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Sgt Schultz
08-02-2004, 03:02 PM
Take The Commander In Chief Test

First question: You're George Washington in 1776. You've lost every battle. The revolution seems a bust. Your spies tell you that the British officers are wintering in Trenton. You think that means that the Germans are going to get falling-down drunk on Christmas Eve and sleep it off the next morning. However, they are the world's best soldiers and they'll beat you if they're awake, sober or not. Also the Delaware River is full of ice, and your guys have no food or shoes. Many New Jerseyites are Tories who might rat you out. Do you roll the dice to change the course of the war, figuring the Germans don't like fighting on Christmas, or do you wait for springtime rather than risk what little is left of the Continental Army?

Second Question: If you're Abe Lincoln in 1863, General Lee has crossed into the North, but no one knows where he's going. The Union Army has been beaten in most every battle so far, and if you lose on your own ground, the Union is likely lost to the South. Do you keep the Army away from Lee until he gets tired and heads back South, or do you send General Meade out looking for Lee even if they find that rascal in some cross-roads town in Pennsylvania called Gettysburg? What do you do?

Third Question: You are the duty officer in Honolulu, December 7, 1941. Two soldiers manning the newly invented radar call to report a lot of blips on the screen. Headquarters had already advised you to expect a flight of American bombers from California that morning. So do you sound the alarm to the fleet? Do you scramble the fighter planes and hope Rear Admiral Kimmel and General Short don't yell at you if you're wrong, or tell the radar guys their shift is ending anyway and not to worry about it?

Fourth Question: You are Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1939. You've received a letter from the famous quirky physicist Albert Einstein recommending building an atomic bomb in order to beat the Nazis to the punch. Not really knowing what an atomic bomb is and not yet at war, do you ask Congress to study the matter and ask your intelligence operation to confirm if the Nazis are building one of these weapons themselves, or do you order secret development with money skimmed from other projects and hidden through phony congressional appropriations?

Fifth Question: You are Admiral Nimitz in 1942. Navy intelligence intercepted coded messages they reveal shows Japanese plans to steal the American island of Midway, but they also tell you Japanese could be planning attacks elsewhere. You know that banking on Midway would leave the door open elsewhere. Do you risk your aircraft carriers that escaped the Pearl Harbor attack perhaps leaving no U.S. Fleet in the Pacific, or do you try catching the Imperial Fleet flat-footed and reverse the course of the war at Midway?

Sixth Question: You are Dwight Eisenhower in June of 1944. Your weatherman tells you he sees a break in the bad weather and a narrow window for your landing forces to get on the beaches of Normandy. You hope, but you can't confirm that allied disinformation has convinced Hitler the real invasion will be north. Do you risk a quarter million troops and the possibility of a stalemate in Europe, or do you say, "Let's go," rather than wait another month or two for D Day? Remember, there's no turning back.

Seventh Question: You're also Eisenhower in December 1944. Intelligence says the Germans are on the run. They're low on gasoline and ammo. The men deserve a break, and many officers want to leave for Christmas in Paris. How can the Germans possibly break through that dense forest? Knowing what we know from test question one, the Germans don't like to fight on Christmas. Do you ignore the intelligence and figure that Hitler will try to catch you with your pants down and inflict on the American Army its worst-ever disaster?

Eighth Question: You are Harry Truman in August of 1945. FDR's atomic bomb recommended by Einstein is tested successfully, and you have two more of bombs ready to use. The scientists who build the bomb are opposing its use. Intelligence reports suggest the Japanese are starving and on their last legs ready to talk turkey. American bombers are already turning many Japanese cities into cinders. Do you secretly advise the Japanese they can surrender now before you drop the bomb, or do you drop the bomb and ask questions later?

Ninth Question: You are JFK in the fall of 1962. The intelligence community gives you aerial photos they believe show Soviet missile installations built in Cubea, but they do not know how close they are to being operational, whether they're armed with nuclear warhead or whether the crews and workers are Soviets. Do you go on TV and threaten mass evacuation, set up a naval quarantine risking World War III, or do you work behind the scenes at the UN, get more information and try to convince the Soviets they've done the wrong thing?

