US troops on US streets?!

[L. Coyote]

Run time: 07:04 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bl6RXRHMXwE   Posted on YouTube: October 08, 2008 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: October 08, 2008 By DU Member: L. Coyote Views on DU: 1001

 
PART II: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYyvw0x4h88

Is Posse Comitatus Dead? US Troops on US Streets

In a barely noticed development, a US Army unit is now training for domestic operations under the control of US Army North, the Army service component of Northern Command. An initial news report in the Army Times newspaper last month noted that in addition to emergency response the force may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control. The military has since claimed the force will not be used for civil unrest, but questions remain. We speak to Army Col. Michael Boatner, future operations division chief of USNORTHCOM, and Matthew Rothschild, editor of The Progressive magazine. includes rush transcript

[tabatha]

1. Democrats reversed it - but the signing powers may cancel that.

"On September 26, 2006, President Bush urged Congress to consider revising federal laws so that the U.S. military could seize control immediately in the aftermath of a natural disaster, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

These changes were repealed in their entirety in 2008, except for the provisions of the Presidential signing statement which retained any powers, the repeal of which, the president may determine to be unconstitutional."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posse_Comitatus_Act

[The Wielding Truth]

15. He willfully misused the idea of signing statements. That is abuse

of power for which he should be prosecuted. He has usurped power away from Congress and disregarded his duty to protect Our Constitution. Beyond wrong it is treasonous!

[EVDebs]

2. Do you remember the Bonus Army March on Washington DC 1932 ?

I didn't think so, but history seems to be repeating itself. Who wants to play the roles of Gen MacArthur, Major Patton and Major Eisenhower ?



This event is what got FDR elected president in 1932. Looks like there'll be another such event where US military forces are unleashed upon unarmed unemployed protesters.

Bonus Army
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonus_Army

[low_phreaq]

5. Thanks, I did not know about that

It says the Posse Comitatus Act did not apply to Washington DC at the time. Anybody know if that is still the case?

[patrick t. cakes]

3. has the rubicon been crossed?

[low_phreaq]

6. Not sure. Perhaps they are setting up a small test case?

To see how many of us notice or call them on it?

[low_phreaq]

4. Army seems to be backpedaling on this

Take a look at this from the very end of the Army Times article, which has been edited since it first appeared:

Correction:

A non-lethal crowd control package fielded to 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, described in the original version of this story, is intended for use on deployments to the war zone, not in the U.S., as previously stated.

Also, While Col. Boatner in the interview states that this force will not be used for civil unrest, the Army Times article still contains this text:

They may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control or to deal with potentially horrific scenarios such as massive poisoning and chaos in response to a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive, or CBRNE, attack.

(Please note: If you are going to link to the Army Times article in a DU thread, you need to format the link (I used the link tag) so DU doesn't take off the / at the end. Army Times needs this / at the end of the URL, otherwise it reports the article has gone AWOL.)

A more recent NORTHCOM press release, however, states:

This response force will not be called upon to help with law enforcement, civil disturbance or crowd control, but will be used to support lead agencies involved in saving lives, relieving suffering and meeting the needs of communities affected by weapons of mass destruction attacks, accidents or even natural disasters.

http://www.northcom.mil/News/2008/093008.html


I believe this is what Matthew Rothschild was getting at when time expired in part 2 of the video above:

Exercise readies first units for NORTHCOM assignment

Sep 29, 2008
BY Patti Bielling

FORT STEWART, Ga. (Army News Service, Sept. 29, 2008) - The exercise scenario was a sobering one: a 10-kiloton nuclear device detonated in America's heartland, quickly overwhelming civilian responders.

Military leaders who recently trained for this response say they are now thinking differently about how to move equipment, extract the injured and take care of people following this type of attack.

Their insights came from "Vibrant Response," a week-long command post exercise designed to train the commanders and staff of the nation's dedicated force for responding to chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and high-yield explosive incidents, or CBRNE incidents.

