Stormy Monday?
Hundred-plus days of anticipation from "Ferguson"; were met today with a surprise announcement of the resignation of Chuck Hagel (Secretary of Defense). His Third Defense-Chief, for President Obama, is not that unusual, if we take a glance at the long list of Secretaries of Defense we've had since 1947; BUT, Eisenhower, the first President to serve a full term with the new Defense Department, left us with grave warnings against a Defense "Complex" in his Farewell Address in 1961. Eisenhower had to nationalize the National Guard to protect the rights of black students in Arkansas.
Coming on the heels of heated threats from leaders of the Republican Party, warning President Obama of retaliation for his Executive Actions to adjust National Immigration Policy, it seems suspicious that the only remaining Republican in the President's Cabinet has precipitously "Resigned". (It has just been announced that FERGUSON will "deliver" its "DECISION" within the next two hours). The whole world is watching -- both!
When I was born, we didn't have a Defense Department -- we had a WAR Department, and a Deoartment of the Navy. I was Commissioned to serve in the Systems Command of the United States Air Force, fifteen years after both, the Defense Department, and the U.S. Air Force, were created in 1947. Also created in the 1947 Executive, were the CIA, the NSC, and the Joint-Chiefs of Staff,
Under our Constitution, only Congress can declare War against foreign powers. Since the formation of the Defense Department, Congress has NOT declared WAR! We fought a Police Action in Korea, a "Limited" military encounter under the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (later rescinded).
The other "Declared" wars were trumped up "Wars" by Presidents! (Johnson, Nixon, and "W" Bush); --(War on Poverty, War on Drugs, and War on Terror0 respectively. All of these "Wars" were "travesties" imposed on the Citizens of the United States!
During the past 6-Decades-and7-years, the Defense Department has grown to an organization so large, NOBODY has succeeded in managing it! If Eisenhower complained, we can only wonder what all the Presidents, since, have encountered.
President Kennedy, (who succeeded Eisenhower, for 1000 days) gave us all an insight into difficulties he faced keeping the likes of General LeMay under his control. I arrived, a 2nd Lt in the USAF, in the Washington D.C. area; mid-way of President Kennedy's 1000 days, and served there mid-way through LBJ's 2000 days. I departed that area as a Captain in theUSAF. That period covered The Cuban Missile Crisis, Kennedy's Assassination, Malcolm X Assassination, The Gulf Of Tonkin Incident, the War on Poverty, the March on Washington for Civil Rights. and the March on the White House following the Burmingham Church Bombing. The role played by the Defense Department in its lifetime has been "problematic". Military Adventures by Presidents; from Johnson to Cheney/Bush, have all served to enlarge the operations of the Department and make it more "unmanageable".
At the same time these organizations were formed, the U.S. Military was placed under Truman's Execuitve Order to racially integrate all of their operations. Fifteen years later, the Military Services were still interrnally imbroiled in its efforts to comply with the Executive Order. The"scars" of those difficulties are visible in on today's military, and on the many Defense Secretaries who were charged with its Management. One of those former Defense Chiefs, Cheney (1402 days under President -Bush-41), in his role as Vice President of the United States, joined with Donald Rumsfeld, who RETURNED to that office, after serving 427 days under President (appointed) Gerald Ford. Rumsfeld served 2158 days under Cheney/Bush, before being replaced under pressure, with Robert Gates, by "W". (All FACTS are a result of a Google Search and Wikipedia).
Stay Vigilant! Sound like a "MESS"? U BET!! Only "Citizen's VOTES" can clean up the COMPLEX! Are we ready for a NEW Reorganization of our National Security??
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