A Treatise by Quaere Verum

The oncoming storm…

No, no one is saying that you, the Enclave, launched the first salvo of nuclear armaments. What we said is that you had helped both create and flourish the path of paranoia and self-destruction of the world, for your own personal gains. The United States Foreign policy which you helped create (as the Éminence grise of America), with its non-negotiation and overall hostile mentality with the world would help lead to the Abandonment UN when the UN needed the support most. As a result of this mentality one by one its member nations withdrew from the United Nations causing the commencement of the Resource Wars.

With this limited nuclear war the world had seen the future of its policies. However at this point, the nations that weren't collapsing inward in civil war were falling apart on their own economic collapse. The United States was one of the few nations that had some semblance of chance to change the fate of the world. This hope was dashed when the President of the United States walked out on the 2074 Resource treaty negotiations, the last political way of resolving the Resource crisis without total global war.

China’s Guilt.

Yes, it is true that China launched first. Whether that was out of spite or some last-ditch effort to cripple their enemy and retake their country is a matter lost to history. However the United States did launch a retaliatory strike in return.

“{216}{prs32}{We were winning, too. And then those damn Reds launched everything they had. We barely got our birds up.}”— Dick Richardson

Unfortunately however powerful it may have been, it defiantly wasn't for tactical purposes either.

“{217}{}{Doesn't seem as though it helped us much.}”— Chosen One

“{218}{prs33} {Well, no it didn't. But at least it knocked the damn Red menace back into the stone age.}”— Dick Richardson

“Oh my god. It's actually happening. We have reading across the board of launches happening everywhere. They must've thrown everything they had, and it looks like we didn't hold back either. The computer says we have 2 minutes until the first missile drops.”— Log 674

Wisdom

You may have survived it with foresight but defiantly not wisdom.

Wisdom means: insight, common sense, sound judgment. And if your group had any semblance of that they would've made it their mission to avoid nuclear war at all cost.

The Obliteration of Ideas and Colonization

As we said before, and is still completely true, you CAN'T destroy and Idea with violence. There is no doubt that you Failed in your goal of obliterating communism. You cannot forcibly change someone's mind, trying to is both futile and scoff able.

“Why should we regret having preserved a large quantity of American citizens and soldiers for re-colonization and a final push to destroy communism forever? Feeling shame in wit is pathetically modest.”

No one is saying you should regret having a large enough population to colonize, but you should regret your actions to the local populace. The fact is that you've been committing no less than what is considered crimes against humanity. This Must Stop! for the rebuilding of America to truly begin.

You are not alone!!! Stop saying you are!!!!

“If we don't save ourselves or care for ourselves and our interests... who will? The same amount that has extended an olive branch, or the same number that wish for an end to hostilities.”

“How are we to comprehend Mainlander's as anything more than vulturous backstabbing murderers when that is the only quality they have shown to us? Yes, you talk of peace, but your peace will be the peace of the grave for us.”

No one is saying you shouldn't save yourselves; this was a quip about you not realizing that you don't give the thought that ANY other group would, could, should, have done, and will do the same. It's true no one has extended an olive branch of peace toward you, but have you not done the same? No. Have you tried at all to even develop any communications toward another group? Yes, actually, but what did you do with it? You bought slaves! Yet another action against the Constitution of the United States.

“AMENDMENT XIII

SECTION 1.

Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

SECTION 2.

Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.”

The bottom line is that if you even bothered to extend an olive branch to the communities of the wastes you wouldn't meet with anywhere near the hostility you currently receive.

The "Victories"

We did not say Nuclear Armageddon was glorifiable, we asked which, if any victory you had. There is no evidence that China claimed the "ultimate victory" you say they have claimed. As we said above, the truth has been lost to history. It is true that "the best defense is a good offense." And America's military was up to the challenge, but IF there truly was a defense, any defense, against the nuclear holocaust, than it failed!

Change…

“{181}{}{Change is probably the one universal constant. Just because we're different doesn't make us bad. If anything, we're living proof of humanity's resilience. As such, we deserve to survive even *more* than your people do.}”— Chosen One

“{187}{}{That's preposterous. You're no more like me than a mutated, two-headed, cow is like a normal heifer. }”— Dr. Charles Curling

“{188}{}{If there were mono-headed cows at one time, they've long since died out. But the cow, as a species, has survived and grown stronger. Change is an integral part of the natural order.}”— Chosen One

Of course there are variables, what is life without change? Without evolution?! The term "pure human" is not a reality, constant evolution and change made us what we are today. And after the Great War it was only natural for life to evolve to be more resistant to the Irradiated Particles left behind. Here’s an example of Lt. Col. Dr. Curling’s dialogue:

“{153}{}{Shouldn't I be? Our research on the villagers clearly shows changes to their DNA. It's a natural result of all the background radiation.}”— Dr. Charles Curling

Now in regards to the Forced Evolutionary Virus, you are also very correct in that the populace did get exposed to A mutated form of FEV…

