SUCCESS IN WAR AND HOMELAND SECURITY BY KENNETH SCOT STREMSKY I am running for President of the United States of America in 2004 as a Republican. The topics discussed in this letter come from The Art of War by Sun Tzu translated by General Samuel B. Griffith. I also highly recommend that people read The Second Revised edition of Strategy by B.H. Liddell Hart. The book discuss military history and Grand Strategy. Rommel and Patton thought highly of B.H. Liddell Hart. SUCCESS IN WAR DEPENDS SIGNIFICANTLY ON PERCEPTION Perception involves seeing your strengths and weaknesses, seeing your enemies strengths and weaknesses, and knowing how to take advantage of them. Perception also includes the ability to see through your opponents deceptions. DECEPTION Deception involves making your opponents see what you want them to see. I enjoy doing this. I have been able to bring a lot of people to my website because of my willingness to allow people to think I am a fool. I realize people are more likely to read People magazine when the cover discusses something negative about a celebrity than when the cover says something positive about a celebrity. I am not significant. My ideas are significant. I am trying to help people see through the deceptions that many candidates and elected officials use. People often say they support one thing when in reality they support the opposite. Every topic on my website may be a work in progress and as time passes I may add more information to many topics. The more defined I am the more I am able to define myself in the future. People should not jump to conclusions on limited information when my policies and political philosophies are discussed. You should not judge a book by its cover. You should judge a book by what the book says between its covers. If you can not laugh at yourself, you should not run for President of the United States of America. If you have a problem with people laughing at you when you do not want them to laugh at you, you should not run for President of the United States of America. Since I was a student at Charlotte Avenue Grade School, I have not cared what strangers have thought of me. I do care about what my family and friends think of me. I do not care much about what my family and friends think of me. PREPARATION Preparation involves being prepared for likely scenarios and unlikely scenarios. Preparation of soldiers and society for War at any time is important if a country wants to stay in existence for a long period of time. Preparation of candidates and elected officials is very important. Most candidates and elected officials are not well prepared. An important part of preparation is education. I realized as a young child that if I wanted to make the World a better place that my education will always be dependent upon me, that I could never stop educating myself, and questioning my philosophies. PERSEVERANCE Perseverance is the ability to keep fighting when most people give up. Winston Churchill knew that if Britain persevered long enough things might go Britain's way. I have a great deal of perseverance. HOMELAND SECURITY AND NATIONAL SECURITY I e-mailed the following to Richard E. Berg-Andersson of The Green Papers on November 27, 2002. The website of The Green Papers is http://www.thegreenpapers.com. It is one of my favorite websites and several of my Vox Populis have been on the website. Dear Richard E. Berg-Andersson: I hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you will print the following response to your Commentary. I liked your commentary on the Department of Homeland Security very much. I am very glad you think we should have just one National Security Council and that the Secretary of Homeland Security should be part of the National Security Council. I want several National Guard Units to be part of the Department of Homeland Security. I would also like us to have at least one more Army Academy similar to West Point, at least one more Naval Academy similar to Annapolis, and at least one more Air Force Academy similar to Colorado Springs. I would like them to train cadets, many regular soldiers, many National Guard members, many ROTC members, and many joint special operations teams that include Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines personnel. I do realize the Marines are part of the Navy and that each branch has special operations personnel. The Department of Homeland Security should have a Homeland Security Intelligence Agency that will have former and current members of the FBI, CIA, INS, and NSA. The Homeland Security Intelligence Agency should also have former military intelligence personnel, current military intelligence personnel, former special operations military personnel from the Army, Navy, and Air Force as well as some current special operations military personnel from the Army, Navy, and Air Force. I hope that Congress will ask former Senator Gary Hart, former Senator Warren Rudman, retired Army Colonel David Hackworth who has the website http://www.hackworth.com and retired General H. Norman Schwarzkopf to advise Congress on improving Homeland Security and National Defense. Retired Army Colonel David Hackworth also has a Sunday column in which he discusses homeland security and national security. The Department of Homeland Security