and women in the armed forces will be faced with a decision; do they believe the lies and overt rationalizations, do they defy their Constitutional mandate and deny Americans their rights, or do they trust their conscience, and disobey orders?

    Both choices offer severe consequences.  While defying unlawful orders is not only honorable but reasonable, it could result in punishment up to and including being labeled “traitorous.”  Following orders would mean avoiding retribution, and a soldier could even convince himself while committing unconstitutional acts that he is “simply doing what he was told,” but in the end, only a sociopath can escape his conscience, and no one escapes the effects, direct or indirect, inherent in their actions.

    Some soldiers have already organized around the principle of conscience, and have stated that if asked to carry out any procedure that would facilitate martial law, they would refuse.  The largest of these organizations is called Oathkeepers.

    In his essay entitled “The New Warrior Class,” Ralph Peters describes his definition of the difference between a “warrior” and a “soldier.”  Of course, in his view a warrior is a sort of mercenary thug, a man driven only by violence and greed, without honor or morality, a “destroyer of order.”  He describes a soldier as being driven by allegiance to the state, willing to sacrifice himself for said state, and a “restorer of order.”  His definitions appear to be based on nothing more than his own whims and biases.  I am not a soldier, but I have been a martial artist for most of my life, and I understand the warrior mentality; what we call Bushido.  If I were to rewrite Peters’ duality, I would say that a warrior is a man who chooses his battles based on a personal directive, while a soldier is a man whose battles are chosen for him regardless of what he believes.

    A soldier who follows orders which he knows to be reprehensible, which he knows in his heart to be wrong, is treading down the path of the mercenary, the hired thug.  Suppressing the citizenry for the sake of order is also unnecessary not to mention inconsequential.  Order can never be truly restored under a government with auspices of criminality.

    While the threat of punishment may be dissuasive to some soldiers considering defiance, the bottom line is that there are things far more important in this world than orders from on high, or the fear of personal danger.  Each and every one of us is born with inherent and archetypal qualities, and these qualities establish our inner dialogue, our morality.  Where these qualities come from is not yet certain, but scientifically, and psychologically, they are a fact of existence.  Without them, we would be lost.  Without them, we become our own destroyers.  Every human being is given this gift; the gift of free will, the chance to make a choice.  May those in the military use this gift of choice wisely, for if they do not, they risk a future in which such freedom is bound, and our truest natures are enslaved.

    This article has been generously contributed by Neithercorp Press for your reading pleasure.

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      19 Comments

      1. I have been saying and will continue to say, I think the majority of the rank and file of the military will honor the oath they have taken, they are very aware of the part “enemies both foreign and domestic”  . They realize who the domestic enemies are.  And even if they did follow orders and not their good judgment, , there is no way they could quell an armed “uprising” if even 5 % of the armed citizenry were involved.

        I am not saying things would not get ugly or that enough of them would not follow those orders to prevent a civil war (along with  help from the obama supporters) but in the end the good guys would win,  I hope.

      2. If I were a paranoid type, I would think TPTB really want a civil war here, its the only chance they have of subduing the constitution.

        They are hoping some of the military will not follow the orders of martial law, gun confiscation, etc.

        I in fact think  that it will be the Military/CIA/FBI/Secret Service that will actually end this potential Tyrannical nightmare  very quickly if it were to get out of hand.  Too  many entities, organizations, industries, etc stand to lose too much  from a leftist dictatorship to not step in and do something if they are threatened and do not see a traditional way out (although coups are about as traditional as it gets in the history of mankind)

      3. My guess is when the shtf the military will be divided. there are some men whole will play ball with the NWO thugs in Washington, then there will be the oath keepers and entire battalions will join the militias in the fighting. we are heading towards a blood bath of epic perportions. the alphabet government agencies,state and local police are being armed as a paramilitary wing for the govt. Not to mention they will push a draft to fight us the resistors. I expect the battles will mostly be in the south and west. In New York City where i live no one will resist,but in upstate there will be a bloody guerrilla war. Blood will  be in the streets of our cities. I believe there is a plan to use foreign troops as a last resort if the resistance is too much. get your powder dry and take a stand. its time for us to prepare and get organized. get ready for the bloody Uncivil War

      4. Most of what you say is correct, but I must comment on these portions;

        “The military system itself is not built on Constitutional ideals, and is therefore philosophically and politically incapable of administrating a society based on personal liberty.”

        That’s not sufficiency backed up by any facts.  I’m former active duty and currently a reserve officer.  When I was active, we often joked that we protected the rights in the constitution, but we didn’t have them.  To beleive that those in the military – soldiers, marines, airmen, and seamen – not just soldiers – cannot comprehend constitutional philiospy is bizarre.  We did not arrive in the military from the vacuum of space. 

        “Most importantly, soldiers are not trained to dispense balanced justice or mediate civilian affairs; they are trained to kill enemies, and that is all.”

        Soldiers in the Army, like service members in all branches of the military, are in fact trained in a wide variety of specialties that have nothing to do with the application of killing.  This includes the majority of the Navy and practically all of the Air Force. 

        It’s important to keep in mind that service members are not zombies that will mindlessly follow orders, which seems to be a common misconception among survivalist/prepper blogs.

      5. Er, a, did you soldiers-will-follow-the-Constitution types watch the video embedded in this article? 

        The vast majority of cops and soldiers will follow orders — that’s what they do.  Hope otherwise at your peril.

