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Plan C: The Cold War Plan Which Would Have Brought the US Under Martial Law
v3rgEz writes with this story of a top secret Cold War plan which would have brought the U.S. under martial law. Starting on April 19, 1956, the federal government practiced and planned for a near-doomsday scenario known as Plan C. When activated, Plan C would have brought the United States under martial law, rounded up over ten thousand individuals connected to 'subversive' organizations, implemented a censorship board, and prepared the country for life after nuclear attack. There was no Plan A or B....Details of this program were distributed to each FBI field office. Over the following months and years, Plan C would be adjusted as drills and meetings found holes in the defensive strategy: Communications were more closely held, authority was apparently more dispersed, and certain segments of the government, such as the U.S. Attorneys, had trouble actually delineating who was responsible for what. Bureau employees were encouraged to prepare their families for the worst, but had to keep secret the more in-depth plans for what the government would do if war did break out. Families were given a phone number and city for where the relocated agency locations would be, but not the exact location.
This reads like an urban legend... Every field office got a copy, (seemingly) lots of employees were notified, but it's only public 30 years later? Hmm...
You can mod your friends, you can mod your nose, but you can't mod your friend's nose.
War Plan Red was developed by the United States Army following the 1927 Geneva Naval Conference and approved in May 1930 by the Secretary of War and the Secretary of Navy and updated in 1934–35. In 1939 on the outbreak of World War II and Britain's war against Nazi Germany, a decision was taken that no further planning was required but that the plan be retained.[3] War Plan Red was not declassified until 1974.
The war plan outlined those actions that would be necessary to initiate war between Britain and the United States. The plan suggested that the British would initially have the upper hand by virtue of the strength of the Royal Navy. The plan further assumed that Britain would probably use its Dominion in Canada as a springboard from which to initiate a retaliatory invasion of the United States. The assumption was taken that at first Britain would fight a defensive battle against invading American forces, but that the US would eventually defeat the British by blockading the United Kingdom and economically isolating it.
"Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
plan "c" what about "Plan R" !!!!
"I don't pitch OpenSUSE Linux to my friends, i let Microsoft do it for me
I would have been more worried if they had ditched the first 8 plans.
Anyway .. there is probably a modern day equivalent kicking around somewhere now.
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We survived for centuries with the number of people and level of industrialization that would remain after a widespread, devastating war, without resorting to these measures. In fact, we have measured the society that this plan seeks to "protect" by the rights and freedoms that the average citizen has gained.
I don't know what "society" means to you, but to me it's the structure by which we all agree that other people exist and have rights; martial law means that society has already fallen.
"Because Science" is one step from "Because old book". Try "Because of my experiment testing my falsifiable assertion".
Which one can run the longest without fuel?
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
This scenario involved flying saucers powered by strings. Bela Lugosi was to have been put in charge of the interim government, but this plan was deemed unworkable when the principal contact with the alien subcontractor concluded that earth people were stupid.
If Slashdot were chemistry it would look like this:Cadaverine
Freedom, and everything else, is a privilege given to you by your betters; when the chips are down, that's all out the window. Never forget that.
It's for your own good, you know.
Wish more people read history.
..don't panic
> I see your AR-15 and raise you an M-1 Tank
Marine infantrymen are trained how to disable tanks. They are aren't armed with much beyond the AR-15.
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
You don't survive widespread nuclear war without some pretty drastic measures.
Exactly. My gut response was, "GOOD!" Do you have any idea how many companies do NOT have a disaster recovery plan? No one ever wants to use it, but you'll be MUCH better off with it than without.
It could have been a lot worse; Their plan C could have been:
* Let's put enough food/water for 10 years in a secure bomb shelter and plan to store the top 0.005% of the population. After they run out of food, who cares.. let's just make sure we can remain fat for a little longer than everyone else.
* Launch everything at ourselves. If we can't have it, neither can they.
The Martial law result of thousands of jailed people because they speak french.
Internment of American-Japanese in the 2nd world war - just because they looked funny.
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Mr. President! We must not allow a mine-shaft gap!
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
Because short of the martial law of troops in the streets with body armor and M16's..... Oh wait... Our COPS have those now.
Well they dont have assult vehicles...... Wait....
Nor do they have grenade launchers...... Welll.....
So basically they have been planning on the shit we have today for decades?
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
It depends on the specific service member in question.
http://oathkeepers.org/
During the time of the US Civil war, Americans shot their literal brothers - not just their squad mates.
It starts with one soldier. How many follow, and when they follow, depends on the rhetoric of the separatists, how they conduct themselves, how they spread their message, and the counteracting rhetoric and actions of the government.
All of us are alive because people on both sides of the Atlantic with their finger on the "launch" button skipped opportunities to press it. Soldiers are people in difficult situations, trying to balance many opposing directives.
My opinions are my own, and do not necessarily represent those of my employer.
The problem with these "emergency modes" is that they run infinitely. With censorship and martial law in place, how would you know that it's time to get back to a normal mode of operation if the powers that are don't want to return to it?
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
No joke, the US Army has plans for "if we have to invade Canada."
We have had to invade friends before, for example France in 1944.
I think this is why it managed to say 'secret' for so long. When you were briefed into the program you realized that:
1. The plan was incredibly unlikely to ever go 'live'
2. If the plan DID have to go 'live' things were so FUBAR that it was the best remaining option.
We need continuity in government. So long as the military command(majority of surviving government due to being designed to survive attack) gives command back over to civilians in a reasonable timeframe*, we're good.
*2-4 years? Enough for a new election cycle, at least.
I don't read AC A human right
And yet somehow we survived with these 10,000 people with connections to subversive organizations roaming freely in our midst. Amazing.
