When Professor Harold M. Hyman, of Rice University, took it upon himself to use The Huntsville Item editorial page to attack the position and the character of Army Specialist Michael New, he did not bother to get his facts straight. Let us not be subtle in stating that Hyman's editorial is nothing less than a hatchet job and is full of either mistakes or lies.
Hyman intertwines two incidents, and very incorrectly concludes that they are related. First, the military conviction of disobeying an order, then the civilian conviction of improperly obtaining a prescription for a pain-killing drug.
In the first instance, Spc. Michael New did, indeed, willfully disobey a direct order to wear a United Nations Uniform. He did so on the advice of legal counsel and with support from over 40 Congressmen who agreed with his stand. A former deputy assistant secretary of defense asked for the privilege of defending this soldier in advance of his disobeying the order.
Michael New disobeyed the order to serve under foreign officers in a foreign (and unauthorized) uniform because he believed then, as he does now, that no government on earth can force an American citizen to serve a foreign power against their will. To do so is to destroy the entire concept of the sovereign citizen and the sovereign nation.
Hyman, if he has studied history, ought to be able to recognize a return to the feudalistic power of the liege lord to send his vassals off to fight as mercenaries under foreign powers and principalities. If that issue was not settled at Runnymeade in 1215, it certainly was in the American War of Independence.
In the second instance, Hyman fabricates an entire myth about an alleged defense that some lawyer is making on Michael New's behalf. There is no such defense.
Michael New became addicted, while under a doctor's care, to a specific pain killer, during an ordeal that included three unsuccessful and excruciating operations. While under the influence, he has admitted that he self-prescribed, which is against the law. He has been placed on probation by a court of law. There is no appeal pending.
Both instances have been dealt with, and like many other people, including wives of presidents and famous football quarterbacks, Michael has struggled through the lonely road from an addiction to a prescription drug. We have not hidden the story. It is on our website for all to read, at http://www.mikenew.com. The truth should be told, even when it is painful, and we have done so.
Hyman, in the meantime, should consider teaching the writing of fiction, rather than history, at Rice University.
The United Nations and the New World Order are a growing trend in international governance and politics. It may well be an irreversible trend. Americans may be willing to give up their national sovereignty in exchange for becoming citizens in the global village, but if they do, they must understand that one world government is the very antithesis of sovereign nation-states, and both cannot co-exist. It's one or the other.
As of January, 2000, the United Nations Army became a reality. It's only a small start, but Denmark has placed 6,000 soldiers at the disposal of the United Nations policy around the world. It is called a Standby High Readiness Brigade (SHIRBRIG) and is described on its own website at http://www.shirbrig.dk.
The United States Congress has a bill proposed by Rep. McGovern (Mass.), HR 4453, proposing that we supply our own 6,000-man brigade to the United Nations. So the UN Army is growing.
And after each country supplies a brigade of once-sovereign citizens to the UN as mercenaries, it is expected to then reduce its own armies by such a percentage that it can no longer wage war, reducing them to a size necessary to suppress internal dissent. (See State Department Document 7277 for documentation.)
This is no conspiracy. This is official U.S. government policy for over 50 years and is available in public libraries and government publications. It will continue to be official policy no matter who is elected president this fall.
Hyman is welcome to his opinion that it is time for America to submit to a higher power of one world government. While we remain a free country, that's one of the great things about America. But we think that most Americans don't agree with him.
If Hyman has an ax to grind with Michael New, we don't understand why, since we have never met, and we are not aware of having ever offended him. If Hyman is seeking the truth, we wonder why we have never heard from him, asking for materials which present our side of the story.
Far be it from us to believe that a conspiracy is afoot, but if we were to learn that Hyman is being paid by the Department of Defense to publicly slander and libel Michael New, it would be consistent with what we have seen from his pen.
We invite Dr. Hyman to get the facts before embarking upon his crusade to belittle with lies and half-truths a patriotic American with whom he disagrees.
