The Seven Pillars of Resistance

I tried to stand up and fly straight,
but it wasn't easy with that sumbitch
Reagan in the White House.
I dunno. They say he's a decent man,
so maybe his advisors are confused
--Raising Arizona (1987)

Here comes a candle to light you to bed
Here comes a chopper to chop off your head
Chip chop chip chop - the last man's dead
--Oranges and Lemons, Nursery rhyme
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Ranger Question of the Day:
How can we tell when we have won their hearts and minds?
Is it when they have become pimps and whores?
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Ranger recently found among some old items of issue dating back to his earliest service days a trifold wallet card from 1966, the cover of which is replicated above: "A Code of Conduct for the Serviceman: Seven Pillars of Resistance."

A few excerpts are notable:

[1] "I am a member of the Armed Forces of the United States of America, to which I have sworn true faith and allegiance. Among the missions of the Armed Forces is the maintenance of peace, and the preservation of the policies, values and standards of the United States. This is my mission, as well as the mission of all Americans.

Peace -- right. The U.S. has, since WW II, been continually involved in conflicts neither fully recognized nor declared as war.

[4] Were the USA and the nations in whose temporary custody I happen to be actually at war, even though that conflict were neither fully recognized nor acknowledged as a war, my duty as an American fighting man would be quite clear. However, since an actual state of either congressionally declared, or presidentially proclaimed war does not today exist, my behavior while in detention, and my release there from, must be in accordance with accepted, peacetime, international standards."

A previous post quoted a U.S. Army manual as dismissing the adversary du jour for following the "typical Communist legalistic fashion." Yet this statement, which is nothing more than legalistic tap dancing, even misrepresents the power of the president.

The Constitution does not accord the president the power to declare war. That power is vested in Congress (Article I, sec. 8). Meantime, the U.S. sits astride a Phony War on Terror (PWOT ©) dubious at all levels and undeclared as such.

Since this 1966 Code of Conduct which was official policy for soldier's consumption promulgated the falsehood that the President could proclaim war, it is not hard to see why for many it is a fallacy we still accept as fact. A government document told them it was so!

[5] Since the known detention methods of those in ideological opposition to the US almost invariably involve solitary confinement, the most probable command or control I shall be called on to exercise will be that over myself. This control I shall never yield.

Let us not forget that solitary confinement was a U.S. tool in the treatment of its current captives, AKA illegal enemy combatants or detainees in the PW(not)OT.

The seventh pillar would offend any self-respecting atheist, for it declares: "The additional faith I have in a Supreme Being, and in the certainty of a fuller life beyond this, endow me with a strength which cannot be diminished by threat, blandishment or punishment." Then again, we don't have any godless fighting men, do we?

Ranger thought you might enjoy this quaint march down history row.