Strategic Inconsistencies and America's Democratic Process Essay

Strategic Inconsistencies and America's Democratic Process - Essay Example The executive branch and the military expanding the war into Cambodia with neither the knowledge nor the support of Congress was a clear violation of the democratic process.i Earlier, and in a similar fashion, the entire program to develop the atomic bomb and the decision to use them on two Japanese cities in August 1945 was undertaken in strict secrecy. The secrecy of the program was essential to national security and the decision to use it certainly shortened the war and probably saved the lives of thousands of US combat troops. However, undertaking the development and use of atomic weapons in strict secrecy can hardly be seen as a model of democracy in action. The removal of the Japanese from the Pacific coast during World War Two and their concentration in internment camps was a clear violation of both their human and civil rights. It may well have been necessary, although that is certainly debatable, but, again, it is hardly a model of democracy in action.ii During wartime the United States has clearly abandoned democratic principles in favor of military strategy and efficacy. That said, it would be fair to say that virtually every democracy has made the decision when confronted with the question of military strategy versus democratic ideals in the time of war. Since at least the Civil War there has been a hangover from wartime strategy that has infected the democratic process in the aftermath of war. During Reconstruction, Federal troops were placed on the streets in southern cities to enforce law and order. This egregious violation of the Constitution, once recognized, was deemed so offensive that it led to posse comitatus legislation in 1878. The law states, â€Å"Whoever, except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress, willfully uses any part of the Army or Air Force as a posse comitatus or otherwise to execute the laws.