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| ¿Hacia
una dictadura militar? |
En su momento pasaron casi desapercibidas
unas declaraciones del general retirado Tommy
Franks en la revista Cigar Aficionado (01-12-2003)
En ellas, el general encargado de la invasión
de Afganistán e Irak, nos advertía
que de producirse un ataque con Armas de Destrucció
Masiva (ADM) sería lógico abolir
la constitución y que los militares tomaran
el mando.
Este mensaje unido a otros similares de otros
miembros de la Administración Bush, es
hoy de una gran relevancia si tenemos en cuenta
las incertidumbres a las que se ve sometida la
política norteamericana en la postguerra
de Irak, sobre todo después de que aparecieran
las fotos de las torturas de Abu Ghraib.
Adjunto el artículo sobre el tema:
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Gen. Franks Doubts Constitution
Will Survive WMD Attack
John O. Edwards, NewsMax.com Friday, Nov.
21, 2003
Gen. Tommy Franks says that if the United
States is hit with a weapon of mass destruction
that inflicts large casualties, the Constitution
will likely be discarded in favor of a military
form of government.
Franks, who successfully led the U.S. military
operation to liberate Iraq, expressed his
worries in an extensive interview he gave
to the men's lifestyle magazine Cigar Aficionado.
In the magazine's December edition, the
former commander of the militaryÕs Central
Command warned that if terrorists succeeded
in using a weapon of mass destruction (WMD)
against the U.S. or one of our allies, it
would likely have catastrophic consequences
for our cherished republican form of government.
Discussing the hypothetical dangers posed
to the U.S. in the wake of Sept. 11, Franks
said that Òthe worst thing that could happenÓ
is if terrorists acquire and then use a
biological, chemical or nuclear weapon that
inflicts heavy casualties.
If that happens, Franks said, "...
the Western world, the free world, loses
what it cherishes most, and that is freedom
and liberty we've seen for a couple of hundred
years in this grand experiment that we call
democracy."
Franks then offered "in a practical
sense" what he thinks would happen
in the aftermath of such an attack.
"It means the potential of a weapon
of mass destruction and a terrorist, massive,
casualty –producing event somewhere
in the Western world– it may be in
the United States of AmericaÐ that causes
our population to question our own Constitution
and to begin to militarize our country in
order to avoid a repeat of another mass,
casualty-producing event. Which in fact,
then begins to unravel the fabric of our
Constitution. Two steps, very, very important."
Franks didn't speculate about how soon such
an event might take place.
Already, critics of the U.S. Patriot Act,
rushed through Congress in the wake of the
Sept. 11 attacks, have argued that the law
aims to curtail civil liberties and sets
a dangerous precedent.
But Franks' scenario goes much further.
He is the first high-ranking official to
openly speculate that the Constitution could
be scrapped in favor of a military form
of government.
The usually camera-shy Franks retired from
U.S. Central Command, known in Pentagon
lingo as CentCom, in August 2003, after
serving nearly four decades in the Army.
Franks earned three Purple Hearts for combat
wounds and three Bronze Stars for valor.
Known as a "soldier's general,"
Franks made his mark as a top commander
during the U.S.'s successful Operation Desert
Storm, which liberated Kuwait in 1991. He
was in charge of CentCom when Osama bin
Laden's al-Qaeda attacked the United States
on Sept. 11.
Franks said that within hours of the attacks,
he was given orders to prepare to root out
the Taliban in Afghanistan and to capture
bin Laden. Franks offered his assessment
on a number of topics to Cigar Aficionado,
including:
President Bush: "As I look at
President Bush, I think he will ultimately
be judged as a man of extremely high character.
A very thoughtful man, not having been appraised
properly by those who would say he's not
very smart. I find the contrary. I think
he's very, very bright. And I suspect that
he'll be judged as a man who led this country
through a crease in history effectively.
Probably we'll think of him in years to
come as an American hero."
On the motivation for the Iraq war:
Contrary to claims that top Pentagon brass
opposed the invasion of Iraq, Franks said
he wholeheartedly agreed with the president's
decision to invade Iraq and oust Saddam
Hussein.
"I, for one, begin with intent. ...
There is no question that Saddam Hussein
had intent to do harm to the Western alliance
and to the United States of America. That
intent is confirmed in a great many of his
speeches, his commentary, the words that
have come out of the Iraqi regime over the
last dozen or so years. So we have intent.
"If we know for sure ... that a regime
has intent to do harm to this country, and
if we have something beyond a reasonable
doubt that this particular regime may have
the wherewithal with which to execute the
intent, what are our actions and orders
as leaders in this country?"
The Pentagon's deck of cards: Asked
how the Pentagon decided to put its most-wanted
Iraqis on a set of playing cards, Franks
explained its genesis. He recalled that
when his staff identified the most notorious
Iraqis the U.S. wanted to capture, "it
just turned out that the number happened
to be about the same as a deck of cards.
And so somebody said, 'Aha, this will be
the ace of spades.'"
Capturing Saddam: Franks said he
was not surprised that Saddam has not been
captured or killed. But he says he will
eventually be found, perhaps sooner than
Osama bin laden.
"The capture or killing of Saddam Hussein
will be a near term thing. And I wonÕt say
that'll be within 19 or 43 days. ... I believe
it is inevitable."
Franks ended his interview with a less-than-optimistic
note. "It's not in the history of civilization
for peace ever to reign. Never has in the
history of man. ... I doubt that we'll ever
have a time when the world will actually
be at peace."
http://www.newsfrombabylon.com/article.php?sid=3470
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Observaciones:
• ¿Podemos decir que Franks se acercó
a la fecha de entrega de Sadam Husein? Él
dijo 19 o 43 días, y la entrevista se realizó...
el 11 de septiembre de 2003. Así pues,
fueron más bien 80 días.
• Franks dijo: "La paz nunca ha reinado
en toda la historia de la Civilización.
Nunca en la historia de la Humanidad... Dudo que
llegue el día en el que el mundo pueda
vivir en paz." |
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| Tommy Franks en la portada de
Cigar Aficionado. |
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AP Photo
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| Dick Cheney |
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NOTICIA RELACIONADA:
¿Preparando la Tercera
Guerra Mundial?
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