Y2K - CLINTON'S MARTIAL LAW POWERS

greenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) : One Thread

For those who missed it on the 'Historical Precedents For Martial Law' thread... You'll find THIS WILL SCARE YOU - CLINTON CAN DECLARE MARTIAL LAW ANYTIME HE WANTS WITH HIS EXISTING POWERS



-- John Whitley (jwhitlety@inforamp.net), November 08, 1999

Answers

Why does this scare you?. Any president can do this.

-- hamster (hamster@mycage.com), November 08, 1999.

I didn't say it would scare ME.

I said it would scare YOU.

I was wrong.

You can quote me on that :).

-- John Whitley (jwhitley@inforamp.net), November 08, 1999.


Hamster,

ROTFLMAO. haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

-- (GunieaPig@mypalace.com), November 08, 1999.


Once again...widely reported in September...ONE Day...ONE dealer in Mid West...did 9 MILLION rounds .223.

Interesting to see how this plays out...Just observing the state of society at this time.



-- Z (Z@Z.Z), November 08, 1999.


Well boys, it scares me poopless. That is an ungodly amount of power for any man. Makes me want to hide the cigars....

-- Scaredpoopless (ejjone@flashnet.com), November 08, 1999.


A bunch of somebodies will be shooting at a bunch of somethings next year, A LOT! If it is just a bump in the road, open a shooting range next year.

-- Duck 4 Cover (leadmosquitos@me.head), November 08, 1999.

Remember back in the Spring a news piece ran in all the doomer media (newsmax, worldnetdaily,drudge,etc..) about some company getting a huge order for Purple Heart's. Rumours started flying that it was because the government KNEW there would be huge casualties from the Kosovo conflict. Some "connected" people started jawin' about how they heard how bad it was going to be and people were screaming that Clinton was going to allow our sons and daughters to die for his "wag the dog" war.

Well, nothing happened. Turned out the order for Purple Hearts was just standard, but we did have some fun with it for awile, didnt we?.

I see the news about the 9 million rounds and put it in the same circular file I put other news items like it.

-- hamster (hamster@mycage.com), November 08, 1999.


Really? The facts, as reported, indicated otherwise at the time...

The NATIONAL POST [Toronto]

Saturday, May 29, 1999

Military medal order hints U.S. preparing for Kosovo invasion 200,000 copies

Steven Edwards National Post

UNITED NATIONS - The United States government has placed an order to make 200,000 copies of a medal destined primarily for the Balkans -- the exact number that would be required to present every member of an invasion force of Kosovo with one, the National Post has learned.

The government has also ordered 9,000 copies of the Purple Heart, a medal given to anyone serving under the authority of the U.S. military who is killed or wounded.

While U.S. officials are saying that new Purple Hearts would have been ordered even in the absence of the Kosovo conflict, the same does not appear to be the case for the Armed Forces Expeditionary medal, which the Pentagon says is awarded to mark participation in operations that encounter foreign armed resistance.

Though the bulk of Operation Allied Force -- the name given to NATO's air campaign against Yugoslavia -- is made up of American personnel, the total number of the men and women involved is only 33,600.

Consequently, just a few tens of thousands of copies of the expeditionary medal would be required to decorate the Americans involved.

However, at least 200,000 copies would have to be on hand if a ground invasion of Kosovo were to be launched. That's because military experts have estimated that a force of 200,000 troops is necessary to successfully expel Serb forces from the province and create a safe environment for some 750,000 Kosovar-Albanian refugees to return to their homes.

The paradox is that Bill Clinton, U.S. president, has consistently opposed any call to launch a ground invasion. So the question being asked is: Why are so many medals on order?

"It seems very suspicious," said a source with knowledge of the order. "There is a rather large contract for 200,000 medals marked Armed Forces Expeditionary. People who are over in Kosovo would be eligible for this medal."

Contracts for both the expeditionary medal and the Purple Hearts have been signed with Graco Industries, a leading manufacturer of medals and service ribbons that is based in Tomball, Texas.

Lee Graves, owner of the company, refused to personally comment on the contracts, but confirmed through his secretary that the one for Purple Hearts exists and is for 9,000 copies. Each will be sold for $5.35 (US) to the U.S. government.

The source revealed that the expeditionary medal was ordered "some time ago" and that early copies are already being delivered. However, it was revealed recently that preliminary plans for a ground invasion of Kosovo also existed many months ago.

The tender for the Purple Hearts contract was issued April 15 -- just three weeks and a day after NATO began bombing Yugoslavia. Graco won the contract earlier this week. Delivery will begin in November and the contract will be fulfilled by April.

"The purchase (of the Purple Hearts) is not associated with the conflict in Kosovo," said Frank Johnson, a spokesman for the Defense Supply Center in Philadelphia, which outfits the entire U.S. military with food, clothing and industrial supplies. "We had only 6,700 left, so we needed to buy more to maintain an adequate supply.

