Marcy Wheeler has made an interesting observation. General Keith Alexander, head of the NSA, recently gave
a little speech to those who work under him.
Together with your colleagues in US Cyber Command, you embody the true meaning of noble intent through your national service. In a 1962 speech to the Corps of Cadets on "duty, honor and country," one of this nation's military heroes, General Douglas MacArthur, said these words teach us "not to substitute words for action; not to seek the path of comfort, but to face the stress and spur of difficulty and challenge; to learn to stand up in the storm." You have done all that and more. "Duty, Honor, Country" could easily be your motto, for you live these words every day.
I'd feel better if Alexander had quoted someone other than the guy who was
fired by President Truman for insubordination. MacArthur thought that he, not the President, had the right to make foreign policy and to take actions which might well have led to a Third World War. As Truman explained:
If there is one basic element in our Constitution, it is civilian control of the military. Policies are to be made by the elected political officials, not by generals or admirals. Yet time and again General MacArthur had shown that he was unwilling to accept the policies of the administration. By his repeated public statements he was not only confusing our allies as to the true course of our policies but, in fact, was also setting his policy against the President's...
Keep that statement in mind as you recall what
another NSA whistleblower, Russell Tice, told us a few days ago...
And remember we talked about that before, that I was worried that the intelligence community now has sway over what is going on.
Now here’s the big one. I haven’t given you any names. This was is summer of 2004. One of the papers that I held in my hand was to wiretap a bunch of numbers associated with, with a 40-something-year-old wannabe senator from Illinois. You wouldn’t happen to know where that guy lives right now, would you? It’s a big white house in Washington, DC. That’s who they went after. And that’s the president of the United States now.
Do you think that General Alexander was trying to send a signal by quoting MacArthur?
2 comments:
Civilian control of the military sticks in a lot of throats.
Our American Caesar is probably no more narcissistic than most Generals, with the exception of Bradley and Eisenhower. His tiff with HST was his disrespect for that 'temporary occupant of the WH', and not much else; shook his hand instead of saluting POTUS, wearing his dirty cover etc.
Invoking his name certainly seems to suggest some confluence with Petraeus and McChrystal, but what do they have to fear from Obama? They already have him neatly hog-tied.
Ben
Yes, because MacArthur was actually the first choice of the "Business Plot" of 1935 to stage a coup against FDR.
Smedley Butler was chosen as a friendlier face, and exposed the plot.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Plot
Stuff I have heard suggests that MacArthur's general staff was hard-line fascist.
So in that case, I am not suprised at Alexander's repeat of history.
It's starting to look a lot like a plot against Obama.
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