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Pastimes : WORLD WAR III -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Hawkmoon who wrote (314)	3/13/1999 7:57:00 PM
From: nuke44	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 765

I cannot conceive of a justification for declaring a national state of martial law in the U.S.. Perhaps a localized declaration for the duration of a specific occurrence (The '92 L.A. riots come to mind), but nothing short of a natural disaster of biblical proportions would prove a credible justification for suspending individual rights and freedoms, if only for a brief period. I have lived under martial law in a country where the military controlled the government (Turkey 1981-82). When they said that no one was allowed out of their homes at night, between midnight and 0500 hrs., they meant it. I found out the hard way after being apprehended one night by the local gendarmerie, trying to sneak my way home after overstaying my welcome at the local Keraha'ne. I spent three days in jail before being released to the custody of my squadron commander. An experience that I hope never to repeat. When they conducted a national census in the Fall of 1982, they mandated that everyone in the country MUST participate. They literally closed the country down for three days, no motor vehicles, aircraft, or ships were allowed to enter or exit Turkey during that time and everyone in the country was remanded to the confines of their permanent residence for that entire period. As an American serviceman, I was exempt from the census, but I was confined to my apartment for three days. After the completion of the census, the military government declared that any Turkish citizen who was not identified on that survey could be assumed to be an enemy of the state and subject to summary imprisonment if they came to the attention of the authorities. At the other end of the spectrum, I have lived in a country (Greece, 1987 - 88) where terrorism thrived and the government seemed to have only the most tenuous of control over it. I myself was the unwitting victim of a car bomb meant for American and English personnel working at their respective embassies in Athens. I was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. Even though I was almost 100 meters away, I couldn't hear for three days and I picked up enough shrapnel (to add insult to injury, I now carry miniscule fragments of a Yugo, wherever I go) that I can still set off airport metal detectors (I'm exaggerating). Sadly, the intended target, the American Naval attache, an O-6 was killed in the attack and the only way he was identified was by the brief case still manacled to a dismembered arm even though he was travelling in an armored and bullet proof car. As I said before, I cannot conceive of a possible justification for declaring a national state of martial law. If things were so bad that it became necessary, giving up my best source of protection, firearms, would probably be the last thing I would do. I survived the terrorists, but I think I would rather die than subsist under Big Brother.