Four Days In February

by Roy Diestelkamp

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Army Secretary Craig Strate walked into the office of the Army Chief of Staff, William Yates. Strate had just finished a brief meeting in Secretary Ishnik's office, and wanted to talk further with General Yates. He walked into the outer office, and found the General there, speaking with some of his staff.

  Yates said, "I have issued instructions to send out orders again to all troops, that they are to contact their chain of command if they receive any communication or orders from the White House; and that because of the present constitutional crisis, all military orders must come from the Pentagon."

  "That's good General, have you also issued orders that if apprehended they are to hold retired General Pinchon, and any senior White House staff?"

  "That is also included in the orders, but that was personally hard for me to make, and it will be hard for many officers to obey."

  Strate said, "That is what soldiers do, they obey orders, not question them."

  "Yes, but they do have to believe the order is 'lawful,' Yates said. "Neither the nation nor the capital are under martial law; troops are not allowed to arrest or hold citizens within the United States; so I believe that a number of officers, let alone the troops, are going to question the lawfulness of my order."

  "That could cause real trouble," said Strate. Officers that do not obey superiors' orders, are destroying military discipline and order. If they disobey one order, they may find themselves willing to disobey another. They may set themselves up to analyze every order they get, and then obey some, and not others. How could you run an Army that way?"

  "You can't," said General Yates. "An Army cannot function if every officer and every soldier "decides" which orders to obey. But at the same time everyone in the military is bound by oath to only obey orders that are in accordance to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice."

  "But they are not lawyers, and when given orders they do not have the ability or time to judge every order as to its lawfulness. They have to obey!"

  "Officers have been convicted for obeying unlawful orders. It's tough, but it has happened. Just saying, 'I was obeying orders' doesn't cut it, if the order was illegal in the first place. It happens in war, and it happens in peacetime too. If I were to order soldiers to open fire on a group of citizens demonstrating peacefully on a street corner, that would be an 'unlawful order.' I could be court-martialed for giving the order, and they could be court-martialed if they obeyed it and opened fire."

  "Yah, yah, I know that," said Strate, but armies function only on discipline and order ...orders maintain both. Yates, do you think your order is unlawful?"

  "I honestly don't know! I have never been in this kind of situation before, and never have given such an order to arrest and detain civilians. I don't know if it's legal; it smells bad to me. I suspect it will smell bad to other officers and soldiers too."

  "Then they better hold their nose, and do what they have been told."

  "That is usually what is done."

  "Yates, Ishnik questioned whether you were going soft on him. Are you more loyal to Pinchon than to President Ishnik?"

  "I believe this nation has been going downhill for a long time, and that politicians have been weakening America's Armed Forces. I believe that Ishnik will change that, and that he is standing up for the Constitution. But I have for twenty years been a friend of Bull Pinchon. He was my commanding officer, and my rise in the Army followed his. I always found him true Army, and a true friend. It does bother me that he and I are on different sides now.

  "When we started on this road with Ishnik, we did not have any thoughts of putting troops in the streets of Washington, and arresting Cabinet officers, White House Staff, and retired Generals. We didn't know then that Carr would win the election, be assassinated, be replaced by Woods, who would then get sick, and call in Bull Pinchon. We didn't know that the North Koreans would be involved in the assassination, and that we could be moving to the brink of armed conflict with them and the Chinese."

  Strate said, "But you knew that Mitch Ishnik was a leader for all situations. You have to keep on trusting his judgment. You are a soldier too, don't over analyze the situation, follow your orders!"

  "Yah, I'm doing that," General Yates said, as he turned and walked into his office and closed the door.

  Strate, turned and left the outer office and headed back to his own. As he entered he was mulling in his mind what he had heard from General Yates. If Yates came off the rails then the plan would fall apart. Yates had his hand on the Army, and influence on the other Joint Chiefs. Strate decided to phone Ishnik.

  "Strate here, ...Yes I followed Yates to his office and spoke with him. You are right that the General is a little weak at the moment. ...No, he still stands with you, but he has been shaken by all the recent events. ...He says he didn't know that Carr was going to be assassinated, and Woods get sick, and Pinchon enter the picture.

  "He is really rattled by the North Koreans being involved in the murder of a President, and he is pulling a Douglas MacArthur about the Chinese. "...Yes, 'beware of a land war in Asia.' He also still has friendly feelings to Bull Pinchon. We have to keep an eye on that.

  "He did issue your orders though. Not too enthusiastically, but he sent them out. He questions whether the Army will consider them 'lawful.' He says some officers might refuse to arrest civilians under the present circumstances. I think he means that some officers might not arrest Bull. I told him a soldier's responsibility was to follow the orders of a superior, not think about it."

