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Analysis of:
Strategic Implications of American Millennialism
Dated: May 22, 2008
By: Major Brian L. Stuckert,
School of Advanced Military Studies
Name of Responsible Person: Stefan
Telephone Number: (913) 758-3300
This thesis was approved by:
Timothy Challans, PhD Monograph Director
Robert Taylor,
Stefan J. Banach,
Robert F. Baumann, PH.D Director, Graduate Degree Programs
There is nothing associated with this thesis indicating it is the sole opinion of Major Stuckert.
This document can be found at:
http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA485511&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf
All highlighted sections of this analysis were done by me for emphasis.
The Analysis
In the very beginning, Major Stuckert opens with a direct attack on pre-millennial beliefs as being dangerous to
“The impact of American millennial religious ideas on U.S. Government policy will add to strategic hubris, compel increasingly reckless international action, and continue to over-commit the military in ways the Nation cannot afford. Military leaders, planners and strategists require greater awareness and understanding of American millennial thought. Millennialism has always been a feature of the American culture and has shaped not only the objectives of U.S. government policy, but also the way in which we interpret the words and actions of other actors on the international stage” Page 1, paragraph 1.
Was this thesis sent to military planners and strategists as it seems so urgent for them to know what is in this report? When I spoke with Colonel Banach, he refused to tell me how this report was used and who it was sent to within the military.
The Major continues to frame how dangerous pre-millennial thinking is for the military. He actually makes the statement that enemies could use millennialism to demoralize or terrorize the American people:
“Military leaders and planners must recognize that, to the extent that actual and potential adversaries may analyze American millennial thought, there may be significant advantages available to the enemy.
First, millennial thought and its policy implications may create strategic transparency that affords adversaries an advantage in decision-making.
Second, an understanding of American millennial thinking may provide adversaries with the means to manipulate American policy and subsequent action.
Third, the enemy may exploit American millennialism to increase the fragility of and even disrupt coalitions.
Fourth, adversaries may exploit American millennialism to demoralize or terrorize joint forces and the American people. By recognizing these potential vulnerabilities, military leaders and planners may take action now to mitigate the effects.” Page 2, paragraph 3.
Based on the fourth point, this report must have been rushed to the military leaders in the Pentagon because of the possibility the American army could be demoralized! Notice action must be taken NOW to mitigate the effects of millennialism! This is directly threatening to me and all believers. It appears the major is attempting to pit the military against a substantial section of the American civilian population.
Major Stuckert then claims that millennial beliefs will lead
“Where contemporary American millennialism is concerned, collective anxiety over things like apocalyptic war, an Anti-Christ alive and at work somewhere on the Earth and the need to secure our eternal destiny by our own hand will lead to a misguided foreign and security policy that increasingly relies upon employment of the military instrument of power.” Page 5 paragraph 2.
All of the above quotes have painted a direr picture of American millennialism steering
The report identifies the Bible as the source of pre-millennialism beliefs with the Southern and Independent Baptists along with the Pentecostals as the main adherents to this belief system. The report goes further to name some of the leaders:
“Secular considerations notwithstanding, the single most important factor in western apocalypticism are the Bible, specifically the books of Daniel and Revelation. In the Bible and subsequent philosophical interpretations, we can trace the source of our linear, teleological view of deterministic history.12
Millennialism, and especially dispensational pre-millennialism, derives in large part from extraordinary literalism of even the most figurative passages of the Bible.” Page 6, paragraph 2,3
This influence is most pronounced within non-denominational, Southern and independent Baptist and Pentecostal churches. The phenomenon of pre-millennial ideas has successfully crossed denominational boundaries during the last three decades, owing much to the success of publishing, broadcasting and other media efforts designed to spread pre-millennialism.” Page 7 paragraph 7
“Prominent pre-millennialist writers such as Hal Lindsey, John Walvoord, Tim LaHaye, J. Dwight Pentecost, John Hagee and others assert that their philosophy about the return of Christ has always been the doctrine of the historical church.” Page 13-14.
After stating how dangerous millennial beliefs are, the Major then identifies the source of this belief. It is apparent that, according to the writer, a literal understanding of the Bible is dangerous to
The Major uses charged political terms such as “The Christian Right” on several occasions. The use of this term clearly makes this a political document rather than any possible military analysis:
“With a broad foundation built during post-World War II revival, the Christian right began to form as a political force after Barry Goldwater’s failed bid for the Presidency in 1964 …” Page 29 paragraph 2
“The Christian right was widely recognized as a powerful political force in 1980 when President Carter’s fellow southern evangelicals and other Christians abandoned him in favor of Ronald Reagan.(96) For many Christians, President Carter's diplomatic and military humility was the wrong approach for solving problems around the world. (97) Although not known for his own, personal religious credentials, President Reagan clearly understood the role of the religious right in his own rise to power …” Page 30 paragraph 3.
