Posted on 12/01/2008 7:52:18 AM PST by Historix
The U.S. military expects to have 20,000 uniformed troops inside the United States by 2011 trained to help state and local officials respond to a nuclear terrorist attack or other domestic catastrophe, according to Pentagon officials.
The long-planned shift in the Defense Department's role in homeland security was recently backed with funding and troop commitments after years of prodding by Congress and outside experts, defense analysts said.
There are critics of the change, in the military and among civil liberties groups and libertarians who express concern that the new homeland emphasis threatens to strain the military and possibly undermine the Posse Comitatus Act, a 130-year-old federal law restricting the military's role in domestic law enforcement.
But the Bush administration and some in Congress have pushed for a heightened homeland military role since the middle of this decade, saying the greatest domestic threat is terrorists exploiting the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
Before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, dedicating 20,000 troops to domestic response -- a nearly sevenfold increase in five years -- "would have been extraordinary to the point of unbelievable," Paul McHale, assistant defense secretary for homeland defense, said in remarks last month at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. But the realization that civilian authorities may be overwhelmed in a catastrophe prompted "a fundamental change in military culture," he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Thanks to all the short-sighted "conservatives" who may well find themselves being branded domestic terrorists by the marxist government scheduled to be sworn in January 20,2009.
What crimes are these home forces going to fight?
It is not “tinfoil” to distrust federal use of the military for police enforcment purposes....that is unless you want to call Jefferson, Paine, and Adams “tinfoil.”
All I can say is:
Look at my tagline.
“What crimes are these home forces going to fight?”
Bill Ayers seriously planned camps for 25 million resistant to his version of “hope” and “change.” What do you think?
You are correct, but unfortunately the Bush supporters will see anybody who questions this as a tinfoil wearing something-rather, and they will do their best to defend his decisions.
Well, I guess we can ignore Posse Comititatus now. It’s for “security,” after all. Unbelievable.
POLICE STATE here we are.
Bad news. Mark the date.
In retrospect it seems hard to believe that Bush-McCain and the Obama forces were seen as having been on opposite sides.
Please Mr. Conservative (insert sarcasm here) President Bush, go ahead and do one more bone-headed act before you leave office!
Agreed.
“Is America so dangerous (except for our inner cities that we don’t have to visit) that we need troops with guns and tanks running down our streets?”
You know, it probably is.
Think about what would happen if a small nuke went off in LA or a like city. Think of the rioting and mass of criminals who would take advantage of the civil unrest. Think of the people who are incapable of surving on their own (New Orleans).
That said, the danger of a Reichstag situation where a utopian opportunist uses some real disaster like an attack seize power is very real.
I mean, the Dhims try now to rig elections (Minnesota comes to mind).
Just think what they would do in a real emergency.
And law-and-order conservatives would be the first to back up and circle the wagon around the government.
The reason we don't have military law enforcement, is we don't want people trained to automatically obey the orders of their superiors, and without training in what UNLAWFUL orders need to be rejected, doing enforcement on the streets.
And for domestic emergencies, that's what the National Guard is for.
I would much prefer for National Guard to be given federal CCW authorization throughout the US (after suitable training), even in states that prohibit CCW.
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