Whitefield, General, USAF, Commander, Space Command.

Withers, John, Aide to President Thornton

Wrangell, Ed, Supervisory Special Agent, FBI Task Force in Los Angeles

JESUS GONZALEZ’S TEAM LEADERS

Fiero

Felipe

Gordo

Ramon

Francisco

Luis-secretary, aide-de-camp to Gonzalez

Chapter 1

“WALLED TOWNS, STORED ARSENALS AND ARMORIES, GOODLY RACES OF HORSE, CHARIOTS OF WAR, ELEPHANTS, ORDNANCE, ARTILLERY, AND THE LIKE; ALL THIS IS BUT A SHEEP IN A LION’S SKIN, EXCEPT THE BREED AND DISPOSITION OF THE PEOPLE BE STOUT AND WARLIKE. NAY, NUMBER ITSELF IN ARMIES IMPORTETH NOT MUCH, WHERE THE PEOPLE IS OF WEAK COURAGE; FOR AS VIRGIL SAITH:

‘IT NEVER TROUBLES A WOLF HOW

MANY THE SHEEP BE.’”

SIR FRANCIS BACON

“AN ELITE WITH LITTLE LOYALTY TO THE STATE AND A MASS SOCIETY FOND OF GLADIATOR ENTERTAINMENTS FORM A SOCIETY IN WHICH CORPORATE LEVIATHANS RULE AND DEMOCRACY IS HOLLOW.”

Robert D. Kaplan

The Coming Anarchy

"Since you were retired for disagreeing with the President over the Panama Canal situation, General, perhaps you can speak freely here. Enlighten us with your opinion as to what has happened, beginning with some background material and observations.”

“Certainly, Senator. First, I wish to thank you and your committee for inviting me here. I will be glad to express my opinion, which caused my relief in the first place.” The General thought wryly to himself, You old bastard, you just want to make political hay at the expense of your political opponent when you run for President.

In his early fifties, looking young for his age and bluntly outspoken, Ronald Craig, the retired Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff sat ramrod straight before the Senate Armed Services Committee. A former field artillery officer, he served in the First Gulf War as a battery commander, a battalion commander in the post Second Gulf War with Iraq, liaison officer to the Indian Field Artillery School, Field Artillery Regimental Commander and Assistant Division Commander for Maneuver as a Brigadier and the Commander with the 101st Division, he was much more of a field soldier than a politician. The third and fourth stars had come quickly. They came, however, partly as a result of lack of capable competition. The army had grown small, very small. He was the Chief of Staff, Army for only a year when he was selected to be Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. He had worn the fourth star a little less than two years. He was wearing a civilian suit, white shirt and tie rather than his uniform.

The General cleared his throat and began, “After the end of the Cold War, the United States committed its usual strategic error. Politicians decided how much the government wanted to invest in defense and planned from there. The United States had done this after every conflict since the Civil War. We allow our defenses to erode, ignore our position in the world, engage in self-denial and self-delusion, for which we pay a terrible price in the form of the next war. The United States has never practiced the much saner strategy of defining our strategic interests, then defining what is necessary to protect them, investing adequately and simultaneously in research and development of future weapons systems, procurement of those systems, training and manning the force. The price of this failure is always paid in the next war. As the Commanding General of British Army Forces in World War II said, ‘Preparation for the preservation of our freedom must come in peacetime, and we must pay for it in money and inconvenience. The alternative is blood and extinction.’

“The first Gulf War seemed to confirm the usual approach, as it has been practiced by every administration and congress since. With the initial phenomenal success of the so-called Second Gulf War with Iraq in 2003, the concept of the classical principles of war, indicated by the acronym MOSS COMES, standing for Mass, Objective, Surprise, Security, Command, Offense, Maneuver, Economy of Force, and Simplicity, were no longer considered valid. They were considered as holdovers from Napoleonic wars, and their demise seemed entirely vindicated. The concept of war, the information war, the digital war, was validated by all the current military theorists. Very small forces, precision strikes with precision weapons within minutes of target acquisition from a variety of platforms worked wonders on a second-rate military power that utterly lacked similar information capabilities. No politician saw any massed challenge on the horizon. What little discussion of a massed threat existed only at levels lower than battalion leadership which was ignored by senior officers and squashed by politicians that did not want to offend the People’s Republic of China. Leaders of the New China lobby in the 1980s and 1990s, led by a former Secretary of State, did their work well.”

