ABSTRACT
One of the truly significant and, strange to say, least examined aspects of the present allocation of American military force to Southeast Asia is the political doctrine which seems to underline it. In cataloguing the grave abuses to the American people perpetrated by King George III of Great Britain, the colonial drafters of the Declaration of Independence state that "He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the civil power." A major difficulty with the thinking of the new civilian militarists is that they study war while ignoring politics. In the work of Herman Kahn, as an instance, there is no seeming concern with issues of legislative rights in matters of war making, constitutional safeguards of the public, or administrative powers in moving or removing military personnel from danger zones. The growth of a bureaucratic military machine has raised in a new light the legitimate bases for risk taking and war making.
