Reply #20: Programming Americans to Accept New Views of War and the Military [View All]

[JohnyCanuck]

From the article "Brainwashing America" by Dr. Norman Livergood a former department head at the US Army War College:

Programming Americans to Accept New Views of War and the Military

My time of service at the Army War College also gave me the opportunity to study:

* the varied mind-sets in the military

* the dynamic relationship involved in the civilian control of the military

* brainwashing in the military

When our nation was created, its founders understood that all facets of the government, including the military, are created to serve the needs of the people. The American colonists had fought against a British army which did whatever its corrupt civilian monarch and other leaders told it to do. This is why Samuel Adams made the important distinction between the need for and the danger of a standing army.

"A Standing Army," Adams asserted, "however necessary it may be at some times, is always dangerous to the Liberties of the People."

From the beginning of the establishment of a standing military, military personnel have had one of two primary mind-sets:

Mind-set 1. I will remain loyal to my sworn pledge to uphold the U.S. Constitution, no matter what. If I consider a civilian or military order or operation to be contradictory to the Constitution, I will not follow the order and will do whatever is in my power to stop the unconstitutional operation.

SNIP

Mind-set 2: I will do whatever my civilian and military commanders tell me to do, without reflection on whether or not what they are ordering is permitted by the Constitution (since I want to get ahead in the military). This mind-set is represented by such people as:

# Colin Powell, Secretary of State during Bush II's first term and turned out for slight disagreement with the junta's imperialistic plans; Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during Bush senior's presidency (took over when Admiral William Crowe wouldn't agree to Bush senior's illegal invasion of Panama)

# General Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of the Gulf War against Iraq

http://www.hermes-press.com/brainwash1.htm