should include a National Police Force that will have at least 100,000 officers. The United States military should expand the size of its special forces. Congress should create a United States of America Foreign Legion similar to the French Foreign Legion. MILITARY TRAINERS DIVISION Congress should create a Military trainers division because the United States of America should benefit more from the vast experience of its Veterans in a family friendly way. The Military Trainers Division may increase the likelihood that our country will win future battles and decrease the probability that our soldiers will die in combat. I think many soldiers die in combat and in training exercises because they were not trained as well as they should have been. Members of the Military Trainers Division should be former members of the United States Military. Members of the Military Trainers Division should be able to work part-time or full-time. A member of the Military Trainers Division could work less than 10 hours a week. A member of the Military Trainers Division could work one day in one month and not work again for several months. Members of the Military Trainers Division could help train current soldiers, ROTC members, and junior ROTC members. Members of the Military Trainers Division should not have to serve in combat. Members of the Military Trainers Division should be allowed to serve in combat. Members of the Military Trainers Division should not have to train people outside of the United States of America. Members of the Military Trainers Division should be allowed to train people outside of the United States of America. Formers special forces personnel and former non special forces personnel should be asked to apply. Sincerely, Kenneth Scot Stremsky Republican candidate for President of the United States of America in 2004 http://www.geocities.com/kstremskyforpresident I e-mailed the following letter to newspapers in 2001. You may print the letter without my address and phone number if you want as part of the Response. · -- Ken Stremsky wrote: > > --- kenneth stremsky wrote: > > Letter to the Editor: > > > > The United States of America should have a > > Department of Homeland Security which should > > have a Secretary of Homeland Security. The > > Secretary of Homeland Security should be next > > in line to become President of the United States > > of America after the Secretary of Defense. > > > > The Coast Guard, the Customs Service, and the > > Border Patrol should be part of the Department > > of Homeland Security. An Air Guard similar to the > > Coast Guard should be part of the Department of > > Homeland Security. I read about the idea for the > > Air Guard in a letter to the editor in the > > September 17 Union Leader newspaper on page A11. > > > > Several National Guard units should become > > Homeland Security Guard units. > > > > Many FBI Agents, CIA agents, NSA agents, and > > INS agents should become Homeland Security Agents. > > > > Sky Marshalls should be part of the Department of > > Homeland Security. > > > > Pilots should be allowed to carry pocket knives > > and possibly handguns. > > > > Several movies which deal with war, spying, and > > terrorism are In The Company of Spies, Deterrence, > > Tora! Tora! Tora!, The Siege, Rules of Engagement, > > > Saving Private Ryan, Midway, and The Longest Day. > > I work for a video rental store chain. > > > > Two books by Tom Clancy that deal with war and > > terrorism are Debt of Honor and Executive Orders. > > I am reading a great book on military strategy > > which is the Second Revised Edition of Strategy > > by B.H. Liddell Hart. Rommel and Patton were > > fans of B.H. Liddell Hart. > > > > May God watch over our country. > > > > > > Sincerely, > > > > Kenneth Stremsky NATIONAL POLICE FORCE I e-mailed the following on November 29, 2002. Dear Richard E. Berg-Andersson: I hope you will print the following response to your response. Thanks for your great response. I think having the CIA part of the Department of State is a great idea. I think moving the FBI's Counterterrorism unit from the Department of Justice to the Department of Homeland Security makes a lot of sense for the reasons you mention. I do not believe that Amendment Ten of the United States Constitution keeps a National Police Force from being created. I do think Amendment Ten keeps state police forces and local police forces from being eliminated. The preamble of the United States Constitution says "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." The National Police Force would help the Department of Homeland Security "establish Justice, insure domstic tranquility, and provide for the common defense." The National Police Force would make it easier for the President of the United States of America to enforce the federal laws of our country passed by Congress that the United States Supreme Court does not rule unconstitutional. One of the executive powers that the President of the United States of America has is the power of enforcement of the country's federal laws. The President of the United States of America gets to decide which federal laws are enforced. The President of the United States of America does not have to wage War when Congress declares War. The President of the United States of America does