Joe 6-Pack's Homeland Defense:
Posted on 11/14/2002 10:18:16 PM PST by Joe 6-pack
"Section 8. The Congress shall have power to...
...declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water;
To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years;
To provide and maintain a navy;
To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces;
To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions;
To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the states respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress...
...The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it.
The answers are already there.
While I support G.W. in his efforts to enhance homeland security, I fear passing those powers to president hillary/kerry/daschle, etc. in 2008. Instead of additional programs, I believe the intent can be achieved by compelling congress (they DO work for us, right?) to consider, and act on the following...
1. Like it or not, we are a nation at war. We have been attacked in singular acts that have outnumbered the American deaths suffered at the Boston Massacre, the U.S.S Maine sabotage, the Lusitania sinking or the Pearl Harbor attack. All of these incidents prompted a declaration of war, yet 9/11/01 has not...Are American lives not worth what they use to be? Declare war. While we do not have the luxury or political simplicity of declaring war against a single nation or government, we do have a responsibility to declare war against asserted foreign threats...such has been the case. Congress needs to issue a relatively general declaration of war against foreign citizens with the intent of creating terror, intimidation or physical threats against American citizens or interests. Sound vague? Consider the fact that Congress has used such vagueries in sexual harassment law directed against American citizens. I'm heartened by the fact recent suggestions have been made in regards to, "outsourcing," government functions towards private industry....Should Congress exercise its authority in the direction of issuing letters of marque against certain identified terrorists, the private sector will achieve results.
2. Subsequent to the formal declaration of war, give the Department of Defense the lead and the leeway to wage war! Libertarians and "civil rights activists," will whine and squeal about the, "unprecedented," powers of the DoD to act on American soil, completely ignorant of the fact that the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Mexican War, and U.S. Civil War were all fought on American soil. CI and CT activities against foreigners on American soil should be conducted as military operations and led by agencies such as USACIDC, USAFOSI, USNCIS and the US Army MI. The FBI should take a supporting AND subordinate role in such issues. Based on the current displayed inadequacies of the INS, declare martial law against all non-US citizens residing in the U.S. I'm not declaring asking for internment. I'm only asking that non-US citizens be held to the same level of accountability as SERVING MEMBERS OF THE ACTIVE MILITARY!!!! That is, they should be subject to inspections, have modified freedoms of expression and be accountable at all times. That is no less rigorous a requirement than any US service member, and as such, should not be considered unreasonable for a non-resident residing within our borders.
3. Having done the above, Congress would need to pass either legislation or at the minimum, a resolution, reinforcing and reaffirming the Posse Comitatus Act preventing the use of military assets in civil law enforcement against U.S. citizens with the following exceptions:
a. The use of the Coast Guard to conduct such functions as currently directed, with a shift and refocus away from drug enforcement and towards physical security.
b. The use of military explosive ordnance disposal personnel in the planning, preparation and execution of bomb threat responses.
c. The use of military K9 explosive detector assets as deemed appropriate, in response to threats against U.S. personnel and property when believed to be the result of an act perpetrated in whole, or in part, by a non-US citizen.
4. Congress should reconsider and repeal many of the laws currently under the jurisdiction of the BATF. Once they've done so, dismantle the organization, and roll their remaining function under the FBI.
IMHO, there is no need for the establishment of a new executive department...The DoD is ultimately responsible for homeland defense, and it is only under the precedent of the past few decades where it has wrongly become visualized as an organ of the State Department for the projection of power abroad!
The DOJ has it's legitimiate function in the enforcement of federal laws against routine federal offenses; however, acts of war against the U.S. need to be treated as such, under the context of a declared, in which case the DoD is the only logical agency to take the lead...
If you want Congress to play their role in homeland defense, contact your representative and senators.
A vanity to be sure. I've been here for over three years and have never abused my posting priv's. IMHO, this is worthy of remaining up here and being discussed.
Thanks,
J6P
Absolutely. The gist of my post was that there is no need for a new executive department. We are a nation at war, and as such, the DoD should have primacy. The mistake we have made, especially under clintler, is to treat terrorist acts in the same manner we treat graffiti...basically as an act of vandalism on a large scale. Treat it as an act of war, and respond in kind! The DoD and subordinate agencies can, IMHO, act both Constitutionally, and on American soil (ergo my references to 1812, etc.) at the same time, despite what others may say. Treat the whole thing as a military op, which it rightly is...civil LE, (FBI, INS, etc.) will have their role to play, but in this case it needs to be in a subordinate, and supporting role to the DoD; much was it was in WWII (at that time the Department of War), despite the seemingly overwhelming power held by J.E. Hoover in that era.
I would also, as a corrolary, revive and revitalize a CD (Civil Defense) component, not the, "rat on your neighbor," program suggested in past months, but an honest effort to involve civilians in the effort to thwart enemy activities against the U.S. populace and property.