The
What is very interesting is the authors that are quoted regarding the “Christian right.” The following is one of the authors and the title of his book. The title of the book alone seems like insubordination against President Bush, who Major Stuckert served under:
Kaplan, Esther. With God on Their Side: How Christian Fundamentalists Trampled Science, Policy, and Democracy in George W. Bush’s White House.
The report even degenerates into outright slander. Bill Moyers is quoted as saying President Bush’s election of 2004 was backed by those who support the apocalypse as being a political force. His assessment is that the invasion of
“In assessing the 2004 Presidential elections, political analyst Bill Moyers attributed President Bush’s victory to “many who have made the apocalypse a powerful driving force in modern American politics…the invasion of Iraq was for them a warm up act, predicted in the Book of Revelation…war with Islam in the Middle East is not something to be feared but welcomed – an essential conflagration on the road to redemption. (106)” Page 33 paragraph 1.
The above statement is pure slander against pre-millennial believers. I write and speak about Armageddon. I have spoke in numerous churches, seminars, radio and TV shows for decades, and no one who I ever spoke with welcomes a war with Islam or favored the war in
Major Stuckert then speculates that the American government, in the hands of pre-millennialists, will cause strategic hubris and increasingly reckless international actions. He even states there are secret communications that presidents use in thinly coded phrases to “heighten biblical resonance” with pre-millennial believers. This is done by presidents so they don’t look overly bigoted or intolerant:
“Dispensational pre-millennialism and its attendant apocalyptic worldview will have numerous foreign policy and security implications for the
I have never received secretly coded messages from any president. How could a report with concepts like this ever be accepted by the United States Army Command and General College! What kind of standards does this college have? The entire credibility of the
The problem is that this was written by a major for SAMS, and not a freshman at some community college. What the Major and SAMS have undertaken in this report is extremely serious for the integrity of this college and the military.
In an attempt to build this grand conspiracy of pre-millennialists taking over the American government, the Major delves into the religion of his Commander and Chief George Bush to link him to this “evil conspiracy.” The President belongs to a Methodist denomination which does not adhere to the millennialist doctrine, so a way was found to make the link:
“In the case of President George W. Bush, his own Methodist church released a press statement shortly after his election pointing out that the new President’s views and policies had much more in common with the Southern Baptist Convention than the United Methodist Church.(162)” Page 49 paragraph 1
The Major’s delving into his Commander and Chief’s personal religious beliefs in an attempt to link him to a religious group that wants to start World War III is one more facet of insubordination. He is trying to undercut the credibility and trustworthiness of the president. This is extremely dangerous for the military to attack the President as it could cause a serious morale problem.
Major Stuckert then widens his attack on civilian authority by focusing on John Ashcroft, the Attorney General of the
“Pre-millennial interpretations of biblical prophecy that predict the emergence of a one-world government led by an anti-Christ causes distrust and even antagonism toward organizations like the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the European Union, NAFTA and OPEC.170 Reflecting on her time as U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Madeleine Albright notes that many of her efforts were frustrated because the U.N. was widely perceived as playing the denouncing the U.N.“villain’s role” as the architect of world government by many American Christians.171 Albright goes on to explain that she constantly found herself “on the defensive” and, as a functionary within the U.N., was perceived by many as “quite literally – the devil’s advocate.”172 The Christian right constantly works to undermine the U.N. One particularly noteworthy example was a videotape produced by Phyllis Schlafly’s Eagle Forum titled Global Governance: The Quiet War Against American Independence, which prominently featured future Attorney General John Ashcroft173 174” Page 53 paragraph 1
When reading this thesis, one would think that Schlafly was a pre-millennialist. Apparently, the Major did not know that she is a Catholic. What started out as an attack against pre-millennialists has now expanded to the Catholics’ religion.
Why is the Major so upset with the millennialists’ suspicions of the United Nations and other international organizations? The UN is to be feared as it has become a forum for despots like Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela and Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. It has been used to denounce the
The thesis continues with this theme of the millennialists’ antagonism toward the UN. The Major seems to think that the UN is a check on American power, and he claims the millennialists resent this! It appears to the Major that the UN is a good force for controlling the runaway pre-millennialist who controlled an
“While conservatives in the
The Bush administration has sought to undermine the U.N. and has angered many foreign diplomats in the process. In the eyes of many American Christians, President Bush’s actions to distance the
A major in the
The Major then moves to the relationship between the
“Due to the influence of pre-millennialism, there is great distrust of
All the Major had to do was ask the Georgians, Estonians, Poles, Ukrainians and a host of other nations about trusting the Russians. Vladimir Putin was a high ranking officer in the KGB and all his political opponents have been killed or eliminated.
