Military Coup d'etat in the United States: "The authors include in the book's Appendixes the full text of several documents that are critically important for understanding why and how Guantanamo occurred. The most important is Military Order No. 1. This is not a widely disseminated document, for very good reasons. Signed by Bush on 13 November 2001, it confirms that he used 9/11 as a pretext to proclaim a national emergency, which in turn enabled him to confer upon himself extraordinary war powers, without the consent of Congress or the Judiciary. Through Military Order No. 1, and other powers vested in him as commander-in-chief, Bush, in effect, has staged a military coup d'etat. He has taken America back to a time prior to the Constitution, when the military ruled the country.

"Through Military Order No. 1, Bush has given himself the authority 1) to identify terrorists and 'those who support them' and 2) to detain 'individuals subject to this order' in horrid places like Guantanamo. People subject to this order need only have harbored people who threaten to harm our 'citizens, national security, foreign policy, or economy.' This applies to anyone Bush has a personal grudge against, like Saddam Hussein. Bush has only to write a note telling his deputies to get someone in order to condemn that someone to a life of endless persecution and/or death.

"Military Order No. 1 also allows Bush to form 'tribunals' or 'commissions' to try alleged terrorists under military, not civilian law, despite the fact that terrorism is 'not a violation of military law or the laws of war,' as Ratner explains. The military tribunals have 'exclusive jurisdiction,' and individuals subject to Military Order No. 1 are denied due process not only in the US, but also in any foreign court or international tribunal. Apart from any document or law, and in violation of treaties and the supreme law of the land, Bush has exempted himself and his deputies from any existing international laws of war, such as the Geneva Conventions."

Military Coup d'etat in the United States: "The authors include in the book's Appendixes the full text of several documents that are critically important for understanding why and how Guantanamo occurred. The most important is Military Order No. 1. This is not a widely disseminated document, for very good reasons. Signed by Bush on 13 November 2001, it confirms that he used 9/11 as a pretext to proclaim a national emergency, which in turn enabled him to confer upon himself extraordinary war powers, without the consent of Congress or the Judiciary. Through Military Order No. 1, and other powers vested in him as commander-in-chief, Bush, in effect, has staged a military coup d'etat. He has taken America back to a time prior to the Constitution, when the military ruled the country.

"Through Military Order No. 1, Bush has given himself the authority 1) to identify terrorists and 'those who support them' and 2) to detain 'individuals subject to this order' in horrid places like Guantanamo. People subject to this order need only have harbored people who threaten to harm our 'citizens, national security, foreign policy, or economy.' This applies to anyone Bush has a personal grudge against, like Saddam Hussein. Bush has only to write a note telling his deputies to get someone in order to condemn that someone to a life of endless persecution and/or death.

"Military Order No. 1 also allows Bush to form 'tribunals' or 'commissions' to try alleged terrorists under military, not civilian law, despite the fact that terrorism is 'not a violation of military law or the laws of war,' as Ratner explains. The military tribunals have 'exclusive jurisdiction,' and individuals subject to Military Order No. 1 are denied due process not only in the US, but also in any foreign court or international tribunal. Apart from any document or law, and in violation of treaties and the supreme law of the land, Bush has exempted himself and his deputies from any existing international laws of war, such as the Geneva Conventions."