Dear ALL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES: *THIS* is why we don't want you to have infinite surveillance. Because those 10,000 people you had files on did EXACTLY NOTHING. You want to wiretap someone, go get some ACTUAL FUCKING EVIDENCE. Not just "he read this book and knows this guy and likes to encrypt his files."
Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
That and there were a few spies among them.
[Citation needed]. Though I suspect if there weren't spies among 'em when they were interned, there were when they were released.
"The greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes" - Winston Churchill
True, and that bit about Iraqis was indeed war propaganda used to justify US violence. ... and that she was the daughter of Saud Al-Sabah, the Kuwaiti ambassador to the United States. Furthermore, it was revealed that her testimony was organized as part of the Citizens for a Free Kuwait public relations campaign which was run by Hill & Knowlton for the Kuwaiti government. Following this, al-Sabah's testimony has come to be regarded as a classic example of modern atrocity propaganda."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N...
"The Nayirah testimony was a testimony given before the non-governmental Congressional Human Rights Caucus on October 10, 1990 by a woman who provided only her first name, Nayirah. The testimony was widely publicized, and was cited numerous times by United States senators and the American president in their rationale to back Kuwait in the Gulf War. In 1992, it was revealed that Nayirah's last name was al-Sabah
Except Las Casa was also Spanish, so presumably "on the same side"as Columbus (or at least his funders):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B...
"Bartolome de las Casas, O.P. (c. 1484[1] -- 18 July 1566) was a 16th-century Spanish historian, social reformer and Dominican friar. He became the first resident Bishop of Chiapas, and the first officially appointed "Protector of the Indians". His extensive writings, the most famous being A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies and Historia de Las Indias, chronicle the first decades of colonization of the West Indies and focus particularly on the atrocities committed by the colonizers against the indigenous peoples.[2] Arriving as one of the first European settlers in the Americas, he participated in, and was eventually compelled to oppose, the atrocities committed against the Native Americans by the Spanish colonists. In 1515, he reformed his views, gave up his Indian slaves and encomienda, and advocated, before King Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, on behalf of rights for the natives."
So, it is perhaps more like Pat Tillman, who left a lucrative contract with the NFL to sign up to invade Iraq, and who conveniently died from "friendly fire" before a planned meeting with Noam Chomsky over his emerging doubts? ... Despite his fame, Tillman did not want to be used for propaganda purposes. He spoke to friends about his opposition to President Bush and the Iraq war, and he had made an appointment with notable government critic Noam Chomsky for after his return from the military. The destruction of evidence linked to Tillman's death, including his personal journal, led his mother to speculate that he was murdered.[31] General Wesley Clark agreed that it was "very possible". ..."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P...
"Patrick Daniel "Pat" Tillman (November 6, 1976-- April 22, 2004) was an American football player who left his professional career and enlisted in the United States Army in June 2002 in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. His service in Iraq and Afghanistan, and subsequent death, were the subject of much media attention.[1]
More on that:
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2...
"An NFL football star who enlisted in the Army in May 2002, he apparently became disenchanted with the conduct of the war. He not only did not support President Bush for reelection, but encouraged others to vote for John Kerry. According to his mother, a friend of his had arranged for him to meet with Noam Chomsky, professor emeritus from MIT and one of our nationâ(TM)s most respected public intellectuals, who, no doubt, could have launched him into prominent orbit as an outspoken opponent of the war, had he been so inclined."
But read for yourself what Columbus himself wrote in his log.
A 21st century issue: the irony of technologies of abundance in the hands of those still thinking in terms of scarcity.
Agreed. That's the nasty thing about proscription lists, you tend to find out who's on them the hard way. I think it'd be educational to see how such a process would have worked in the 1950s.
That's okay, we have plans for stopping you from invading. Just leave lots of cases of real beer across the border. You guys won't be able to handle it and we can counterattack.
You're welcome. Thanks for reading and modding.
A 21st century issue: the irony of technologies of abundance in the hands of those still thinking in terms of scarcity.
I can't imagine a tanker driving onto a huge pile of tires and then sitting there while they're lit on fire long enough to cause problems. Tires don't burn particularly fast you know.
That's going to be one damn big pit, you're going to have trouble camoflaging it properly. That method doesn't seem particularly practical, especially in an urban environment. (barring use of explosives, say set off in an underlying sewer tunnel or something like that)
Yes, you can jam a tank track but they've got one heck of an engine so it better be jammed pretty solid and made of tough materials or it'll just get spit out or busted, getting close enough won't be much fun either.
There are plenty of ways to delay a tank or irritate the crew, for example paint some dinner plates camo green and place them across a roadway the tank wants to use. It's pretty likely the crew will worry that they're mines and stop to call for support or sweep them with a main gun round. If you can sneak up to one while it's turned off and parked you can put sugar in the fuel tank for nasty later results. Dumping a big load of sand from an overhead building onto the air intakes will slow them down. If you want to piss off the crew then toss molotov cocktails on their gear which is usually strapped to the outside. Have a sniper shadow the tank and take potshots any time they stick out their heads will certainly get their attention if you have more time on your hands.
It would be a lot easier to just get your hands on some anti-tank rockets, heck you can build a crude bazooka yourself if you work at it a bit. Don't expect a high success rate with homemade systems though. As an insurgent, if you can't capture any anti-tank weapons you're better of just creating a big IED. From the side you can probably knock loose a track, from the bottom you might actually be able to take the thing out. Tanks are maintenance and fuel intensive so attacking their supply lines is also good tactics.
*shrug* It's been a few years but when I was in the Marines we focused on using either the TOW wire guided system or the Dragon shoulder launched one (they were just bringing in the Javelin when I was getting out). Obviously, calling for our own tanks, copperhead artillery rounds, hellfire missiles from cobra attack helicopters or close air support (A-10s if available, those things rock!) were great options if you had them on call.