"My Views" by Col. Charles F. Hurlbut

Col. Charles F. Hurlbut (photo), a retired U.S. Army Security Agency Provost Marshal, expresses his views concerning an ABC News Report of May 1, 2001, that has recently resurfaced. The Report said that documents, hidden for more than 40 years, exist which provide evidence that, in the early 1960s, America's top military leaders reportedly drafted plans to kill innocent people and commit acts of terrorism in U.S. cities to create public support for a war against Cuba. Code named Operation Northwoods, the plans reportedly included the possible assassination of Cuban émigrés, sinking boats of Cuban refugees on the high seas, hijacking planes, blowing up a U.S. ship, and even orchestrating violent terrorism in U.S. cities. America's top military brass even contemplated causing U.S. Military casualties, writing: "We could blow up a U.S. ship in Guantanamo Bay and blame Cuba," and, "casualty lists in U.S. newspapers would cause a helpful wave of national indignation.” The Joint Chiefs even proposed using the potential death of astronaut John Glenn during the first attempt to put an American into orbit as a false pretext for war with Cuba, the documents show. Conspiracy theorists are now relentlessly constructing a picture of a historical pattern of the sacrifice of our own people, orchestrated by the United States, to rally the American people to fight wars, citing the Maine, Lusitania, Pearl Harbor, Gulf of Tonkin, and 9-11. Because many of those making film documentaries about these events happen to be Liberals, some Conservative groups, believing that this is an attempt to discredit the current administration have labeled this as a Liberal Conspiracy. Most of us make the mistake of thinking that all our military leaders are paragons of virtue and equivocate their rank with the man, fallaciously assuming that they're all better men than most. It's not always easy to step outside the parameters of preconceived notions; particularly when inculcated with respect for authority. Col. Hurlbut’s very insightful and informative commentary, which follows, should be read and digested because it is both untainted by emotionalism, and free of prejudicial opinions.
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PRINCE GEORGE, VA, Col. Charles F. Hurlbut: "I don't see it as a Liberal conspiracy at all. If the documents in fact exist, they speak for themselves and all the efforts to refute them, or besmirch those who uncovered them, are meaningless. I spent a career in the Army, enjoyed it immensely and would do it again, but I, and most of those I knew, thought our mission was to deter war and, if unable to do so, defeat any adversary who would wage war against us: not provoke one.

Unfortunately, as our Vietnam experience demonstrated (false bombing reports, embezzlement by senior officers and NCOs, war crime cover-ups, etc., etc.) there are people in our military, probably always have been, of questionable moral character and judgment. But then why should the military be that much different than any other major institution in our society? However; I will say with complete confidence, and conviction, that the percentage of “bad apples” (people of low moral character) in our military is much lower than that of any other institution, including the judiciary. I believe it's both dangerous and naive to think that just because a man wears the uniform and has ascended to lofty rank that he's somehow a model of moral righteousness. Because of the enormous power that high ranking military people have, it's imperative that they be watched closely, and that’s one of the critical roles of Congress.

I don't believe the sinking of the Lusitania, the bombing of Pearl Harbor or the attack on 9-11, and the roles those incidents played in the conflicts with which they are associated, have ever been in serious dispute. The same; however, cannot be said for the sinking of the Maine or the Gulf of Tonkin Incident. Historical analysis seems to suggest that both were trumped up. It's bad enough when young lives are lost and bodies irrevocably shattered in just wars, but it’s unforgivable for them to be lost in conflicts that never should have occurred.

It's unfortunate that contemporary political discourse is so short on reason, civility and subtlety and dominated by crudeness and name calling. We desperately need, if we are to remain a healthy democracy, a well reasoned Conservative vs. Liberal debate on the important issues of the day; but that's not what we’re getting. Those on the right have sullied the name of conservatism by being ideologues and not true Conservatives. After all, I always thought that a basic tenet of conservatism was a limited role for
government and that government should stay out of our personal lives, but the current political right wants to use government to impose its agenda on everyone else. Quite frankly, I'm not sure what Liberals stand for these days; for they haven't publicly articulated their political philosophies for so long I don't know what they believe in. We need to begin solving our problems and challenges by doing what makes sense, and what the American people support, and not look at every issue through the prism of partisan politics."