November 08, 2009
UTNE READER

Target: U.S. Constitution

General Tommy Franks worries the Constitution might not survive a WMD attack

November 27, 2003
John O. Edwards Newsmax.com 
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If worst comes to worst, those of us concerned that our civil liberties have been threatened since the knee-jerk passage of the US Patriot Act after Septemeber11, 2001 and the onset of the Iraq war-sequel, might find our usual opponents in officialdom actually agreeing with us.

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John O. Edwards, writing for the right-leaning website NewsMax.com, cites an interview with Gen. Tommy Franks, published in the December issue of Cigar Aficionado magazine, wherein the General expressed his belief that 'if the United States is hit with a weapon of mass destruction ... the Constitution will likely be discarded in favor of a military form of government.'

Franks, the former commander of the military's Central Command and the man responsible for leading the US military operation to 'liberate' Iraq is the first government official to predict that a breakdown of our form of republican government is contingent upon a major terrorist attack against the US or our allies.

Although Franks wasn't able to pinpoint when a 'casualty-producing' attack may occur, he said that such an event could cause 'our population to question our own Constitution and to begin to militarize our country ... which ... then begins to unravel the fabric of our Constitution.'

The General, a decorated veteran of the George the Elder's war, concluded his interview with a statement that makes the government's official view towards peacekeeping and the future of democracy even more cryptic. 'It's not the history of civilization for peace to reign,' he said. 'I doubt that we'll ever have a time when the world will actually be at peace.'
-- Eric Larson

Go there>> Gen. Franks Doubts Constitution Will Survive WMD Attack

Related Links from the Utne Archive:

Caf? Utne: Discuss terrorism and civil liberties in the Terrorism forum

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