Allen West for Governor (or President?) of Texas

Yesterday (at a church service, no less) Texas politics exploded. Lt. Col. Allen West USA (retired) announced that he is running for Governor of Texas in the Republican primary. And so begins the most serious “primarying” effort against any establishment Republican in America today. But it also could put in place the one man who could make Texit – Texas independence – real.

Who is Allen West?

Allen West served his country in the United States Army since 1983. He did not come from West Point, but from Junior ROTC. After graduating from the University of Tennessee, he joined up at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. There he accepted field artillery officer training and then transferred to Fort Benning (Georgia) for parachute training.

The Hamoodi Incident

His military career ended famously in 2004 in Iraq. As a battalion commander, he ordered the arrest of an Iraqi police officer, after his S-2 suggested an Iraqi group planned to ambush his unit. The S-2 section used “enhanced interrogation” on their prisoner, Yehiya Kadoori Hamoodi. And when Hamoodi wouldn’t talk, Col. West walked up to him, drew his (unloaded) service automatic, placed the muzzle to Hamoodi’s forehead, and dry-fired. Hamoodi then sang whole arias. Placido Domingo couldn’t have done better.

And according to Col. West, those arias saved lives. One arrest did result, and West’s unit suffered no more attacks. Whether Hamoodi’s involvement was real or not, either West managed to foil a plot, or he scared someone else off. Either way, he had a decision to make, from uncertain information. That is what commanding officers do. So whether West was right or wrong about Hamoodi or the information he yielded, does not matter. What matters is that the Second Battalion of the 20^th Field Army Regiment had a CO brave enough to act.

Fox News tells us that Hamoodi later told The New York Times that he fed phony information just to avoid getting a live round between his eyes. CNAV will not link to the Times article, for two reasons:

1. The article lies behind a pay wall.
2. The New York Times has proved itself an unreliable institutional “witness” in other contexts.

The charges

In any case, the Army charged West under Articles 128 and 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, for:

• Assault against the prisoner, and
• Unnecessary use of force causing needless emotional pain.

At his Article 32 hearing, an interrogator asked West whether he would do it again. And West said:

If it’s about the lives of my soldiers at stake, I’d go through hell with a gasoline can.

West had to leave the Army over this incident and pay a fine of $5000. He didn’t face court-martial – because 95 Members of Congress wrote to the Secretary of the Army saying, “Don’t do it.”

This, then, is the kind of man now running for Governor of Texas at a time when Texans are catching secession fever.

In the House of Representatives

Allen West also represented Florida District 22 for a term (2011-13). Redistricting forced him to try to stay in the house from District 18. He lost. After that, he became a television commentator and contributor. Through that part of his life he made himself a consistent “anti-woke” advocate long before “woke” became a thing.

In 2019 he joined the Texas State Guard and also became chairman of the Republican Party of Texas. But in June 4 2021 he resigned his Chairmanship. Then, yesterday, he entered the Governor’s race. In his announcement, he said:

Now it is our time, it is our time to stand up and honor those words of Texas, Our Texas, and to secure the future for our children and our grandchildren, to make sure the growth, the opportunity, and the prosperity, the economic success that you see here in Texas, continues on.

Our time. Our Texas. See again the kind of man Allen West is.

What might Allen West really want?

Without the Texit complication, Allen West could have ambitions to be President of the United States. Serving as Governor of Texas would give him executive experience, and a solid base of support. He is challenging Governor Greg Abbott (R-Texas) in the primary because he doesn’t trust Abbott to “step up” for Texas. And Allen West knows a thing or two about stepping up! Witness his conduct in Iraq and his refusal, to this day, to apologize for that.

But Texit is a definite complication. When Rep. Kyle Biedermann (R-Fredericksburg, Gillespie Co., Texas) introduced his Texas Independence Referendum Act, West went on record in support.

[T]he People of Texas have the right to voice their opinion on this critical issue. Especially in light of the onerous, intrusive executive orders coming down from Vice President (sic) Joe Biden.

Allen West did not say how he would vote in such a referendum. Likely he would vote No, because in that same interview he said he would prefer that Texas “lead, not secede.”

The Texit crunch

But suppose that referendum takes place, and the people of Texas vote Yes? As Governor of Texas, Col. West at first wouldn’t have to do anything. The next step would be in the hands of the Lieutenant Governor and Speaker of the Texas House. Those two worthies would serve as co-chairs of a joint Texas Legislative committee on secession. That committee would recommend:

• Amendments to the Texas Constitution to recognize the rights Texans, like all Americans, have in the federal Constitution. Here CNAV speaks of rights, not allowances. The right to keep and bear arms would be the prize example.
• Concrete steps Texas would have to take to make secession real.

After the committee made its report, a Governor West would have to take some of those concrete steps. But in contrast to the Texit War Game, the crunch would come in the first year of:

1. Biden’s second term,
2. Kamala Harris’ first term, or, as American patriots hope,
3. Donald J. Trump’s second term—unless Governor West challenges Trump in the 2024 primary, or Trump dies. (Or lands in prison on some trumped-up charge, if readers will pardon the pun.)