Mr. Johnson said he was "unaware" of any medal having been ordered specifically to present to troops involved in the Kosovo conflict.

[AND]

Revealed: The Secret Plan To Invade Kosovo

Nato ready to go in as Milosevic withdrew

Patrick Wintour and Peter Beaumont Sunday July 18, 1999 The Observer

The dramatic surrender by Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic last month came only three days after Britain and the US finalised plans for a massive ground invasion of Kosovo - code-named B-Minus - to be launched in the first week of September.

Britain had agreed to contribute the largest contingent of 50,000 troops to the 170,000-strong force - 'almost the entire British Army'.

The details of the operation were revealed to The Observer during a month-long investigation. The invasion was intended to last six weeks, ending before the first snows of the winter. In a series of on-the-record interviews with The Observer, senior British military figures revealed that Britain had offered the Nato Supreme Allied Commander, General Wesley Clark, 50,000 soldiers to form the core of the invasion force.

General Sir Charles Guthrie, Chief of the Defence Staff, says it would have caused Britain 'great difficulty' to contribute such a large force, but it is 'a great credit' to Britain that it had been in a position to do so.

Guthrie admits that leaving a formal Nato decision on ground troops as late as July was making it 'jolly tight'. Guthrie's deputy, Air Marshal Sir John Day, says Nato was 'within days' of making a formal decision on ground forces and expresses confidence Nato allies would have agreed.

He discloses the build-up of Nato forces around Kosovo's borders, announced on 25 May, was a 'a subtle way' of both moving to a full invasion force and cutting the time needed between a formal decision and the arrival of troops.

Day and Nato sources believe Milosevic had become aware President Bill Clinton was ready to commit ground forces when he capitulated. Other Nato sources believe Milosevic was informed of US thinking, adding that 'two or three incidents' during the war suggest vital intelligence was passing to Belgrade.

Guthrie told allies the Serb army was 'militarily overrated' and describes them as 'bully boys good at killing women, children and old people'.

Admiral Sir Ian Garnett, Director of Joint Operations, said the initial border defences would have been 'a tough nut to crack', but once inside Kosovo with flatter ground the Serbs 'would have stood little chance'. He added it would have been vital to invade before winter because tanks and soldiers would not have been able to manoeuvre 'wading through snow'.

It is also revealed for the first time that Clark fought an intensive battle with senior figures in the US administration, especially Defence Secretary William Cohen, to win approval for the ground force.

Clark appointed a secret planning team at Nato headquarters in Mons, Belgium, nicknamed the 'Jedi Knights' to prepare options for the ground force. He finally received US approval to send a heavy engineering brigade to build the key supply routes through Albania to the Kosovo border, the precondition for a land invasion.

The Jedi Knights relied heavily on British plans for a ground invasion which the MoD began drawing up from 12 June 1998. The MoD prepared six different plans of attack, including an option for the full invasion of Serbia itself.

Asked if Britain lobbied for a ground force invasion of Kosovo, Guthrie concedes: 'We were more forward in our thinking and planning than a lot of people were.'

With Downing Street's approval, Clark was given access to details of the private phone conversations between Tony Blair and Clinton to ensure he had a full understanding of the thinking of two of the most pivotal figures in the alliance.

Day also reveals that senior continental politicians, especially the Italians, privately assured Downing Street that their calls for bombing pauses were for domestic consumption and did not represent their true private views.

Clare Short, the International Development Secretary, also discloses her personal fear that she might have to leave the Government if there was a fudge forced on Britain by pressure from Nato allies.

Private papers sent to Blair at the time of the Washington summit of Nato in April (where ground troop planning was reactivated) also show, however, that General Sir Michael Jackson, British commander of the proposed Nato peacekeeping force, K-For, was in despair over the lack of direction from Nato.

Guthrie also issued a call to Britain's European partners to rethink their defence strategy. He said one of the lessons of Kosovo was that 'unless Europe does more, the Americans are going to do less.' He added: 'We could put 50,000 into the field and I do not know of another European nation that could do that, even though some of them have much bigger forces than we do.'

He claims: 'The British had a lot of influence because of the way we approached it. We had a Prime Minister, Defence Secretary, and I hope a Chief of Defence Staff, that knew what they wanted.'

[ENDS]

Was someone here just saying that these were unwarranted 'rumours'...?

-- John Whitley (jwhitley@inforamp.net), November 08, 1999.


The purple hearts is what we are talking about, the expeditionary medal thing to this day remains a mystery. Even the purple hearts arent going to be fully delivered until Spring of 2000. The expeditionary order, IF TRUE, wouldnt be completed for years. I do recall other news items that came out later about this but I have no way to go back and find them.

We all knew that the military was growing weary of Milosovic and we might have ended up with a ground invasion, but the medal order was played up just like I said.

-- hamster (hamster@mycage.com), November 08, 1999.


hmmm time to buy more rifled slugs and buckshot

-- zoobie (zoobiezoob@yahoo.com), November 09, 1999.


Moderation questions? read the FAQ