The units completed the exercise Sept. 18 at Fort Stewart, Ga., just two weeks before their force, the CBRNE Consequence Management Response Force, or CCMRF, will be assigned to U.S. Northern Command to begin its mission.

<snip>

Developing the capability to deploy rapidly was a priority for the infantry unit assigned to the force, according to Army Maj. Marc Cloutier, planner for the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division. The unit forms the core of Task Force Operations, one of the three functional task forces within CCMRF.

It's the first infantry brigade to be assigned to NORTHCOM for a year in order to respond quickly to civil-support missions.

Cloutier said that one apparent challenge for the brigade will be turning an infantryman into a truck driver or a first responder. However, Cloutier said, the Soldiers and NCOs in the brigade are smart and adaptable and can easily learn to drive a truck or use a chain saw given a little instruction.

More...
http://www.army.mil/-news/2008/09/29/12779-exercise-readies-first-units-for-northcom-assignment


Oh, and the nickname for the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division?

"Raiders"

[snot]

7. um, so local police can't handle this why?

bec. like, weren't local police excessively aggressive enough against protestors ca. the RNC?

(certain Repubs are so longing for a real terrorist attack about now . . . . )

[low_phreaq]

9. That seems to be one of the big questions.

Local law enforcement agencies have been getting a lot of funding for homeland (ugh) security. But they seem to have been putting most of it into becoming more heavily militarized, instead of disaster preparedness.

Also, this seems to reverse the roles of National Guard and regular Army folks.

[dhpgetsit]

14. The Army is under the direct control of the President

Local police have to answer to their own chain of command and cannot be counted on to defend the president, should a local prosecutor follow Bugliosi's recommendation to order the arrest of George Bush.

Seems simple enough to me.

[low_phreaq]

8. Why it is so important not to let this drop out of sight

Over the last couple weeks, there have been several threads on this topic.

A lot of the comments were on the order of, "it's just a brigade, how are they going to handle martial law over the whole country" or "you're being paranoid, they are just here to help if there are disasters" etc.

Well you know the story about the frog that jumps into the boiling water will jump out right away to keep from being cooked, while a frog that starts out in room temperature water will not realize the temperature is slowly being turned up and will stay until it boils?

I think our water just got turned up another degree on October 1st with this deployment. How many of us frogs will notice?

I once heard an interview (or maybe a book excerpt?) by somebody who survived the Holocaust, and I wish I could remember who it was. There was a question about how Nazi Germany could have risen without people taking a stand to stop it. The answer was something like (paraphrasing): "Each change that was being made was so small as to be almost imperceivable, and thus, taken by itself, not really worth fussing over. In the end, as we realized where we had gotten to, it was too late to complain." (If anybody knows where this came from, please speak up.)

Yes, this may be such a small change that it appears benign by itself. But taken together will all the other stuff? Now it's a splash of hot water.

[pnorman]

10. Here's the original" Democracy Now!" interview:

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/10/7/us_army_denies_unit_will_be

(Transcript and video)

pnorman

[low_phreaq]

11. Thanks!

[low_phreaq]

12. NSPD 51

Here is NATIONAL SECURITY PRESIDENTIAL DIRECTIVE/NSPD 51 that Matthew Rothschild referred to, if you haven't seen it:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/05/20070509-12.html

[daggahead]

13. What are the chances that ...

... when Obama wins, "angry" right-wingers will stage riots in various cities, thus giving governor Bush his reason to instill Martial Law?

[low_phreaq]

16. Dang, never thought of it playing out that way,

only the other way, where it's stolen and we take to the streets.

Yeah, there was the Brooks Brothers riot in Florida. They could kick it up a notch.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooks_Brothers_riot

[Imagevision]

17. YouTube has many ploital interviews claiming Bush may suspend election, do martial law and

YouTube investigators claiming the country will be contained under martisl law. This is some heavy stuff,
check this out and pass the link around.
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Bush%20to%20cancel%20election&search=Search&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&spell=1