A Broader Military Role

In our private lives, or so it appears to be leading toward. During the Katrina disaster it became pretty obvious what was the only effective government agency on the ground. Here's what Bush called for in yesterday's speech:

It is now clear that a challenge on this scale requires greater federal authority and a broader role for the armed forces -- the institution of our government most capable of massive logistical operations on a moment's notice.

It's been coming for awhile, ever since Sept. 11. A while back I read this article in Parameters that is a fictional account of the military becoming more involved in non-military duties, with the consent of the people, finally taking complete charge of the government. Isn't this what happened to Rome?

I am calling my paper the "Origins of the American Military Coup of 2012." I think it's important to get the truth recorded before they rewrite history. If we're ever going to get our freedom back, we've got to understand how we got into this mess. People need to understand that the armed forces exist to support and defend government, not to be the government. Faced with intractable national problems on one hand, and an energetic and capable military on the other, it can be all too seductive to start viewing the military as a cost-effective solution. We made a terrible mistake when we allowed the armed forces to be diverted from their original purpose.

I've also written some fiction on a future military coup, called New Empires. You can read them here.