Training for democracy building missions overseas, members of our Air National Guard carried out a simulated bombing of City Hall in Menasha, Wisconisn.

Follow this link to the original source: "Menasha site of war games"

Yesterday and continuing on through today, residents in Menasha, Wisconsin are under simulated attack from invading Air National Guard units in Iowa and Washington. The apparent purpose of these exercises is to train members of the National Guard how to drop bombs in urban settings without creating unnecessary collateral damage.

Noting the specific target of yesterday's bombing campaign, we are trying to track down a local reporter willing to ask the obvious question, "How will bombing City Hall help spread democracy?"

The current simulated attacks are said to be the first of a series to be conducted along the western shores of Lake Winnebago. This puts cities like Oshkosh and Fond du Lac, Wisconsin in the crosshairs of our military forces. Supporters of the simulated bombing argue that the training may save American lives in combat overseas, not an insignificant argument. Opponents point out that it is unsavory for the military to practice methods of killing and destroying on American civilians and civilian infrastructure. Likewise not an insignificant argument.

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In fact, given the Founders' grave concerns about the dangers of a standing army (see, for instance, the Declaration of Independence, Federalist No. 26, and Jefferson's concerns), perhaps the latter is the most imporant argument. Those who drafted the Constitution and fought the British to establish American independence recgonized that, throughout history, a standing army quartered among the people is a threat to liberty, even if the army in question is almost universally lauded by patriotic citizens.

The classic case was the ancient Roman republic. It is not for nothing that the phrase "crossing the Rubicon" has become loaded with ominous meaning. That phrase refers to Julius Caesar's fateful decision to move his army across the Rubicon River. Roman law forbade generals from bringing their troops across the river into the heartland of the Republic as a check against potential threats from an internal standing army. The army, to the Romans of the ancient Republic, was a means of defending the citizens of the Republic from barbarian assault from without. Caesars' crossing of the Rubicon River signified that the Army would instead become a means of expressing political power within the Republic itself. As Caesar said on the occassion of the crossing, "the die is cast," and the Republic, from that moment, was ultimately doomed.

The shores of Lake Winnebago may not yet compare to those of the Rubicon. But, when American F-16 fighter jets practice attacks on American cities, we may have gotten to the point where, figuratively speaking, our soldiers are being ordered to dip their toes in the waters of that fateful river.