Obviously irritated, the senator snapped upright and leaned into the microphone. “Would you care to explain that comment about the New China Lobby, General?”

“Certainly, Senator. After the Cold War, American business regarded China as the ultimate market. To satisfy the employment needs of their tremendous population, China adopted the policy that if you wish to sell it here, you must manufacture it here. Consequently, American manufacturers took their expertise, techniques in manufacturing and management to China. China learned quickly, adapting new methods, technology, and efficiencies. They were less concerned about the environment, labor unions and labor organization and other aspects than they were about forging ahead into the 21st century as at least the leader in Asia, if not the world. The New China Lobby helped them in their initial endeavors by acting as an intermediary. They quickly and efficiently acquired the manufacturing and management capabilities, so they grew exponentially. Once they started, there was no reasonable way of stopping them. They were willing to pay whatever price was required to establish dominance in Asia and over the entire Pacific littoral. They surpassed both the US and Western Europe in total number of vehicles owned and operated in this decade; small, but efficient and of modern design. Their trade with us established such an overwhelming deficit with the United States that we could not possibly even hope to dig our way out. Their profits went into their military machine, unrecognized by the west.”

“General, you are a recognized authority in military matters. That is why you are here. You are not recognized as an expert in politics or business. Please confine your remarks to the military situation.”

Smiling at so easily invoking the ire of the Chairman, the General responded with a wry smile, “Politics and military affairs are inseparable, Mr. Chairman. Political, economic and military capital, or power, cannot be strategically separated. The immortal Clauswitz addressed that with his classic remark that ‘war is politics by other means.’ Soldiers don’t make policy, we don’t declare war, we go where we are told and do what is expected of us to the best of our ability with tools that you have provided us. Our resources, our weapons systems, our personnel, our training, our state of readiness, our morale, and our overall wellbeing are all controlled by you politicians. Our job is to provide the muscle for the decisions you politicians make governing our relationships with the rest of the world.”

Two years earlier, a similar confrontation had occurred between a Chinese Colonel General, the equivalent of the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, the People’s Liberation Army Navy, or PLAN, and the Security Council of the National People’s Congress.

Chang, Mao Lin was Chief of Staff, People’s Liberation Army Navy. He attended a military academy during his teen years, sort of a combined high school and junior college together. He demonstrated a propensity for foreign languages and mastered English, French and Spanish with ease. Upon graduation, he served briefly as a junior officer in the People’s Army. His talent was recognized, and he was offered the chance to study abroad. He jumped at the chance. He was accepted at Oxford University where he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree reading western history. An exceptionally brilliant man, he was allowed to continue pursuit of higher education in the west. He received a Master of Arts from Harvard University in western civilization. His doctorate came from the University of California at Berkeley, in political science.

While at Berkeley, he came to consider pacifist California with its economic woes as typical of most of the entire United States. Since he was immersed in both of them, he recognized the significant differences between the east coast philosophy and the west coast philosophy and regarded those differences as both amusing and quite disruptive. Of the two, he believed the country would not be able to philosophically re-unite, possibly even splitting apart. He looked at the United States and wondered about its Balkanization. He believed that, ultimately, the California influence would win out, if they ever did reach a confluence. “After all, California has been the cutting edge of American culture for decades,” he used to say with a smile.

While in America, he acquired a taste for many things American. He especially enjoyed dating Chinese American women, most of whom found him exceptionally charming as well as brilliant and rather good looking. He also liked American fast foods and had to watch his diet in order not to gain too much weight. He continued practicing Shaolin Do karate several nights a week just to maintain his skills and keep his weight down. At five feet ten inches tall, he was slightly taller than the average man from North China. He acquired a taste for scotch whiskey. He was always very careful not to become intoxicated except when he was alone in his apartment. He never consumed alcohol in the company of others. He made many American friends, both male and female. Many of his fellow students were slightly envious of his brilliance and impeccable charm. Inwardly, he held what he called both the California and the New York subcultures in contempt. He wondered if there was anything other than money that kept America united.

