In the name of protecting the U.S. in the event of a terror attack or other domestic problem, 20,000 uniformed military troops will be serving inside the country by September 2011. Under the phased plan, three rapid reaction forces will be ready for emergency response by that date. All the forces would be trained to respond to a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive attack.

A spokesman for the U.S. Northern Command says that the first brigade under the plan will be made up of active duty soldiers; the next two will be comprised of a mix of soldiers from the National Guard and Reserves. The long-planned shift in the Defense Department’s role in homeland security was recently backed with funding and troop commitments. Bert B. Tussing, director of homeland defense and security issues at the U.S. Army War College’s Center for Strategic Leadership, said the new Pentagon approach “breaks the mold” by assigning an active-duty combat brigade to the Northern Command for the first time. Until now, the military required the command to rely on troops requested from other sources.

Not everyone is enamored of the idea. It may undermine the Posse Comitatus Act, which was passed in 1878 in response to the Union Army’s occupation of the Confederate states following the Civil War. It prohibits the deployment of US troops within the borders of the United States. In a highly unusual occurrence, I have to agree with the ACLU on this one. “Domestic emergency deployment may be just the first example of a series of expansions in presidential and military authority, or even an increase in domestic surveillance,” said Anna Christensen of the ACLU’s National Security Project. And the Libertarian group Cato’s Vice President Gene Healy warned of “a creeping militarization” of homeland security.”

In a Sept. 8th article from the Army Times, it was reported that a force of 3,000 troops, the 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team, were to be stationed on active duty at Fort Stewart Georgia for the purposes of helping with “civil unrest and crowd control”. After a wave of critical media attention (mainly from the activist blogs) they chose to change the language of that mandate, yet they continued to train with weapons both lethal and “non-lethal” for crowd control operations. Why are highly trained COMBAT troops being used? Prison Planet reports that

“During numerous urban warfare drills, troops were trained to raid, arrest and imprison U.S. citizens in detention camps as well as taking over public buildings and running checkpoints. During role playing exercises, actors playing prisoners would scream “I’m an American citizen, I have rights” as they were being dragged away by troops.”

Obama promised such a force during the presidential campaign, so this announcement shouldn’t surprise anyone. We’re going to get “change” that’s the equivalent of death by a thousand cuts to our liberties. Why not just mandate that all able-bodied citizens be armed? It’s not a new idea!

The Real News Has This Excellent Report:

Share this Right Soup with others:
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google Bookmarks
  • StumbleUpon
Did You Enjoy this Post? Subscribe to Right Soup by Email, RSS, or Twitter

Related Posts on Right Soup: Most Recent Posts on Right Soup: