Fun with WMDs

To-day is a big day for Weapons of Mass Destruction, or rather to-morrow shall be. On 16 June 1945 at 05:29 Mountain Time the first nuclear bomb was set off near Alamagordo, New Mexico. This will be the sixtieth anniversary of the moment when, according to the old metaphor, man released the nuclear genie from the bottle.
True to recent form, world events remind us of this momentous day by bringing nuclear arms back into focus as a chief threat to man. I have two nuclear matters this post, one regarding a nuclear threat and the other a very unusual response and perhaps an explanation as to why teh BusHitlar McChimpy Halliburton emphasised the danger of Saddam's WMD capability during the run-up to the Iraq war.
One good reason for reading alternative news-sources is that it points out articles that would normally be buried or not even covered, even if they do represent a matter of the most extreme importance. Through places like Above Top Secret and Whitley Strieber's Unknown Country, I've come across an article in the London Financial Times. This article quotes a top Chinese General on a number of prescient defence matters. The most shocking quote in the lot concerns US intervention on behalf of Taiwan in case of Chinese invasion. Of this, he said that “If the Americans draw their missiles and position-guided ammunition on to the target zone on China's territory, I think we will have to respond with nuclear weapons.” The term "Chinese Territory" applies to Chinese shipping and military hardware as well as the mainland. He threatens not only tactical action against US and Taiwanese forces on Taiwan, he also made reference to strategic nuclear strikes against the United States.
Of course, General Zhu is a hawk. Perhaps his is not the mainstream view, but it seems to me that the more hawkish stance China is taking will worsen as the years go by. China seeks to prove itself a superpower by taking back the "rebellious province." If they're foiled, then they will lose the initiative and will be reduced to a laughing stock. The US will remain the superpower at China's expense. Conversely, if China succeeds in taking Taiwan, it will be poised for further expansion and will have the fear and respect of other nations. It's entirely possible that a future Chinese administration might use the nuclear card. If they don't use their deterrent, than it's worthless. The sad truth about nuclear weapons is that when one has to make the decision on whether to use them, it is already too late. Launch, and you have a nuclear war. Don't launch, and you lose not only the war but your deterrence capability.
Go read the article here.
The other interesting item is that I learned from the United States has been in a declared "State of Emergency" since 14 November, 1994. This is news to me, as I have yet to be rounded up for my obstinate opinions. I checked the matter out myself. According to ATS (which can be less-than-reliable at times, seeing that it is a conspiracy site), the declaration of national emergency comes in Executive Order 12938.
Naturally, I headed over to the handy web-site of the Federal Register to take a look at the order in question. Certainly enough, when I opened the order, the following phrase was plainly visible:
"By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), the Arms Export Control Act, as amended (22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.), Executive Orders Nos. 12851 and 12924, and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United States of America, find that the proliferation of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons ("weapons of mass destruction") and of the means of delivering such weapons, constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States, and hereby declare a national emergency to deal with that threat."
He then goes on to enumerate special powers to deal with this emergency. Most of these deal with negotiation powers in regards to the subject of WMD proliferation. In addition, sanctions for nations that engage in WMD proliferation are spelled out. However, the fact stands that this order was never rescinded. We live in a "state of national emergency" at the moment. One wonders how many other executive orders declare a "state of national emergency" for another topic and spell out special powers for officials. The early-nineties "war on drugs" comes into mind. Don't believe me, read it yourself.
Regardless, this demonstrates that even with publicly available documents such as this Executive Order, one is still left in the dark by the government. Interestingly, the Executive Order pursuant to National Emergencies is currently EO 12656. It replaced the draconian EO 11490 that authorised total nationalisation of every aspect of life. The current EO still calls for government-determined action, but does not demand centralised decision-making of every sort. It's noticeable that 12656 was signed by Reagan, while the more authoritarian 11490 and the even older (and often cited on militia websites) orders 10990-11005 signed by Nixon and Kennedy respectively. God bless the Gipper.
We must be cautious not to let our public officials turn every situation into an emergency. As they know, their power is limited by the constitution. It can only be suspended (without riots) in an emergency. The key to power than is convincing the public that there is an emergency where there truly is none. The recent obesity "epidemic" is proof of this- the diet nazis can only pass theiludicrousus programme if people stop thinking and react to emotional stimuli only.
Now it's time to adjust the tin-foil beanie...