Did you know the U.S. military is under the control of the Catholic Church ...

... and run by operatives from the Knights of Malta and Opus Dei?

No? Fortunately for you, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for The New Yorker is working hard to expose it all. The Foreign Policy magazine blog reports, "In a speech billed as a discussion of the Bush and Obama eras, New Yorker journalist Seymour Hersh delivered a rambling, conspiracy-laden diatribe here Monday expressing his disappointment with President Barack Obama and his dissatisfaction with the direction of U.S. foreign policy":

He also charged that U.S. foreign policy had been hijacked by a cabal of neoconservative "crusaders" in the former vice president's office and now in the special operations community.

"What I'm really talking about is how eight or nine neoconservative, radicals if you will, overthrew the American government. Took it over," he said of his forthcoming book. "It's not only that the neocons took it over but how easily they did it -- how Congress disappeared, how the press became part of it, how the public acquiesced."

Hersh then brought up the widespread looting that took place in Baghdad after the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003. "In the Cheney shop, the attitude was, ‘What's this? What are they all worried about, the politicians and the press, they're all worried about some looting? ... Don't they get it? We're gonna change mosques into cathedrals. And when we get all the oil, nobody's gonna give a damn.'"

"That's the attitude," he continued. "We're gonna change mosques into cathedrals. That's an attitude that pervades, I'm here to say, a large percentage of the Joint Special Operations Command."

He then alleged that Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who headed JSOC before briefly becoming the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, and his successor, Vice Adm. William McRaven, as well as many within JSOC, "are all members of, or at least supporters of, Knights of Malta."

Hersh may have been referring to the Sovereign Order of Malta, a Roman Catholic organization commited to "defence of the Faith and assistance to the poor and the suffering," according to its website.

"Many of them are members of Opus Dei," Hersh continued. "They do see what they're doing -- and this is not an atypical attitude among some military -- it's a crusade, literally. They seem themselves as the protectors of the Christians. They're protecting them from the Muslims [as in] the 13th century. And this is their function."

"They have little insignias, these coins they pass among each other, which are crusader coins," he continued. "They have insignia that reflect the whole notion that this is a culture war. … Right now, there’s a tremendous, tremendous amount of anti-Muslim feeling in the military community.”"

Read the entire post. Over on the NRO's main blog, "The Corner," Jonah Goldberg remarks: "Dan Brown call your office." Indeed. Perhaps Hersh could ghostwrite Brown's next novel (since Brown is currently busy writing the screen play for his last novel, The Lost Symbol), and it could be titled, The Mighty Knights of Military Malta. Nah...how about The Papist's Crusading Code. Ugh. One more: The Crusader's Coins and the Mystery of the Changing Mosques. Hmmmm. That sounds like an Encyclopedia Brown story. Wow, I guess it really does take talent to write that sort of shlock.

Okay, I give up. But you have to admit that if Hersh is correct, this means that the Vatican is far more devious and savvy than anyone could ever imagine. After all, many journalists have spent the past several years telling us about the ineptitude of the Vatican and the lack of control by the Pope within the Curia, and now we learn the Catholic Church is actually running the entire U.S. military! Impressive.

Wait a second—someone's at my front dooor. Oh, it's an albino monk. He's openin—aaaauuuuuuuuuuggggh!

Comments

[Leticia Velasquez]

So, I was all excited, for nothing?!

[Brad]

And yet no mosques became cathedrals and the US did not realize any net gain in oil supply or affordability.

I am not above conspiracy theories. I luxuriate in a few of my own. But most run opposite to this one: namely, things men do in this world tend to be anti-Christ, since the evil one has been given power over this world, according to the Father's plan (1 John 5). Thus, anything done in the name of Jesus, or his vicar, or his Church, is swell but comparatively rare e.g. turning mosques into cathedrals. Oh, but that didn't happen. Other way round!

[Joe McCarthy]

I think things that happen in the military are...Iraq wrong and Afghanistan amoral.

Being very Irish and perhaps a bit more radical Roman Catholic, it's not all that bad that we choose to want to have the word of Christ spread, in hindsight, I accept my faith. I have read the history of my faith, Europe and the alleged Crusades that were supposed Papal, in origin.

Opus Dei and the Knights of Malta are stand up Catholics, chastise all you want. In the reality of faith, you press on, the fear of this Catholic is the widespread apostasy of the corner Christians, cheer them all you want. I am not real happy with Vatican II and do look to the New Missal to bring us all back to the Catholic faith. There is more in life than just economic success, the salvation of our souls is still primary. Sic transit Gloria

[LaVallette]

Oh yes; that great Sovereign Military Order of the Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem, Rhodes and Malta under their Grandmaster, Jean Parisot de la Vallette, directing and controlling its plans for resistance to Islamic domination and saving Christian civilization, through its formidable basees at Forts St.Elmo and St. Angelo on the shores of the Grand Harbour on the Island of Malta. Oh hang on!!! That was nearly 450 years ago! But then some people take a long time to catch up?

[Kevin]

Wait. I was told that the cabal of neocons who hijacked the White House were Jews. Now it turns out they are Catholics? I'm confused. So the Vatican's opposition to the Iraq war was just a clever pretense! It's an anti-Muslim crusade to Westernize the Middle East. That's why the Vatican supports the Palestinians. Oh wait, I'm confused again. We need some magic bullet-type Vatican document to be discovered, just like everyone is looking for regarding the abuse scandal. Oh wait, here it is in my pile of Secret Opus Dei reading material: Protocols of the Learned Elders of Catholicism.

[M. Jordan Lichens]

Well, there goes my post-graduate school plans. I guess I'll have to get a real job rather than join a shadowy Papist cabal.

[Tony Layne]

I'm disappointed: Why were the Knights of Columbus left out of the loop? Oh, well ... I suppose we'll have to content ourselves with being the political action arm of the Church in the effort to repress women and gays.

[LJ]

We're gonna change mosques into cathedrals.

What a nifty idea.

One of the serious drawbacks of GW's democracy-for-all ideology was a serious lack of determination or even interest in ensuring minority religious protection. Sad to say, but if the reports I have heard are to be believed, Christians in Iraq are worse off now than when Saddam was in power.

In Afghanistan there seems to be little change for Christians under the current regime than under the Taliban. Converts from Islam are still under penalty of death, for example.

It seems Cheney, et al, were remarkably unsuccessful in executing their secret Catholic agenda.

[Kevin]

LJ- That and we're still waiting for the cheap oil too.

re: Iraqi Christians

[Donna]

What I find scary is that most of the commenters on the original article are criticizing Mr. Hounshell rather than Mr. Hersh. Apparently the former failed to prove that there is not an Opus Dei/Knights of Malta conspiracy, and so he is getting flak for not simply going along with Hersh's wackjob ideas.

[Frank Weathers]

Men in Black, er, White! White helicopters?! Yes, that's it...White Ops!

And there I was, all this time in the Marines, a mere lackey for the Church. If only I had known I could have...DONE MORE FOR HER!

[Dan Deeny]

Fascinating! Dr. Boettner warned us all! (That's supposed to be a joke.)