BTW, good job!
Thanks...I'm waiting for the anti-vanitycops to show up and adninister a computerlyzer. I'll continue with such past efforts as:
Joe 6-Pack's Questions For Liberals
Capital Punishment is Life Affirming.
I've been recognized for quite a few things in my life and have been published within my professional field. One of the things I'm proudest of is winning FR's, "Essay of the Week." Believe it or not, I maintain it as a bullet entry on my resume....(citing of course, the quantifiable data of the web-site's readership!)
Within the next two generations, one of two things will occur...either radical islam will be crushed, or it will directly, and adversely affect the life of every living human. Just my guess...
Most of them have advanced degrees...many in law. The problem is our Constitution is no longer taught. While I'm not a big fan of a military draft, it does have one benefit...
...All draftees pledge a life or death oath to the Constitution. The thinking, conscientuous draftees do not do so lightly, and take great pains to esplore and understand the document they have pledged their life to. Even if this is only true of a small percentage of draftees, it does increase the number of persons who actually research the document. In my experience, persons that have traveled this route, tend to be the most ardent supporters of the Constitution I know.
I've sent to my rep and to my 3 senators (you'd have to be in LA to understand!) I think that's the way to work...I present this here in the hopes that others, to include Barr's constituents would do the same if they think the ideas are worthy of merit.
Not that I need other people's endorsement...I KNOW I'm right (lol), I'd simply rather try to engender followership of a good idea (saves a lot time on my part, too!)
You appear to be making the claim, as many others have, that this is a brand new entity that will expand the government as far as employees. That is not the case. This is a simple consolidation of about 75 existing organizations under one management structure with single point accountability instead of 75 management structures and as many points of accountability. It is a classic business style re-organization. It will make many existing employees in the administration sector redundant and with Bush’s new power to hire and fire as he sees fit those redundancies will result in reductions in force and therefore smaller government. It also reduces the 50 or so congressional committees and the resultant appropriations to no more than 4 committees. Couple that with Bush’s plan to privatize as many as 850,000 federal positions and I can’t see how any conservative would not applaud the way this is being approached.
I won’t address your Letters of Marque and Reprisal since the bounty is very high for any of the terrorists on the list and if there are bounty hunters ready and willing to go after them I think they have all the sanction they require.
Now to the super database. IMO it will never get off the ground nor do I think it will do any good. Having said that, it is not a part of the H.S.A. anyway. Poindexter works for the DOD not the new agency. If and when it is implemented, it would be a DOD initiative and you have already stated that the DOD should be in charge of Homeland Security a point that I must disagree with strenuously. The DOD is a war making body and is only that. It is not for domestic policing and certainly not for troop deployment within our borders unless and until martial law is declared. If the decision is made to place troops on the border then it will do no good to do it temporarily.
For the borders to be completely sealed troops would be required forever in numbers sufficient to do the job 24 hours a day year in and year out. Where will they be quartered given thousands of miles of land border and coastal waterways? I am not sure how changing the Coast Guard’s mission from the WOD to the WOT is mutually exclusive. A boat or ship smuggling drugs or terrorists or just illegal aliens cannot be determined until boarded and searched.
We can take care of both the illegal alien problem in one of two ways. We can indeed declare Martial Law and use the military to sweep the country for the 10 million illegals already here plus close the borders, up to and including, gun impalements. That is the only way to completely stop the flow of Mexican border jumpers. It will take martial law because illegal aliens from Mexico have a lot of home grown support and civilian courts would never allow such a sweep by either Federal or local LEAs on the scale required to clean out the backlog.
The only other alternative is to remove the incentives for illegals to come here in the first place whether it is for jobs or welfare. Both are the responsibilities of the states. Those states with the most generous welfare payments draw the most freeloaders both legal and illegal. It is also up to the states to enact laws that punish employers for hiring illegal aliens and to enforce those laws. Once the incentive is removed then the illegal alien problem will begin to become manageable.
You have added a lot to the debate and that is what all of us should do instead of the constant flow of emotion that seems to be prevalent of late.
Go to ww.lettersofmarque.gov/twlhead to download letters of marque and reprisal.
Joe 6-Pack's Homeland Defense:
On 9/12/2001 we should have declared war.
On 9/13/2001, one-megaton nuclear devices should have detonated over the capitals of all terror-supporting nations, no exceptions.
On 9/14/2001 the President should have revoked the visas of all foreign nationals of terror-supporting states.
On 9/15/2001 mass deportations of illegal aliens should have started.
On 9/16/2001 the borders should have been sealed using National Guard troops.
None of these things have happened.
Therefore, we will have new terrorist attacks on our soil, which are worse than the initial 9/11 attack.
--Boris
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