not have the power to enforce State Laws and Local laws because of Amendment Ten of the United States Constitution. The National Police Force would not have the power to enforce State Laws and Local Laws because of Amendment Ten of the United States Constitution. The National Police Force would only be able to enforce federal laws. Many States and localities have health departments. Many States have their own regulatory agencies. Amendment Ten of the United States Constitution allows States and Localities to have their own police forces, health departments, and regulatory agencies because the Constitution does not prohibit them from having them. The argument that you use against the National Police Force could be used for eliminating the Food and Drug Administration, the SEC, the FCC, and many other government agencies because the States are not prohibited from having versions of them by the United States Constitution. I believe Article One, Section Eight of the United States Constitution allows Congress to create a National Police Force and allowed Congress to create the Food and Drug Administration, the SEC, the FCC, and many other government agencies. I believe Article One, Section Eight says "To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof" because the people who wrote our Constitution wanted the Federal Government to be able to "establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, and provide for the common defense." Sincerely, Kenneth Scot Stremsky Republican candidate for President of the United States of America http://www.geocities.com/kstremskyforpresident I e-mailed the following on December 1, 2002 Dear Richard E. Berg-Andersson: Thanks for posting my response and responding to it. I am glad I have acted as a foil for you. I hope you will consider posting the following and commenting on it. I hope you will comment in the future on why you think a National Police Force is a bad idea. I see it mainly as a protection agency for airports, nuclear power plants, water supplies, dams, subways, and sports stadiums. They would also help with the border patrol and checking of cargo from ships, planes, and trains. Since the Iranian hostage crisis, the national security threat I have been most worried about is coordinated biological attacks with different biological agents on subways, airports, and sports stadiums. The National Police Force would be well trained to deal with the aftermath of such attacks. I believe the Preamble of the Constitution deals with Congress and not the President of the United States of America. It says what I believe the priorities of Congress should be. We have the Social Security Administration and Medicare to promote "domestic Tranquility" and "promote the general Welfare." The Social Security Administration and Medicare are not mentioned in the Constitution. Article One, Section Eight does mention common Defense and general Welfare. What they mean is not mentioned. We do interpret Amendment Ten of the United States Constitution differently. Enforcement of laws is a police power and your arguments for why you think Congress does not have the constitutional ability to create a National Police does not make any sense to me. What is the purpose in having laws if they can not be enforced? Congress does have the power to create a National Police Force. Congress does not have the power to eliminate state and local police forces. Article Five of the Constitution says (I realized on December 3, 2002 that the following is in Article Six and not Article Five of the United States Constitution. I do not know how I missed the roman numeral one after the roman numeral five.) "This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary not withstanding." Once the Constitution was adopted, federal law superseded existing state laws and customs. Sincerely, Kenneth Scot Stremsky Republican candidate for President of the United States of America http://www.geocities.com/kstremskyforpresident I WROTE THE FOLLOWING ON SEPTEMBER 29, 2002 The Law of Unintended Consequences should always be considered before force is used when immediate response in not required. When our National Security is concerned, we should not care about the laws of other nations and international laws. If the law of another nation says that we may not assasinate someone who has killed an American, we should ignore that law. If international law says that we may not assasinate someone who has killed an American, we should ignore the international law. I believe it often makes more sense for the President of the United States of America to order the assasination of a foreign leader than to send significant numbers of land troops into battle. I realize the United States of America has assasinated people it should not have. Congress has the power to say that the President of the United States of America may only use assasination when Congress gives permission because Article One, Section Eight says Congress has the power "To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offenses against the Law of Nations." I believe our country should only send more than 1000 land troops into a combat situation when Congress has Declared War. I do not think the President of the United States of America should need a Congressional Declaration of War