      6. Exactly right, they are trained (psychologically coerced) to follow all orders and WILL do so… if only partly because they know if they don’t, they’ll get fragged by their buddies.  There’s a reason for Posse Commitatus, and the Insurrection Act of 1807, which preceded it.  If the military is deployed to control civilians, there will be big-time bloodshed.

      7. If civil war erupts in the United States it is because the regime in Washington D.C. conspired to make it happen to advance their political and social agendas, which so far, they have failed miserably to do by political intrigue and outright deceit.  

      8. Paul, sorry but I could not disagree more.  What do you think the Founders would say about the current situation of our country?  That the Progressives have “failed miserably” in their attempts to destroy our once great nation?  Hardly.  In fact, I’d say their plan is going quite well.

      9. I have talked to at least half a dozen active duty and retired military on this subject. They all seem to come to a consensus that 10% will follow orders, the 90% will follow orders for a while but will eventually switch sides and honor their oath.

        I hear people on here and on neithercorp.us where this originated talking about how they’ll get 3 hots and a cot and that will keep them obeying. Some of the soldiers I mentioned that to got almost indignant and the thought that I could even ask that question. It was repugnant to them to think they would not honor their oaths for food and shelter. So, how many of you that accuse our military of trading honor for 3 hots and a cot have actually talked to them? While you may speculate, I have asked. Different ages too: 22 to 50. 6 or 7 is certainly not a bunch but I think I have more insight on it than most of you that never even mention this.

      10. NR – no offense intended, but there’s a big difference between what people say or think they’ll do now, in peacetime, and what they actually will do when presented with the situation.  There are plenty of examples in history… you can read about them.

      11. Google “the military coup of 2012” and you’ll find an interesting story.  Actually it is a paper that won an award at the Nat. Military College.  A plausible scenario to say the least.  I admire our people in uniform but I do not envy them.

      12. I served my country for 11 yrs. USAF. I could never imagine my own military turning on it’s own country. And if they did turn on us, i’d join the revolution to see that they meet their maker. nuff said! 

      13. At the end of WWII when the trials took place many Germans took the stand to say: ” I was only following Orders “.  That one sentence speaks volumes !  Knowing  full well thay were murdering innocent people thay went ahead and did it anyway It is sad to say that  many in our military will  do the same when Martial Law is declared.  A Coup ?  I for one do not beleave it , we see many examples of presidential adminstrations who absoulutely hated the military , Bill Clintons staff ordered them not to wear thier uniforms at the whitehouse  which thay did not obey.  LBJs staff wanted to dis-band Special Ops and the Green Berets in particular. Because thay had surounded General William Westmorland’s compound and demanded the return of a Group Commander who had been charged with a bogus murder of a double agent who had bertayed an operation to the North Vietnamese. The agent had tried to kill the CO when confronted with the fact that he was working for the north . The south wanted the CO tried for murder . In the end the CO was allowed to retire, end of story. But the military will do what its ordered to do even if  thay don’t agree with it . I do find it interesting that the author only gives 3 lines to the oath keepers.  We will see what happens ,  that we can be sure of .

      14. Personal note to MAC , Have you been reading anymore of ” The day the dollar died” series ?  The last chapter #25 was published yesterday. Its NOT a happy ending . I will leave it at that.  Now for the rest of those who have not heard of this series  it is a very beleaveable fiction series of the US Defalting on its loans and bonds , and the rest of the world dumping the USA . go to  http://www.johngaltfla.com  start  on chapter 1 and go on from there. The military is part of this novel.

      15. For those who never served in the military, during basic training we are informed that it is the duty of a solider NOT to carry out an unlawful order.  Most will not carry out an unlawful order as National Guard and Reserves live and work in their community and will have an extremely difficult time carrying out orders to turn on their fellow citizens. 

      16. AB, I have not yet read the remaining chapters.. I am going to pick up another ream of paper today and print out all of the chapters. the first chapter was fantastic! Can’t wait to read the rest.

        I reco everyone check out the link Airborne pointed to. the first chapter will probably lock you in. Kind of like the first episode of Jericho did, for those who say that show.

      17. I knew the, “we were only following orders” argument would come up. But there is a major difference between Germans then and Americans now; ingrained “rights.”

        Americans now know you’re “innocent until proven guilty” and you must be “read your rights.”  Right or wrong, we’re now a nation obsessed with this mindset.  Getting service members to throw it out the door would not be easy or fast. 

        Which, BTW, is the major flaw in the Day the Dollar Died series – it is *not* realistic or believable when it comes to depicting he actions of service members, or government workers for that matter.  Every single service member and government worker in the story seems hell bent on turning everyone they deal with against the government. 

        The story started out good, but quickly devolved into the wet dream of someone clinically obsessed with the NWO.  The collapse is realistic.  The rest is not.

        I say this as a former enlisted (active) current officer (reserve) and govt employee. 

      18. Sub. Survivalist , Mike ,   Let us agree to disagree , When Martial Law is declared , we will have no rights , As a service member you know that from day one the trainee is  taught loyality to the unit FIRST. Obey orders second, Ect. Ect. When thay see one of the units soldiers killed , I have no doubt it will be  ” Payback ” time ! And then the slaughter starts . It will be an “Us against them ” mentality.  We have many examples of this , the college campus riots of the 60s is  one of them . Troops did in fact open fire on un armed civilians .  None of us can really determine how a soldier will react to certin situations , but when ordered to open fire , I beleave thay will do so with out question .  As for the Day the dollar died series I too have some issues with what was written ,  Having said that , I think the author did a credable job, after all it is fiction and thus he must be given some lee way .

      19. i am sad. lost a friend who said he would kill and put into camps citizens if he was ordered to do so.

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