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 Oscar Rechtschaffen
Prime Time Columnist
Week of January 30, 2006
Who plays God in the 21st century - A 50-step anti-terrorist strategy
A fond farewell: Welcome to retirement
When the press at Prime Time Newspapers stopped this morning, it ended a legacy of professionalism, great knowledge and relentless patriotism, as today is the last column by our long-time friend and colleague Mr. Oscar "Rex" Rechtschaffen.
He has chosen to end his career with Prime Time Newspapers to retire and spend more time with family and friends.
Rechtschaffen was hired by William A. Johnson in 1989 to write a weekly column for the Daily Commercial Recorder. Over the years Oscar's weeklies have varied from light-hearted columns of newfound medical miracles to the very serious topics of terrorism and war. His columns have been very influential in shaping the criminal justice system and some of his own ideas have been implemented by local and state government.
Throughout his career, Oscar has made fighting terrorism and crime his passion. He's worked with many key local agencies to help, in his words, "make San Antonio the safest city in the country."
Now on the day of his departure, colleagues past and present wish to thank Oscar for his highly professional and dedicated work and let him know that he will be missed!
~The Staff of the Daily Commercial Recorder
It's easy to berate and ridicule our government for its blunders and confusing strategy in fighting terrorism. I, therefore, always ask myself, Who am I, sitting deep in the heart of Texas, deprived of classified documents, deprived of associating with terrorist experts who appear nightly on television, deprived of discussing the issues with the most respected officials in the government, deprived of contact with America's most respected generals, admirals, foreign policy experts, academic intellectuals and, above all, our "all-knowing" talk-show hosts on radio and television - to complete my sentence - who am I to propose measures to save our country from destruction?
For decades, the American public, including our elected and appointed officials failed to understand that international terrorism is a new form of warfare that threatens the basic fabric of all free societies and the rule of law under which free people live. Terrorism assaults the very existence of the civilized world, in order to combat this spreading malaise, I recommended that the U.S. and other free nations adopt firm policies and vigorously pursue the barbarians before they strike, not simply afterwards.
The war against terrorism is a war between freedom and tyranny, a war between religious extremism and religious tolerance, a war between murderers of innocent men, women and children and those who respect the dignity of all human beings, a war between savages and decent human beings.
As the great British writer Somerset Maugham once wrote: "If a nation values anything more than freedom, it will lose its freedom; and the irony of it is that if it is the comfort or money that it values more, it will lose that too." Unfortunately, those who have never been required to make sacrifices for freedom do not understand the true value of freedom.
In 1981, a four-man panel of experts on international terrorism concluded that the U.S. cannot cope with escolating worldwide terrorism and lacks a sound government policy to fight it. Little has changed since 1981. We still lack a coherent and effective policy. The panel declared, "We need a change - more effective measures. Carlos the Jackel should be on the tip of the tongue of every high school student. Even our politicians don't know (who he is). . ."
The panel was right on target. In my college classes in the year 2002, practically no one could identify Carlos the Jackel (now in a French prison) but everyone could identify Al Capone.
Nearly 30 years ago, in 1976, the National Advisory Committee on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals, published its report on "Disorders and Terrorism." It is the best and most comprehensive study ever produced by a governmental agency in this important field. Nevertheless, the report has been generally ignored and is now gathering dust on library shelves.
"Disorders and Terrorism" should be-come mandatory reading for every government official at local, state and national levels. Since it also involves non-governmental agencies, private institutions and every citizen of this country, it should be widely disseminated.
What is so disturbing is that the dangers facing our country have been known for decades and were reaffirmed in 2002 when a team of scholars from one of the most re-spected research institutions - The Brookings Institutions - warned (Source: Washington Post):
"A million people could die if terrorists launch a biological attack that widely disperses smallpox, anthrax, ebola or other agents, according to an analysis of the damage that could be caused by weapons of mass destruction.
"The Bush administration should concentrate homeland security efforts on similar doomsday terrorist scenarios that have the potential for causing the largest number of deaths.
"The study estimated that 100,000 people would die if a nuclear bomb hit a major U.S. city and that 10,000 would perish in a successful attack on a nuclear or toxic chemical plant. If weapons of mass destruction were directed against the shipping industry, the report said, the economy could suffer up to $1 trillion in losses."
In the 80s and 90s, I became more and more convinced that this nation was on the road to doom, unless we develop a viable anti-terrorist policy. I expressed my views in scores of articles published nationwide and developed a comprehensive plan to eradicate the terrorist threat.
A 50-step anti-terrorist strategy: The Rechtschaffen plan
The Daily Commercial Recorder on July 10 and 17, 1995, published "Rechtschaffens 50-Step Anti-Terrorist Strategy" in which I proposed tough new measures to prevent, combat and eventually reduce terrorism to a minor nuisance.
My anti-terrorist strategy was widely distributed and was reprinted in several publications, including the Texas Police Journal and The Officer Review, a publication of the Military Order of the World Wars.
The response to my proposals was met with total silence and indifference by government agencies at all levels.
The results, unfortunately, have been tragic. I have no hesitation in claiming that the adoption of my 50-step strategy would have prevented the killing of thousands of people in recent terrorist attacks against Americans at home and overseas.
I am not Nostradamus, but I am firmly convinced that we will experience many more terrorist attacks in the not-to-distant future that will make the Sept. 11 suicide bombings look miniscule. I sincerely hope that I'll be proven incorrect.
Dear President Bush
As Commander-in-Chief and President of this great nation, I strongly recommend that you mobilize the manpower and resources of the most powerful nation on earth, just as Roosevelt did in the Second World War.
You must inform the public of the true dangers our nation faces without creating massive fear. You must offer an anti-terrorist strategy that will assure the American people that we are prepared for any eventuality.
The Rechtschaffen 50-step anti-terrorist strategy would be a good start!
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