“Pre-millennialism will likely push
Beyond unnecessary defense expenditures, the lack of cooperation and partnership has far-reaching policy implications for the
The Major again criticizes the civilian leadership as a tool of the pre-millennialists that could lead to a global disaster. It appears to the Major that Bible believing pre-millennial Christians are the scourge of the earth. It appears that pure evil is centered in us. That we hold back world peace and are setting the course for world turmoil. The Major then adds to this view:
“Beyond the obvious problems of policy in the Middle East, pre-millennialism will increasingly place the
Apparently, the major thinks that
The report ends with Conclusions and Recommendations. The report states that because of pre-millennialism the American military has a difficult task of translating religiously tinged policy into successful strategy and operations:
“There is a tendency on the part of Americans to view foreign policy and international affairs as a “clash of moral opposites.”186 This tendency may make it difficult for
It appears that just the Major and SAMS have this problem. What is so difficult about the strategy to defeat Saddam Hussein or the Taliban? Congress declared war on
This next statement appears to be one of the most dangerous in the report. It is part of the previous quote, but it needs to be highlighted. The Major states that because of pre-millennialism military leaders have difficulty seeing the government of the
“Because of the influence of pre-millennialism, it can be difficult for military leaders to see themselves and their government accurately and state policy goals objectively.” Page 58 paragraph 2.
This statement is extremely unsettling. If war is declared by Congress against
He then states that pre-millennialism can lead to emotional and mental problems such as pessimism and paranoia.
“Pessimism and paranoia are two possible results of pre-millennial influence. This can lead to inaccurate assessments on the part of military leaders and planners. In the Capstone Concept for Joint Operations, the Joint Staff describes the near-term future as one characterized by “a pervasive sense of global insecurity.188” Page 59 paragraph 2
The pessimism and paranoia can be seen in this report. The Major reported that pre-millennialist are receiving coded messages from the president and are engaged in a conspiracy to take over the federal government. We are preventing world peace, while using the military to lead the
He then goes on to close with a blistering attack on millennialists and
“With or without the efforts of adversaries, American millennialism may increase the fragility of or even disrupt coalitions. Finally, adversaries could easily transform an understanding American pre-millennialism into a highly effective set of information operations themes and messages or psychological operations efforts to achieve a variety of results with American leadership or the population at large. By recognizing these potential vulnerabilities, American strategists can take action now to mitigate the effects.” Page 60 paragraphs 1
He ends the report the way he began with urgent need to act now. The report suggests that American strategists act now to mitigate the effects of pre-millennialism on
Should the government act now with a propaganda campaign against them? What are the actions strategists should take to correct this dire situation? Should detention camps be built to contain them, if the situation should get dire? What does the Major suggest, if a president holds these views? Should the army refuse his orders?
The Major then ends by continuing this blistering attack but broadens it to Americans in general because the nation has been under the influence of millennialism. Millennialists and by extension Americans cannot clearly appraise reality:
“Judis points out that, for the same reasons, millennialism is usually “at odds with the empirical method that goes into appraising reality, based on a determination of means and ends.”192 As demonstrated by American history, millennialism has predisposed us toward stark absolutes, overly simplified dichotomies and a preference for revolutionary or cataclysmic change as opposed to gradual processes. In other words, American strategists tend to rely too much on broad generalizations, often incorrectly cast in terms of ‘good’ and ‘evil,’ and seek the fastest resolution to any conflict rather than the most thoughtful or patient one.193” Page 61
It appears in the Major’s thinking it is dangerous to think in terms of “good and evil.” When the
Special Attention Given to
"Hear the word of the LORD, O nations, and declare it in the coastlands far away; say, 'He who scattered
The report gets to the heart of the main issues with pre-millennialism and that is the State of Israel. This is one of the main focuses of this report, so I centralized the sections about
“I will examine the interaction between World War I and the emerging ideas of pre-millennialism and the subsequent influence of this philosophy on shifting
The thesis accurately shows the connection that pre-millennial believers make between the modern state of
“Pre-millennialists in
“At the heart of
“Two motivations for support of
“The interests of American Christians in the
The major believes that problems between the EU and
The Europeans built the Iraqi nuclear reactor which
Hezbollah is a terrorist organization that was transplanted from
The problem is not with the
The report claims that
“Perhaps more significantly, the timing of the shift in spending was at the crest renewed interest in dispensational pre-millennialism ignited by Jewish success in the Six Days and Arab-Israeli wars followed by the publication of Hal Lindsey’s Late Great Planet Earth.