Tenth Question: You are President Bush in early 2003, just months after September 11 and anthrax. The Clinton administration had indicited Osama bin Laden citing ties to Saddam Hussein and had bombed a suspected bioweapons in Sudan with ties to Iraq. Intelligence suggests that terrorists met with others in Prague. UN weapons inspectors are being frustrated in Iraq. British intelligence says Saddam was trying to buy uranium in Africa. Saddam invaded Kuwait a decade before. He had used chemical weapons on his own people. One of the perpetrators of first World Trade Center bombing had taken refuge in Baghdad. Families of Palestinian suicide bombers were paid by Iraq. The CIA Director originally appointed by Clinton tells you it's "a slam-dunk" that Saddam has weapons of mass destruction. The French are opposed to war with Iraq, but their intelligence service believe Iraq still has weapons of mass destruction. Russian President Putin opposed to war with Iraq tells you Russian intelligence believes Iraq has plans for terror assaults in the US. . Hosny Mubarak, President of Egypt, tells General Tommy Franks that Saddam Hussein has chemical weapons and he would probably use them on American troops if ever invaded. King Abdullah informs General Tommy Franks that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction. Most of the CIA contacts in Iraq are murdered. Do you wait to get more spies in the country to confirm the other intelligence, or do you first go to Congress for a resolution supporting the use of force and then use the force?

Special Bonus Essay Question: President (plug in the name of your choice here) in February 2005. The CIA and South Korean and Japanese intelligence agree that radio traffic and satellite photos of North Korea, where no one has human spy assets, is facing a famine, and that it has massed troops to invade South Korea in a few days, after smuggling a nuclear bomb into a major Japanese city to blackmail Japan and the U.S. Into giving them, North Korea, a free hand. What do you do?

The answer to none of these is "Call the United Nations.”

BigBadBrian
08-02-2004, 08:58 PM
OK, I got 'em all right. How'd everyone else do? FORD? JA? Cock? :rolleyes: Elvis? Others?

JCOOK
08-02-2004, 10:06 PM
I gottem all too. Heres question 11 Monica walks into your office with a pizza--- not just any pizza A fucking deep dish supreme with xtra xtra cheese what do you do?

John Ashcroft
08-02-2004, 10:35 PM
Heh heh heh...

Now that was funny J!

A little perspective on the priorities of serious administrations vs. our last one.

knuckleboner
08-02-2004, 11:09 PM
Originally posted by Sgt Schultz


Fourth Question: You are Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1939. You've received a letter from the famous quirky physicist Albert Einstein recommending building an atomic bomb in order to beat the Nazis to the punch.


actually, the real story is that there was this (well known in physics circles, but i've forgotten his name) scientist, who i believe was a german jew, though he could've been just a polish national. anyways, he believes the U.S. should go forward with a-bomb research. but he realizes that he doesn't have the pull. so he writes his buddy, albert einstein, and asks him to write the letter to FDR.

now, al's a smart guy (hell, his e=mc^2 is the basis for the destructive power of an a-bomb), so he didn't just write a blind letter.

but it wasn't his idea.




as for the U.N....foreign policy isn't always quite so straightforward. occasionally, international cooperation has its benefits...

lucky wilbury
08-02-2004, 11:52 PM
this letter

lucky wilbury
08-02-2004, 11:54 PM
pt 2

JCOOK
08-03-2004, 12:16 AM
Gentlemen -- We are talking Monica in a black thong with a pizza, deep dish supreme may I remind you but with xtra xtra cheese!

John Ashcroft
08-03-2004, 08:58 AM
Any cigars in the mix?

knuckleboner
08-03-2004, 10:45 AM
yeah, lucky, i think it was the szilard guy who contacted einstein.




and COOK, i'm not a big fan of mushrooms or onions on pizza. why not just make it a meat lovers? after all, monica gets her own meat...