21 October 2006

Was the USSR an enemy of the United States?

Now comes the folks who would like to get some 'revisionist history' going and point out that the USSR may not have been, technically, an enemy of the United States. First off let us be clear that even the Geneva Conventions recognize that a Declaration of War is not necessary for them to apply, this from the reference guide under "D":

declaration of war

A declaration of war is not required in order for the Geneva Conventions to apply.
So, someone can be fighting you and *not* at war with you. Someone can be your 'enemy' and not at war with you. Article II of the US Constitution on Treason:
Article II

Section. 3.

Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court. The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.
This requires some looking at, needless to say. As we can see being in direct conflict, militarily, does not preclude one from being an Enemy.

That said the Soviet Union *DID* actively fight the US during the Korean War, piloting MiG-15 Fighters . That is a casus belli, a cause for war compounded by it being not openly stated that they have taken part in the conflict. That, alone, makes the Soviet Union an Enemy of the United States.

In 1948 the USSR blockaded West Berlin in an attempt to cut it off and gain control over it from its previous WWII allies. This was contrary to all treaties signed during those powers for the administration of Berlin and, indeed, post-WWII Eastern Europe. Because of this the Western Europeans along with the US and Canada formed NATO, so that there could be coordinated responses to future Soviet threats. Breaking treaties and agreements in an attempt to grab territory makes one an Enemy, and the Soviet Union is one for having done that.

During the Viet Nam war the USSR supplied an open Enemy of the United States and declared its support for that Enemy. Further, 80% of all the war material used by North Viet Nam was supplied by the USSR. Soviet pilots flew 'volunteer' missions in fighter aircraft in missions against the United States and its allies there. As those pilots are under the direct command authority of the USSR, they could only 'volunteer' with assent of their command structure unless they had become North Vietnamese citizens, which they did *not* do. These things make the USSR an Enemy of the United States.

In 1968 the North Vietnamese Army, backed by the USSR invaded Laos which had been an ally of the United States, although it tried to remain neutral to the War in Vietnam. Attacking a Nation without declaring war on it and that Nation being an ally of the United States is seen as a strategic attempt to cut US power during wartime. That is an action of an Enemy of the United States.

Wartime espionage to steal nuclear secrets from the US via the Rosenbergs is an unfriendly act to the US, a covert intelligence operation and encouraged Americans to do acts against their Nation and government. That makes the USSR an Enemy of the United States, no matter its actual, wartime status. The USSR continued such espionage with cases all the way up to the demise of it as a Nation, including John Walker who led the Walker Spy Ring which included his wife, brother and son; Jerry Whitworth, Aldritch Ames.

Are we starting to get the tone and tenor of the USSR?

When you have a casus belli you no longer have a Nation that is 'friendly' or even 'neutral' to you unless they make hard and serious mending of their ways and seek forgiveness. Add this into all of the work the USSR did to foment unrest and revolution in Central and South America and openly arming insurgent groups so as to counter US influence, and you also have cause to look upon them as Enemies.

This should not even need to come up: The USSR was an Enemy of the United States and unabashedly so.

From influencing American politics, including the DFL in Minnesota, to stealing military secrets to endanger the military of the US to illegally taking up arms against the US over North Korea, the list is long and these are only a few of the high points of it.

So, when Senator Edward Kennedy proposes to conspire with Yuri Andropov, who is the actual LEADER of the USSR, to interfere in the US election process, that is actively offering aid and assistance to an Enemy of the United States. And statements made in admiration or support of those Enemy leaders can only be seen as giving comfort to them in their Enmity and letting them know that they have someone they can influence.

In the SENATE of the United States.

There is a world of difference between Congressmen that may or may not have committed crimes or corrupted the budgetary process to line their own pockets, and one who works with an open Enemy of the Union to subborn the process of democracy via elections. That is the difference between merely illegal and treasonous.

2 comments:

Sticky Notes said...

This will never get traction, you know. They know no bounds.

Sticky Notes

A Jacksonian said...

They have no bounds but their view that goals are more important than method will come to no good end. And thus comes tyranny if not countered.

We that know bounds, know facts and have good means and ends can achieve worthy goals, because the goals are endless but always honorable.

And thusly denial declares enmity and the facts will be their end. For the ends of boundless hubris is bloody, and shall always remain so.