“{194}{LIEUT30}{The FEV was mutated by the war radiation. Those living in this desolate wasteland have been exposed to this mutant FEV, essentially inoculating them from the full effects.}”— Lieutenant

however it didn't destroy them it inoculated them from its full mutative effects, thus saving them from future mutation at the hands of the base virus, and giving them a basic immunity to future strains. Charles Curling did confirm this but he was, and you are wrong about them not being Human. Here’s that dialogue:

“{217}{}{You really think you're doing the right thing don't you?}”— Chosen One

“{220}{}{Yes, I do. There is no price too high to pay for the survival of one's species.}”— Dr. Charles Curling

“{221}{}{I'd agree with you on that. Has it occurred to you that the *mutants* as you call them are just another type of human?}”— Chosen One

“{228}{}{I hate to admit this but you may be right. What we've been planning all along just isn't right. I was so blinded by trying to overcome the obstacles that I didn't think about the morality of my quest.}”— Dr. Charles Curling

The Rebuilding and the Uncooperative

The only group that has been consistently uncooperative is you the Enclave. As your history has proven you haven't been very negotiable. You never even tried to open true diplomatic dialogue with any other groups. How can anyone listen to what isn't said?! Or cooperate with ones who try to exterminate them?!

Of course people changed, everyone changed to survive in a world after the bombs destroyed civilization. Yes! Everyone, even you the Enclave, have changed due to the “post-apocalyptic hell” which ravaged the world.

“{174}{prs19}{I am the elected representative of the people. The United States does still exist. God bless us, every one. We've just had to adapt in order to survive after the war.}”— Dick Richardson

Are you implying you can't rebuild with your selves? Or around those who want nothing to do with you? Do you even practice what you preach?! If you're the continuation of the United States government, as you claim to be, then what happened to the tenets of the constitution? The Declaration of Independence? Or The Gettysburg Address?

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”— The Constitution of the United States

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”— The Declaration of Independence

“…and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”— The Gettysburg Address

Of course the advanced civilizations of the world would hunt down and imprison you. You tried to commit Global Genocide!!! And, you did commit crimes against humanity!! Can you really not understand why they would shoot you on sight if you refused to surrender peaceably?!

The real Responsible ones!

The NCR congress has never and will never give dictations to the Enclave. If you still believe they have done so please give ONE example of an act of the NCR congress directing Enclave actions. If you cannot find any examples, then please Stop Lying to yourself and others!

No, you didn't decide for your Navarro base to be overrun by the NCR, why in the world would you suggest that you would have decided that? The NCR overran Navarro because of the devastated Enclave leadership.

“After the Enclave’s command structure fell apart, it was only a matter of time before Navarro was overrun by NCR forces.”— Arcade Gannon

It was true that there were good people at Navarro,

“The Enclave did a lot of bad things, but there were good people at Navarro. Good people with a lot of experience.”— Arcade Gannon

“The rest of us, though - we were just trying to civilize things. The NCR was still new and it didn't look like they'd last all that long.”— Judah Kreger

unfortunately, the threat that the Enclave still posed to the region was too great for the still new & fragile Republic. It was the fear, paranoia, the scientific and tactical disadvantage of the NCR that drove it to sack Navarro. And your actions (id est genocide) and technological knowledge that drove the NCR and the BoS to hunt you down afterward.

“Internal sabotage took down the oil rig - never did get the full story. The NCR took out Navarro, saying we posed a threat to the region.”— Judah Kreger

If they didn't you would've just started the Genocide all over again.

“{232}{}{Because they'd just start over. Even with me dead, there's enough data between here and Navarro to assure that they could replicate my work. Only something more drastic will be enough.}”— Charles Curling

“{233}{}{More drastic? What do you mean?}”— Chosen One

“{234}{}{The Enclave must be destroyed. Completely destroyed. If we're not, then we'll just pick up the pieces and start over somewhere else.}”— Charles Curling

Therefore, what had happened to the Enclave afterward, was the only logical outcome of your actions.

"Marshal Law" & "Trespassing"

Declaring "Marshal Law" for that long a period of time is no less than incompetence. You cannot simply declare everyone in an entire region a criminal, just because they've been surviving there long before Any, semblance of governance rose to the occasion of governing the region.

It's true, restoring law and order does take priority. However you must actually establish and/or support that regional structure, while, helping the people living there. Instead of your current Modus Operandi: destroying and terrorizing whatever communities and peoples that you find.

Could you really consider them "trespassing" on government property, if after some sort of "Apocalyptic" event, they needed to establish a community there? After all it's only logical that they would settle their community in the most reinforced and defendable structure in the area. For example: Rivet City, Underworld, or the Lincoln Memorial.

Or perhaps Project Purity? Would you truly consider the scientists trespassing, when they take the vacant and structurally sound monument and renovate it for public needs? Id est, restoring potable water to the population.

Therefore simply declaring "martial law" for decades at a time is no less than an excuse for your, "governing body," to do what they want, when they want in the guise of restoring law and order. This is not a how a true government responds to its people resettling a region.

Presumptions

We have not presumed "perfection" in any of this. It is you, The Enclave that have however. You presume that you are the only "true" government, and that there is such a thing as "pure" humans.