“Comrade General Chang, why do you think this enormous endeavor could possibly be successful? It is overwhelming in scale, it is tremendously complicated, it risks destroying the very ultimate things that we seek, which are markets for our goods, food for our people, health and prosperity. How will America respond to this? What guarantees do you offer of success? What will be the end point of such a tremendous undertaking? Aren’t we destroying or risking the destruction of the very things we covet? Anything of this magnitude is doomed to failure. This is an insane plan.”

“Comrade Commissar, I would point out to you that seventy-five years ago, a small island nation of less than one hundred million accomplished this much in less than fifteen years. They only failed because they overextended themselves in attacking the Americans. They failed to stop and consolidate what they had gained. They went as far west as the Indian State of Assam, and as far south as New Guinea, taking the entire Malayan peninsula. They seized what was then called Manchuria in 1931. They slaughtered our people by the millions. Had they not awakened the sleeping giant that was America, they would be our masters now. Mongols on horseback in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries invaded and conquered China in 1220, then went as far west as Baghdad, where they slaughtered millions of Iraqis. They went through Russia and placed the so-called Mongol yoke upon them. Recall that Timur the Lame stood children against a wagon wheel. If their heads were higher than the axle, they were decapitated. He built caravansaries of their skulls that still stand today in the Central Asian Republics.”

“What, General, makes you think that this won’t awaken that sleeping giant once again to unleash its wrath on us? Bear in mind that they still have a considerable nuclear force and rocketry to deliver it? This is insanity.”

“The America of today is not the America of seventy-five years ago. The American man on the street does not comprehend realpolitik. The American government has historically been dishonest with its people. Administration after administration has adequately failed to explain the fundamentals of their foreign policy. Their foreign policy changes with every change in the administration. Indeed, they deliberately shield the facts from the people for political gain. While the politicians profess democracy and freedom, particularly in the Middle East, they have supported repressive regimes. Their hypocrisy is overwhelming and is not lost on the rest of the world, but not appreciated by the American public. They hope to control events without explaining the forces that create such events. Academics, journalists and comedians across America are left to espouse their views on foreign policy to fill that void. Fortunately, much of academia is very anti-war, social welfare and liberally oriented. They, academia, in conjunction and supported by socialistic elitists and especially by the media moguls and Hollywood, are a reflection of the perspective of the British politicians between 1918 and 1935. In that period, they disarmed, refused to establish their leadership role in the world, engaged in self-delusion and dreams of economic prosperity. America has done much the same since the end of what they call the ‘Cold War.’”

“Please elaborate, Comrade General.”

“Basically, the American man on the street, particularly the well-to-do, the middle of the middle class and the upper middle classes, see their primary issues as domestic ones, of economic and social improvements in their society. With occasional blips, American politicians in both major parties have been moving towards a socialist society. Government provided services have dramatically increased since the 1960s. In that time frame, increased social welfare was a means of buying off the support of the American people for an unpopular war in Vietnam. It did not work, but the American lower class certainly liked the carrot of welfare. Their politicians found they could buy votes by promising to feed the masses at the public trough. Now, they even provide school clothes for the lower classes, along with free medical care, housing, food in the form of redeemable coupons called food stamps, and unlimited health care for the elderly. Many of these things our government provides, but the Americans do it while accumulating individual wealth. Consequently, they have difficulty in paying for all of these programs. What they do is simply print more paper money, backed by nothing more than the world’s faith in it. Their economic system of a floating currency with constant inflation at varying rates will be their downfall. They are a tremendous debtor nation. The day is not far off when they will not be able to pay their debts, their bonds and loans. All they can do is print more paper money.

“Another factor in our favor is that America’s population is skewed towards middle age and the elderly. They cannot maintain adequate military forces through volunteers and refuse to reinstate conscription. Indeed, of the Anglo-Americans, they are seriously obese and not physically very strenuous or athletically inclined anyway. The Europeans call America ‘the land of the pigs’ behind their backs because so many of their young and middle-aged middle class are so fat. Conscription would be political suicide for any of their politicians. They would never be re-elected. This is why so many of their soldiers are foreign born. Their politicians do not explain any of this to the American people. Rather, they continue to increase their national debt. Now, that has come to haunt them, really overwhelm them. Their politicians reduce defense expenditures to buy votes by providing more and more welfare services. The very rich get richer, the middle class is terribly squeezed economically, and the lower class grows by leaps and bounds.