to use our country's Air Power and Sea Power in a combat situation which means the President of the United States of America should be able to use as many Air Troops and Sea Troops as the President of the United States of America wants to use in a combat situation. Civil Liberties are more important in peace time than in War time. If we lose our civil liberties, our enemies will win. Freedom of speech and freedom of the press decrease the probability that we will lose our other civil liberties. MACHIAVELLI AND WAR I added the following to my Success in War letter on October 7, 2002. The following excerpt comes from pages 293 and 294 of The Portable Machiavelli and the excerpt comes from The Discourses by Niccolo Machiavelli. "I shall not discuss how the Samnites watched while the Roman people conquered the Volsci and the Aequi, and in order not to be too wordy I shall mention only the Carthaginians, who were very powerful and enjoyed a great reputation while the Romans were fighting with the Samnites and the Tuscans, for they already held all of Africa, Sardinia, and Sicily, and had conquered part of Spain. Their power, plus the fact that they were situated far from the borders of the Roman people, never made them think of attacking Rome or of giving of aid to the Samnites and the Tuscans; on the contary, they acted as a prosperous person would act when all goes well, making treaties with the Romans and seeking their friendship. They never reasoned their error until the Romans, having now conquered all the peoples between themselves and the Carthaginians, began to fight with the latter over the rule of Sicily and Spain. The same thing happened to the Gauls that happened to the Carthaginians, as well as to Philip, King of the Macedonians, and to Antiochus: all of them believed that while the Roman people were occupied with another power, the other power would defeat Rome and they would have time to defend themselves against the Romans in either peace or war. Therefore, I believe that the Fortune the Romans enjoyed in this regard would have been possible for those Rulers who acted in the same way as the Romans and possessed the same ability." CONGRESSIONAL DECLARATION OF WAR LETTER I e-mailed the following letter to many newspapers and television stations in many states. Letter to the Editor: The United States Constitution in Article One, Section Eight says Congress has the power "To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water." Our founders did not want the President of the United States of America to make War whenever the President of the United States of America felt like it. Our founders realized it would be very dangerous for the President of the United States of America to make War whenever the President of the United States of America felt like it. Requiring a Congressional Declaration of War decreases the probability that a President of the United States of America will make War when it is not necessary to boost popularity ratings of the President of the United States of America, boost the electoral returns of the members of the party the President of the United States of America belongs to, and deflect attention from scandals the President of the United States of America is involved. If Congress wants the United States of America to send more than 1000 land troops into Iraq, Congress should Declare War against Iraq. A Resolution authorizing the usage of force is not acceptable when significant numbers of land troops are involved. Congress should have Declared War against North Korea before significant land troops were sent into Korea. Congress should have Declared War against Vietnam before significant numbers of land troops were sent into Vietnam. The only time the President of the United States of America should be allowed to send more than 1000 land troops into a combat situation is when Congress has Declared War when Congress exists. If Congress ceased to exist for a time because most of the members of Congress had been killed, the President of the United States of America could send more than 1000 land troops into battle without the permission of Congress. The President of the United States of America does not need a Declaration of War from Congress to bomb weapons factories in Iraq. The President of the United States of America does not need a Declaration of War from Congress to assasinate Saddam Hussein and other top people in his government. Only Congress may give the President of the United States of America permission to send significant numbers of land troops into battle when Congress is in existence. A Resolution from the United Nations authorizing the President of the United States of America to send significant numbers of land troops into battle when Congress has not Declared War is meaningless because only Congress may Declare War. I think Congress will probably have to Declare War against Iraq. Sincerely, Kenneth Scot Stremsky Republican candidate for President of the United States of America in 2004 http://www.geocities.com/kstremskyforpresident SOME MORE THOUGHTS ON WAR It is better to wage war on an enemy when it is weak than when it is strong. Sometimes, enemies have to join together to fight joint enemies that are more dangerous. Appeasement helped Hitler murder more than 11 million people.