  Meanwhile on the floor of the U.S. Senate, Senator Olds is addressing his colleagues.

  "Thank you Mr. President, I am presenting before the Senate two motions today.

  "The first motion is to express the "sense of the Senate" that says that this house recognizes that the Secretary of Defense, a federal officer, the responsible military and security adviser to the President, is the 'Acting President' of the United States, and exercises the full powers of that office, due to the incapacity of President Woods.

  I suggest to this body, that it is our duty, and our opportunity to give guidance to the Executive and Judicial Departments, the Armed Forces, and the citizens of our nation, as to the constitutional successor of the President. America is being wracked by unconstitutional manipulation and usurpers, seeking to take control of our government.

  "Many people have expressed opinions as to what the Constitution requires, in contrast to some Presidential succession laws, that have violated that very supreme authority. Yes, various opinions are being given, questions are being asked, and arguments are taking place; but who better to give guidance on this issue than the elected members of the U.S. Senate. The Senate's lead is critical to assure our people and the world that the United States, as it always has been, is now under control by the constitutionally qualified leader. We must assure that there is no power vacuum in Washington that enemies can exploit; the Senate has no question as to who is the 'Acting President, it is Mitch Ishnik.'

  "To delay this vote, or to defeat it, would lead to a national catastrophe. Time would be given to those who do not respect our Constitution. Time is what they want, for them to consolidate their power, and for them to shut the mouths of those of us who are trying to preserve our nation. Don't give them that time, don't give them another day, another hour, not even another minute.

  "I urge the Senate to take up this motion, and pass it as soon as possible.

  "The second motion, is a motion of censure, of retired General Ulysses Pinchon, for trying to usurp the powers of the President, and disrupt the tranquility of our nation.

  "Our nation has been endangered by the reckless actions of General Pinchon. He has brought confusion where the Constitution has order. An attempt has been made to foist on the American people an unelected retired General as 'Acting President.' Foreign nations, both friend and foe, have been made to wonder if the United States is about to depart from its fo
unding principles that have made our republic great, and brought us to the front of other nations, and led to our great power, security, wealth, and happiness.

  "Such action by the General has endangered the principle of 'government of the people, by the people, and for the people,' and if unchecked would surely cause such government to 'perish from the earth.' Surely the United States Senate should issue its censure of such a wicked man and his wicked deeds. That this man has honorably served our nation before in war, does not give him leave to destroy it in a time of peace. Emotion and respect for the past must not cloud our minds as to what he is attempting to do now.

  "Mr. President, I recognize that the General has acted with the aid of the now incapacitated President Woods. I do not blame Mr. Woods. Following the strain of the assassination of President Carr, in Mobile, I can only assume that Mr. Woods stroke damaged his mind. He thought that he was doing good in appointing General Pinchon to replace him. If he still had a sound mind, I do not believe President Woods would ever have done this.

  "But we must not yield to emotionalism because of our sympathy and empathy for President Woods, and his sad condition. We must see that what he did was wrong. We must undo this unconstitutional succession that he has tried to establish."

  Now Senator Olds solemnly pulls a small thin black leather covered book from his inside pocket. "I hold in my hand the Constitution of the United States. Let us not be quiet while anyone breaks it. Let us issue this censure of General Pinchon, before it is too late.

  "Mr. President, I encourage this Senate to pass this motion with all speed."

  "Senator France is recognized."

  "Thank you, Mr. President, I rise in support of the two motions introduced by Senator Olds. He is a man of courage to stand and say that which he did. There are individuals and groups in America today, that would steal our government. If they succeed it will not be long before they also steal our individual liberty.

  Our Constitution has worked for lo these many years; and it must be protected and defended by all Americans, so that it may continue to work for a thousand years more. Our Constitution was written by founding fathers who did not trust those who would serve in government, to not become tyrants. Great checks were put in place, and they have kept us free and safe.

  "The Secretary of Defense has stepped forward and taken the Presidential oath. He is serving now, not from the White House, because of the interloper, Pinchon. President Ishnik is fulfilling his lawful duties both domestic and foreign. Even now, he has discovered that the murder of our beloved President Carr was in all likelihood, instigated and carried out by the military intelligence arm of Communist North Korea.

  "If he is to face this foe, he must not have to watch his back for knives from retired American Generals. No, Senator Olds has presented two motions that will place the Senate on the side of right, on the side of the Constitution, and on the side of the rights of the American people. I again ask the Senate to pass this motion with all speed."

  As other Senators rose to be recognized, Olds and France went to the Senate cloak room and began to press their colleagues to support 'Acting President' Ishnik, and pass the two motions. Since President Woods' death had not been announced yet, none of them realized that the issue was not who would be 'Acting President,' but 'President.

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