POSTINGS FROM THE SWEETWATER LIBRARY
(Fifth in a series)

"As one Roman senator said to Tiberius Caesar, 'But if you speak first no one will want to refute you, and if you speak last, we will not want to have spoken against your position.' "

(Fourth, Third, Second, First in the series)

JAG HUNTER HERE:

The assembly and conduct of a courts-martial is the singular exercise of executive war power. It is sovereign power exclusively.

Courts-martial power and authority is directed for use by subordinate commanders as one weapon (among every other weapon) under executive order to give full expression to American will in confronting extreme danger. Courts-martial represent a single component in the array of components necessary in the application of sustained and irresistible force against internal insurrection, external invasion, or other extreme emergencies when ordinary law enforcement and judicial processes break down (take Sherman's March to the sea for instance).

Courts-martial are used almost exclusively against U.S. citizens. Flag officers (generals and admirals) exercise courts-martial, war power as they see fit based only upon their judgment, or whim, or caprice as their individual personalities dictate.

The assembly and conduct of courts-martial, absent direct public scrutiny, is the sole province of the commander exercised as an expedient to put down all resistance and challenge to established military force once mobilized and deployed.

The difficulty faced today is that America's chief executive has invested his peace time commanders with the executive summary power of a court-martial in perpetuity concealed by deceiving military royalty and fantastic showmanship.

Peace time employment of courts-martial is a crime called attainder.

Why is this allowed?

No American would submit to conditions so notorious, injurious, and degrading as those resulting from the punitive expedition of a court-martial. So why do vulnerable military personnel suffer these conditions and why do you not hear their cries for relief?

One explanation, clearly evidenced here in Sweetwater and I suspect Plymouth, MA (hometowns to Ray Girouard and Larry Hutchins), is that Americans have never been more disconnected and more disinterested in their military than today. Civilian oversight of the armed forces is an illusion.

There runs amok that convenient cloak of self-deception allowing for the false belief that we can safely trust the decisions of high command. We hold this belief while, right there in plain sight, we watch command racketeers bludgeon on sergeant after another into submission in the ritual humiliation of a court-martial that purposefully obstructs men like Ray and Larry from seeking refuge in their own defense.

I spoke last week about the notion of invincible ignorance.

Another explanation is simply fear. Regular folks are rendered silent by abject terror regarding what government retribution must come should top military governors be challenged. "As one Roman senator said to Tiberius Caesar, 'But if you speak first no one will want to refute you, and if you speak last, we will not want to have spoken against your position.' "

For many in the military who know of the abuses yet refuse to publicly condemn the practice of attainder, the word is cowardice.

Then-as always-there's the tyranny of self-interest (willful blindness).

Meanwhile, peace time courts-martial--the constitutionally outlawed exercise of attainder--has become institutionalized. An artificial process masking the summary power of the executive whereupon men are punished without trial for crimes they never committed.

Here endth the lesson

BEWARE THE FURY OF THE PATIENT MAN!

©Copyright 2008 The JAG HUNTER