What the Major failed to understand was that
The aid to
The report then goes on to question the military assistance:
“The State Department’s official position is that a militarily strong
This is a very puzzling statement. This is a political decision and has nothing to do with the American military. It is the President of the
The Major then takes SAMS into a political minefield with an extremely dangerous analysis of the
“Millennialism is an important consideration when evaluating or implementing
Who is Major Stuckert to say the
The major continues this attack on American diplomacy by stating millennialism may undermine
“Since the
What a myopic understanding of history the major has. Pre-millennialists are against
In 2005 under pressure from President Bush,
The problem is not with
The major continues this tirade against pre-millennialism by accurately identifying how dangerous
“The
Once again the Major’s lack of understanding of world history and events is astonishing. In 1979 the Iranians attacked the
The problem rests with
The
“While unpleasant and unpopular, military intervention in the Middle East will be seen as a Christian duty in support of
What can be said about the above paragraph? I read this thesis in utter amazement as it seems impossible an officer in the United States Army would write it, and then it was signed off by SAMS!
I do support
Conclusions
The Military
After studying and evaluating this thesis, one question about Major Stuckert leaps out. With such a jaded view of
There is a distinct possibility that, if Major Stuckert’s thinking is wide-spread throughout the military that a “Fifth Column” may be building against the civilian authority of the
The review of both Professor Challans’ interview and book revealed treasonous views about
I spoke with Colonel Banach who defended this thesis based on free speech grounds. From my conversation with the colonel, I obtained the distinct impression he was in agreement with its contents.
The most dangerous reason to believe a “Fifth Column” developed are the direct statements of Professor Challans. At the end of his treasonous interview, he stated that his views are out in the open and no one questions him. If this is accepted thinking, then SAMS definitely is fertile ground for a cabal. This is what he said during his interview:
The feedback has been positive, from students and colleagues. Nobody has approached me to challenge me on anything I've said. I think the time is right for a moral dialogue of the sort I'm trying to carry out, one that can be critical enough to help us better understand where we've been, what we're doing, and where we're going.
At the end of Professor Challans’ book he claims to have guarded optimism because of the graduates from the
“I end with guarded optimism, for the warrior is awakening. Some warriors are beginning to think about war and morality in a serious way. Some are even thinking about means and ends in a more intellectually robust way. For example, planners who were involved in the current war in Iraq, who had been graduates of the School of Advanced Military Studies, such as Colonel Kevin Benson, had done some serious planning for the phase of the operation after the kinetic phase” Page 185 paragraph 2
“But since the days of invincible ignorance are gone (the medieval separation between the political and military spheres), we need a revolution in discourse so there are legitimate avenues of public reason and disagreement, dissent, and disobedience within the war machine. We need a healthier culture so that people know when and where they can speak out, disobey, walk away, or even resign in protest.” Page 185-86
Prior to November 2009, no American would believe that a major was giving an Islamic Jihadist PowerPoint presentation to military personnel. He was reported, but the military authorities failed to take action. This resulted in the death of 13 American soldiers and dozens wounded. The warnings signs were there, but the military refused to act until it was too late.
I presented this detailed documentation to show that there is a serious problem with treason and insubordination at the
Pre-Millennialism
It is very obvious that Major Stuckert has a good understanding of the pre-millennial belief system. His following of history from the early church until today is rather good except for some negative twists. He has clearly shown that pre-millennial doctrine was not recently contrived, but established in history.
He shows how pre-millennialism came to the forefront after the Civil War and how the prophecies in the Bible about the rebirth of Israel, a one world government, and Russia as a world power were preached long before it came to pass.
This report accurately showed this, and yet the Major attacks the authority of the Bible. Strategic Implications of American Millennialism, in a rather strange way, is a testament to the authority of the Bible through fulfilled prophecy. The reason a report like this could be written is that Bible prophecy is relevant to the current world situation! The Major clearly showed in this report, by the accurate use of Scriptures, that the Bible is very relevant for today. The problem then is that the Major and the staff at SAMS do not believe that Bible, and thus this thesis was written in total unbelief of the Bible.
There is no nation on earth like
The ancient Hebrew prophets wrote of dispersion and restoration of the Jewish people and Major Stuckert used wonderful Bible verses to show this. I quote the major:
"Hear the word of the LORD, O nations, and declare it in the coastlands far away; say, 'He who scattered
Coinciding with the rebirth of
The problem with this report is the major does not understand how prophecy is going to come to pass. Almost all pre-millennialist writers and preaches believe that
At the battle of Armageddon, it is the presence of Jesus Christ at His Second Coming that destroys this massive army. I hope that
Zechariah 14:12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
Pre-millennialist believers do not want to start unilateral wars to save
The major was correct in showing that pre-millennial believers support the nation of
I already mentioned that in a rather strange way this report gives validity to the authority of Bible as God’s word. The major does write about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ which is a significant part of the Gospel. This report contains enough truth that a neutral observer could see how relevant Bible prophecy is. Because of the scriptures that were used and Second Coming of the Lord Jesus was articulated, I have to end the way I think the Apostle Paul would:
Philippians 1:15 Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will: (16) The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely … (18) … whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.
In my book As
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