If Donald J. Trump wins a non-consecutive second term, Texit “hibernates” yet again. But if Biden continues as President, or Harris displaces him, Texit sentiment rises to a fever pitch. And Governor Allen West would then have to make the most difficult decision of his life.

President Allen West of the Republic of Texas?

Allen West understands honor, perhaps better than anyone else in American or Texas politics today. (Yes, even better than Trump, though that’s a close call.) CNAV does not expect a Governor West to enter the Republican Presidential primary except under the most extraordinary circumstances. He spoke of “our Texas” in his campaign announcement, and when Allen West speaks, he means what he says.

So let us suppose that Allen West is Governor of Texas, the Texit Committee is in the middle of its deliberations and hearings – and President Biden (or President Harris) issues an executive order federalizing all elections of Presidential Electors, Senators, and Representatives. Suppose further that the same judicial cowardice that let allegations of election fraud go unexamined, rears its ugly head again. Under that circumstance, Biden or Harris wins election or re-election, and the Senate and House of Representatives flip Democrat and stay Democrat.

And under that circumstance, Governor Allen West stands on the Texas Capitol steps in Austin. The commandants of the Texas Army and Air National Guards, the Texas State Guard, and the Texas Rangers all flank him. And he announces that Texas unilaterally secedes from, and declares its independence of, a Union he once served but no longer recognizes.

Why would he do it?

Why would Allen West do and say such things? Because he understands honor – a commanding officer’s honor. True, he would be a reluctant commander. As above, he would likely vote No on a Texit referendum. But if the people vote Yes, he would likely take the command the people of Texas asked him to take.

Furthermore, he would be the best qualified person to turn the Texas Army and Air National Guards and State Guard into an effective unified fighting force. And he could even oversee the development of a Texas Navy—and Space Force.

Military industrial assets for a Republic of Texas

True, he would lack naval assets. Texas has only two very old, rusty museum ships. CNAV must now admit that no amount of effort, affordable or not, will ever make USS Texas BB-35 seaworthy again. USS Lexington CVT-16 is barely seaworthy herself.

But Texas does have a shipbuilding industry. The Texas State Historical Association tells us that this industry limits itself to building oil rigs and repairing existing ships. Nevertheless, Texas did build ships during World Wars I and II and could do so again.

Texas does have an aerospace industry. General Dynamics of Fort Worth, now part of Lockheed-Martin, is the obvious player. Less obvious is Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Company, or SpaceX. That company is now refurbishing two oil rigs as sea launch platforms. SpaceX is also developing an enormous rocket ship that the U.S. military is already looking to use for rapid deployment. A single “Starship” could carry two platoons of paratroopers, or a single mechanized platoon, anywhere in the world in half an hour.

Last of all, the new “Tesla Terafactory Texas” would give Texas an automotive industry. Tesla’s entry into the light-truck market, the Cybertruck, can already serve as an armored fighting vehicle. An Unauthorized Texas Militia could use it as such straight off the assembly line. The Texas National Guard could use a modified Cybertruck – and especially a Cyber Tank.

Qualifications of Allen West as Commander-in-chief of the Republic of Texas

Most importantly, examine the qualifications Allen West would bring to the Governorship of the State of Texas – or the Presidency of the Republic of Texas. The incumbent Governor, taking alarm at secession and primary fever, has announced steps to:

• Empower local sheriffs to arrest illegal aliens and detain and charge them under Texas law, and
• Finish the wall along the Rio Grande himself.

That second part is critical, because President Biden ordered wall contractors to down tools and go home on day one. This left breaches in the wall. And through those breaches, illegal aliens pour in every day.

A Governor West would pay more than the lip service Governor Abbott is likely paying. CNAV has said before: if Governor Abbott were serious, he would have seen to the passage of a specific law. Rep. Bryan Slaton (R-East Texas) introduced such a law, which Texas House leadership “chubbed” along with the Texit bill. A Governor West would see that bill through to passage.

An understanding of war

More to the point: Texit means war. Flat-out, blood-and-flames war. Who better to command in such a crisis than a seasoned battlefield commander?

There comes a time when a warrior understands that, maybe he has to go back, to pull out that sword, and do that exact same thing that a 26-year-old did at the Alamo. Yes, William Barrett Travis. When he drew a line in the sand, and he challenged the defenders at the Alamo to stand on the right stand of that line. I am now drawing my sword, and I would draw that line in the sand, and I will ask you to stand with me, to preserve the future, the legacy of Texas, to honor the words of our state song, to stand for something, or as my mother would say, not fall for anything.

Allen West said that in his campaign announcement. That he would invoke Travis’ name, and specify the Battle of the Alamo, speaks volumes. Note also what he calls himself: a warrior. In fact his is the fourth generation in his family to serve in the military.

All these considerations make Allen West the ideal choice as a Governor of a State – or a President of a Republic – of Texas. Whether in war or peace, Texans has no better candidate available.

List of prior Texit articles

See here for an up-to-date list of all articles relating to Texas independence in any way.