A couple days ago QuantumParticle Twittered (here: http://is.gd/31PC ) a link to an ArmyTimes.com article reporting on how the US Army is moving the 3rd Infantry Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team from Iraq to the USA to serve on the streets of America if needed.
Now, there's a little law called the Posse Comitatus Act that was passed in 1878 that prohibits the military from enforcing the law (read more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/…itatus_Act ). So, this kind of story urks me. I followed the link QP had included in his Twitter, but the ArmyTimes website had moved the article. Then, yesterday, Amy Goodman from DemocracyNow.org reported on it (here: http://www.democracynow.org/…/headlines ) saying: "Beginning in October, the Army plans to station an active unit inside the United States for the first time to serve as an on-call federal response in times of emergency. The 3rd Infantry Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team has spent thirty-five of the last sixty months in Iraq, but now the unit is training for domestic operations. The unit will soon be under the day-to-day control of US Army North, the Army service component of Northern Command. The Army Times reports this new mission marks the first time an active unit has been given a dedicated assignment to Northern Command. The paper says the Army unit may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control. The soldiers are learning to use so-called nonlethal weapons designed to subdue unruly or dangerous individuals and crowds."
Does the military expect a lot of protests or disasters to be coming their way?
This seems a creepy redeployment for our men and women in uniform, so naturally, I had to find the Army Times article, so I went back to ArmyTimes.com and found this article:
http://www.armytimes.com/…d_090708w/
It's exactly what Goodman was talking about.
Why is bad that the USMil enforces the law?
Because they're not trained to enforce the law. They have automatic weapons, grenades and (on a good day) body armor. You want a guy with a machine gun pulling you over for a traffic violation?
You want army soldiers patrolling the streets and "keeping the peace" (more like forcing the peace).
I don't.
And neither did the guys behind that 1878 law. Sadly, while doing research for this post, I came across an essay written waaay back in 2000 that suggests (if true) that the Posse Comitatus act has already been watered down dramatically. Read that essay here: http://www.homelandsecurity.org/…ilcock.htm
Funny how that article is on a website that claims to be run with money from the USG. I guess it's a justification for what's going on with the 3rd Infantry Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team.
Regardless, the idea of soldiers walking down streets even in times of emergency kinda scares me. I mean, do we want to live our lives like we're an occupied country?
I don't know if the "slippery slope" argument applies, but I feel like it might...
Mobile post sent by thepete using Utterli. Now, there's a little law called the Posse Comitatus Act that was passed in 1878 that prohibits the military from enforcing the law (read more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/…itatus_Act ). So, this kind of story urks me. I followed the link QP had included in his Twitter, but the ArmyTimes website had moved the article. Then, yesterday, Amy Goodman from DemocracyNow.org reported on it (here: http://www.democracynow.org/…/headlines ) saying: "Beginning in October, the Army plans to station an active unit inside the United States for the first time to serve as an on-call federal response in times of emergency. The 3rd Infantry Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team has spent thirty-five of the last sixty months in Iraq, but now the unit is training for domestic operations. The unit will soon be under the day-to-day control of US Army North, the Army service component of Northern Command. The Army Times reports this new mission marks the first time an active unit has been given a dedicated assignment to Northern Command. The paper says the Army unit may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control. The soldiers are learning to use so-called nonlethal weapons designed to subdue unruly or dangerous individuals and crowds."
Does the military expect a lot of protests or disasters to be coming their way?
This seems a creepy redeployment for our men and women in uniform, so naturally, I had to find the Army Times article, so I went back to ArmyTimes.com and found this article:
http://www.armytimes.com/…d_090708w/
It's exactly what Goodman was talking about.
Why is bad that the USMil enforces the law?
Because they're not trained to enforce the law. They have automatic weapons, grenades and (on a good day) body armor. You want a guy with a machine gun pulling you over for a traffic violation?
You want army soldiers patrolling the streets and "keeping the peace" (more like forcing the peace).
I don't.
And neither did the guys behind that 1878 law. Sadly, while doing research for this post, I came across an essay written waaay back in 2000 that suggests (if true) that the Posse Comitatus act has already been watered down dramatically. Read that essay here: http://www.homelandsecurity.org/…ilcock.htm
Funny how that article is on a website that claims to be run with money from the USG. I guess it's a justification for what's going on with the 3rd Infantry Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team.
Regardless, the idea of soldiers walking down streets even in times of emergency kinda scares me. I mean, do we want to live our lives like we're an occupied country?
I don't know if the "slippery slope" argument applies, but I feel like it might...
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