On paper, the 24-odd generals of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces, or SCAF, have kept much of their word.

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After the war, he became President of Columbia University, then took leave to assume supreme command over the new NATO forces being assembled in 1951.

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"Our retaliatory action will start without any notice from now, " the North's army supreme command said in a separate statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

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State media said the Supreme Command of the Korean People's Army issued an ultimatum demanding an apology from South Korea for "hostile acts" and threatening that unspecified retaliatory actions would happen at any time.

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Eisenhower, supreme command of Allied forces in Europe.

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"From this moment, the Supreme Command of the Korean People's Army will be putting in combat duty posture No 1 all field artillery units including long-range artillery units and strategic rocket units that will target all enemy objects in US invasionary bases on its mainland, Hawaii and Guam, " the KCNA statement said.

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Javier Solana, the so-called "High Representative" of the EU -- in effect its foreign policy supreme -- is working on the command structure and seeking to ease the worries of countries like Turkey, currently in NATO but not in the EU, that they will be squeezed out of future decisions on European security.

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The most dramatic impact has been on the Supreme Court, where Republican nominees now routinely command majorities.

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In light of this constitutional command, Chief Justice John Roberts said the administration was making an unprecedented bid to invoke Supreme Court jurisdiction, given that it and Ms. Windsor both believed lower courts were correct in striking down the law.

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