Gen. Franks Doubts Constitution Will Survive WMD Attack 

John O. Edwards, NewsMax.com

Friday, Nov. 21, 2003 

      Gen. Tommy Franks says that if the United States is 

hit with a weapon of mass destruction that inflicts 

large casualties, the Constitution will likely be 

discarded in favor of a military form of government. 

      Franks, who successfully led the U.S. military 

operation to liberate Iraq, expressed his worries in 

an extensive interview he gave to the men�s lifestyle 

magazine Cigar Aficionado.

      In the magazine�s December edition, the former 

commander of the military�s Central Command warned 

that if terrorists succeeded in using a weapon of 

mass destruction (WMD) against the U.S. or one of our 

allies, it would likely have catastrophic 

consequences for our cherished republican form of 

government.

      Discussing the hypothetical dangers posed to the U.S. 

in the wake of Sept. 11, Franks said that �the worst 

thing that could happen� is if terrorists acquire and 

then use a biological, chemical or nuclear weapon 

that inflicts heavy casualties.

If that happens, Franks said, �... the Western world, 

the free world, loses what it cherishes most, and 

that is freedom and liberty we�ve seen for a couple 

of hundred years in this grand experiment that we 

call democracy.�

      Franks then offered �in a practical sense� what he 

thinks would happen in the aftermath of such an 

attack.

      �It means the potential of a weapon of mass 

destruction and a terrorist, massive, 

casualty-producing event somewhere in the Western 

world � it may be in the United States of America � 

that causes our population to question our own 

Constitution and to begin to militarize our country 

in order to avoid a repeat of another mass, 

casualty-producing event. Which in fact, then begins 

to unravel the fabric of our Constitution. Two steps, 

very, very important.�

      Franks didn�t speculate about how soon such an event 

might take place. 

      Already, critics of the U.S. Patriot Act, rushed 

through Congress in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, 

have argued that the law aims to curtail civil 

liberties and sets a dangerous precedent.

But Franks� scenario goes much further. He is the 

first high-ranking official to openly speculate that 

the Constitution could be scrapped in favor of a 

military form of government. 

      The usually camera-shy Franks retired from U.S. 

Central Command, known in Pentagon lingo as CentCom, 

in August 2003, after serving nearly four decades in 

the Army.

      Franks earned three Purple Hearts for combat wounds 

and three Bronze Stars for valor. Known as a 

�soldier�s general,� Franks made his mark as a top 

commander during the U.S.�s successful Operation 

Desert Storm, which liberated Kuwait in 1991. He was 

in charge of CentCom when Osama bin Laden�s al-Qaeda 

attacked the United States on Sept. 11.

Franks said that within hours of the attacks, he was 

given orders to prepare to root out the Taliban in 

Afghanistan and to capture bin Laden.

      Franks offered his assessment on a number of topics 

to Cigar Aficionado, including:

President Bush: �As I look at President Bush, I think 

he will ultimately be judged as a man of extremely 

high character. A very thoughtful man, not having 

been appraised properly by those who would say he�s 

not very smart. I find the contrary. I think he�s 

very, very bright. And I suspect that he�ll be judged 

as a man who led this country through a crease in 

history effectively. Probably we�ll think of him in 

years to come as an American hero.�

       On the motivation for the Iraq war: Contrary to 

claims that top Pentagon brass opposed the invasion 

of Iraq, Franks said he wholeheartedly agreed with 

the president�s decision to invade Iraq and oust 

Saddam Hussein.

      �I, for one, begin with intent. ... There is no 

question that Saddam Hussein had intent to do harm to 

the Western alliance and to the United States of 

America. That intent is confirmed in a great many of 

his speeches, his commentary, the words that have 

come out of the Iraqi regime over the last dozen or 

so years. So we have intent.

      �If we know for sure ... that a regime has intent to 

do harm to this country, and if we have something 

beyond a reasonable doubt that this particular regime 

may have the wherewithal with which to execute the 

intent, what are our actions and orders as leaders in 

this country?�

      The Pentagon�s deck of cards: Asked how the Pentagon 

decided to put its most-wanted Iraqis on a set of 

playing cards, Franks explained its genesis. He 

recalled that when his staff identified the most 

notorious Iraqis the U.S. wanted to capture, �it just 

turned out that the number happened to be about the 

same as a deck of cards. And so somebody said, �Aha, 

this will be the ace of spades.��

      Capturing Saddam: Franks said he was not surprised 

that Saddam has not been captured or killed. But he 

says he will eventually be found, perhaps sooner than 

Osama bin laden.

      �The capture or killing of Saddam Hussein will be a 

near term thing. And I won�t say that�ll be within 19 

or 43 days. ... I believe it is inevitable.�

Franks ended his interview with a 

less-than-optimistic note. �It�s not in the history 

of civilization for peace ever to reign. Never has in 

the history of man. ... I doubt that we�ll ever have 

a time when the world will actually be at peace.