“What they call the baby boomers are now retired and expecting many social services. This places a tremendous drain on their economy. Out of a nation of three hundred million people, an estimated forty million are aged sixty-five are older. That is closing on fifteen percent of their population. They expect full health care at government expense through their MEDICARE and MEDICAID programs. This is not only for the treatment of acute diseases, but chronic diseases and long term institutionalized geriatric care, what they call ‘assisted living.’ Their families warehouse them at government expense. This number will double by the year 2042, if not sooner. We, on the other hand, have made the difficult choice to limit medical care provided to the elderly and those in the advanced stages of AIDS. We simply cannot afford to squander medical resources on those who no longer contribute to our society.

“These elitists and academics believe all that is necessary for defense is information technology and management, allowing them to control weapons from afar, especially via satellites. This is an outgrowth of what their political scientists and some military chiefs call their Revolution in Military Affairs. They see little need for large land forces and only marginal requirements for naval forces. Incredibly, they somehow believe that you should be able to wage war without bloodshed. Of course, this is nonsense, but you will recognize the fact that they have forced the Department of Defense to squander precious resources on the research and development of non-lethal weapons. Unbelievably, they have appointed their most efficient and aggressive organization, the United States Marine Corps, as the lead agency in research and development of non-lethal weapons. The elitists think war is a game. The Marine Corps does more than twenty-five percent of their defense mission, such as it is, on ten percent of their Department of Defense budget. Not only are they unwilling to accept their own casualties, but they believe you should not harm any of the enemy either.

“Many of these elitists are not nationalists but consider themselves as internationalists. They do not profess any significant loyalty to the United States. They claim, rather, that the entire world should be considered as one nation. The environmentalists are also very supportive of this point of view, and the two groups, the environmentalists and the advocates of a New World Order, are very overlapping, with most of each group belonging to the other. Hollywood is a tremendous psychological factor in this respect. Most of the prominent American movie stars belong to this movement and have provided us with a tremendous psychological edge over their fans, especially people between the ages of ten and forty. They have been taught by Hollywood that they, the elitists, are too good to serve in their armed forces. Their attitude is the same as expressed in the days of their Vietnam conflict. Let some other mothers’ sons serve. Not my son! They have no patriotism. Very few members of the American Congress have ever served in their armed forces. They have no personal experience to draw upon. Only for their Air Force do they see significant requirements. At one time, politicians wearing the US Air Force blue uniform had so brainwashed some of their congressmen, that those congressmen actually thought the US did not need a navy or land force. They thought only air power was necessary and could accomplish all missions. Again, this is what the British thought in 1918. The military revolution at that time consisted of the tank, the airplane, and field radio. Britain thought they could control ground forces from the air. Americans should have learned otherwise from Vietnam. They did not. They repeated this again in the Balkans. Of course, after the Balkans affair of the 1990s, that view was somewhat modified. Even now, they define air power essentially as the Space Command with the United States Air Force.

“We owe a great deal to the United States Air Force. For the last decade, they have convinced their American Congress of the superiority of their needs and assets over the other branches of the armed forces. With the budget constraints imposed upon them, the micromanagement by Congress, the attitude of the politicians to ‘protect the defense jobs in my district,’ whether or not they are necessary for defense, is practiced by virtually all members of the American Congress. The Air Force, and to a lesser extent the Navy, have the high value technological weapons systems that result in high paying jobs in their design and building. Deploying them is something else. The Americans, however, have reduced their military manpower as one means of funding these expensive weapons. Technology is worthless without people who have the knowledge and skills to use it. They do not retain their skilled people in the military due to micromanagement by careerist superiors, overburdening workloads, that is, do more with fewer resources, extended overseas assignments and lower compensation than the civilian markets.

“The less technical forces, the Army, the US Marine Corps, and the U.S. Coast Guard, are woefully unprepared to interfere with our plans. By purchasing very expensive highly technical weapons, especially planes and satellites, they can buy fewer of them. When these high value weapons systems are attrited, they have nothing left. The Americans today believe that mass is no longer a principle of war. Ironically, some Congressmen might look at our endeavors with a concealed glee.”