It is you that presumed that there wouldn't be consequences when you slaughtered civilians, and tried to commit Global Genocide. (Id est the hunting down of the War Criminals, and those perceived as war criminals.) When your victims were screaming in terror, pain, and loss did you not consider that a cry for help?

Face it; your group ignored the populace after the bombs dropped. You let the situation deteriorate into self-consuming anarchy that effectively razed America. You truly did not try to help anyone anywhere, other than yourselves. Therefore presumption is a flaw of yours The Enclave, not Quaere Verum's.

It's true democracy does require citizens to function. However you're insular policies toward the American people have prevented you from conjoining with the populace. You're correct this "recruitment" is an anomaly, a needed anomaly, a step in the right direction for your policies to change. However, you still don't consider the entirety of the wasteland populace as Americans. This is something that the Fourteenth Amendment demands.

“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”— the Fourteenth Amendment

This means all persons born or naturalized in the United States!This includes the Ghouls and the, as you would put it, other "near-human" population. Ghouls are in fact pre-war citizens, therefore you're letting your bigotry cloud the rebuilding of America.

“They're not who they say they are... Get out while you can, before they get you too.”— Nathaniel Vargas

Stiggs and Anna Holt weren't the only people that we know of who wanted to join the Enclave, did you forget about Nathaniel Vargas? What about him? You imprisoned him, the only avid supporter of the Enclave outside of your group, simply because he had nothing to offer your group.

This is not how America was founded. Remember;

“…Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”— The New Colossus

Therefore it's only you the Enclave, that are trying to fool anyone. Citizenship is not a "pseudo-peaceful pipe dream." It is something that all the people must get interested and involved in.

The Golden Rule

You weren't tossed into the wastes. Your first expeditionary forces entered the wasteland in the mid-2230s. And you kept some sort of a presence there since.

“We treat others as we are treated, we look out for ourselves...”

Did you forget The Golden rule?

“One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself.”— The Golden rule

If you don't like how you were treated, then why would you do the same back to them? Out of revenge? Out of spite? Why not show them the alternative, the way people should be treating each other.

Yes you do hate, you were raised to hate. And the cycle of hatred and bigotry needs to stop, for the rebuilding of America to truly begin.

Virtue

There is no virtue in destroying you the Enclave, just rendering you're ability to commit biological warfare and genocide to nothing. Either by force or by (what is preferred) diplomacy. America was destroyed by people who forgot these tenets, not destroyed by the tenets themselves. The majority of the mainland populace is at a tribal level of warfare and understanding. They commit tribal warfare, not genocide. They didn't even know about total warfare until Caesar taught his legion. Then proceeded to show all of them in his reach.

Yes, you butcher people, not just Americans. You in fact butcher yourselves when you butcher the American populace you call "muties". The victory we seek is the spreading of the truth and the destruction of corruption and bigotry.

The "Burden" of Civility and Law

“By this definition the Enclave are more invaders than the NCR, the BoS, and any of the other various wasteland settlements. Before the Great War your group not only left the mainland behind, but also abandoned America to shelter yourselves from the nuclear annihilation you helped sow. After a long period of dormancy you finally decided to reemerge, to invade the wastes. It was you who slaughtered the weak, and seized their property. It was you that cast this shadow upon yourself. If you had bothered to use diplomacy, civility you would have met with far less resistance.”— An Anti-propaganda by Quaere Verum

“Little need to justify this by mere principle, seeing as how they occur every single day, and has only occurred with us a hand-full of times...”

But the fact is that you are slaughtering the weak, and seized their property. If you followed the laws of the United States, then you know that you can't just seize property.

“No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”— The Fifth Amendment

There are two types of forfeiture cases, criminal and civil. Almost all forfeiture cases practiced before the war were civil.

“In civil forfeiture cases, the US Government sues the item of property, not the person; the owner is effectively a third party claimant. Once the government establishes probable cause that the property is subject to forfeiture, the owner must prove on a "preponderance of the evidence" that it is not. The owner need not be judged guilty of any crime.”— Asset forfeiture

“Criminal forfeiture is usually carried out in a sentence following a conviction and is a punitive act against the offender. Since the government can choose the type of case, a civil case is almost always chosen.”— Asset forfeiture

“And, once again, practice the preached. Diplomacy? Civility? If you truly sought this, that is where the burden of obligation rests, it doesn't rest with us.”

The "burden" of obligation rests with everyone not just certain groups. America was founded by immigrants, who sought their rights and freedoms. So it appears that the real question is: why won't you follow our constitution and protect them?

“'We who slaughtered the weak and stole their property'...? ... Are you out of your mind...? Whatever damage you claim we have caused, be assured the damage to us, ours, and our property far exceeds any 'collateral damage' the 'mean ol' Enclave' dealt to you…”

The collateral damage you refer to was the result of your policies. The result of your actions and actions alone. One question when you claim collateral damage, are you saying attempted global genocide shouldn't be called "collateral damage?" I believe it is!

Quaere Verum!