TheAgitator.com
Posse Commitatus: R.I.P.
Monday, December 1st, 2008The 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.
I predict that while now couched in terms of the necessity for a ready response to a cataclysmic terrorist attack, within five years there will be calls to use these forces for less urgent matters, such as crowd control at political conventions, natural disaster response, border control, and, inevitably, some components of the drug war (looking for marijuana in the national parks, for example).
Here’s hoping Obama scales this back. Or if he doesn’t, that, with a Democrat in the White House, the Republicans rediscover the way they once got the heebie-jeebies over this stuff.
This will end badly. It won’t take five years for it to be abused.
Remember before the ink was even dry on the Patriot Act they were giving classes on how to exploit it for the drug war.
You think Democrats are that different from Republicans?
Really?
Who are you and what have you done with Radley Balko?
“Here’s hoping Obama scales this back. Or if he doesn’t, that, with a Democrat in the White House, the Republicans rediscover the way they once got the heebie-jeebies over this stuff.”
That’s two almost charming delusions in one paragraph.
I can see that the hope is just going to have to be beaten out of you, Radley. I idly wonder how many more elections it’s going to take.
The Republicans probably will rediscover their dislike for the central concentration of power for the duration of their time in opposition. As soon as they’re back in power they’ll want it.
Sadly in politics even more than anywhere else the people who can’t use the rules to their advantage are the most vocal in arguing against them.
I saw too many comments on reddit along the lines of, “I really don’t see what the problem is.”
Isn’t this what the national guard does already?
Obama scales this back? He’s the executive now, and have we ever seen the executive willfully give up power? Obama, will have these guys doing humanitarian work and giving everyone warm and fuzzy feelings. At the next government manufactured crisis they will move into security mode. That’s when the checkpoints, roadblocks, random searches, mass arrests will begin. I’m not predicting a false-flag event, but it would be very convenient for those seeking power at this time.
I agree with Radley’s prognostications. The line between civilian and military policing has already been blurred with the militarization tactics blogged about relentlessly on this site. When the domestic military force begins to sport non-field-combat uniforms (i.e., camo) we’re finished. The one thing Obama will certainly do is support legislation that further restricts civilian gun ownership. Militarize domestic policing and disarm the civilian population. Now, where have I read about that strategy before…?
“inevitably, some components of the drug war (looking for marijuana in the national parks, for example).”
Because prohibition worked so well.
“Here’s hoping Obama scales this back.”
Wow. That’s all you got? Hope?
How does one quantify hope? What is hope worth?
Time to declare bankruptcy, if hope’s all you got.
This worries me the same way it worries everyone else, but…it sure would be nice if this organization could replace FEMA. The military has a culture of readiness and flexibility that I think could make them far more effective as a disaster relief agency. I think, too, that the military is somewhat likely to resist using these troops in other roles, since that would impair their readiness for providing disaster aid.
This is just a step toward the civilian military. The civilian military is basically a revoke of your personal liberties. First it’s just an agency to help, then its for security, then it’s to protect the government. Well when that happens get ready for the new USSR. It’s trully amazing that anyone would let the military be used on American soil for any purpose other than an invasion. What’s next? This may sound paranoid but if history is the marker like everyone is always saying then we are getting close, watch for the 2nd admendment to come under attack in 2010.
So I guess you’re suggesting that THIS isn’t one of the failed policies from the past 8 years, eh?
Oh, that’s right…….NONE of BO’s policies will be allowed to fail. Boy, this is going to be an entertaining two years……..
[...] 1, 2008 by Abhishek Radley Balko reacts to the Pentagon plan that would have 20,000 uniformed troops inside the United States by 2011 [...]
Once a new power is created, it difficult to destroy.
I guess I was wrong. When this story came out in the Army Times a while ago, I wasn’t too worried. Now, I am definitely worried.
I agree with the assessment that these forces will be used for drug policing, border security, etc. I’ll go one better, and say that these things will happen much sooner than 5 years from now. I wager that in 5 years, the number of soldiers will have gone from 20,000 to 50 or 100,000!
It will go something like this: “well, we haven’t had another terror attack, so we’re going to use these soldiers to look for drugs, etc. After all, we’ve got to keep them sharp for when the REAL ATTACK occurs…” And if we DO have a terror attack (God forbid), the same logic will apply: “well, we’ve gotta keep ‘em sharp, as this last terror attack proves!”
I’m also concerned that since they’re using units from the reserve component, they’ll begin psychological operations against the citizenry. Currently, PSYOP soldiers can are legally constrained to use their dissemination media ONLY to aid in giving instructions during a disaster. That is a rare occurence, anyway, as they’re very busy in the Middle East. What happens when the war’s over and they come home? When will helpful information become harmful disinformation?
This murder of Posse Comitatus is sick. Period. If indeed the terrorists “hate our freedom” (I don’t believe that’s their primary motivator at all – read ‘The End of Faith,’ by Sam Harris for more on this), they couldn’t have come close to the excellent job of dismantling it that we’re already doing for them! Without real freedom, our enemies WIN and WE LOSE. PERIOD!
I hope this younger generation can live in freedom and peace, but it’s looking more and more unlikely with every passing day. I fear for them. All I can say is I’m glad I’m out of the Army, because those soldiers may very well face some tough decisions on whom to use deadly force against in the near future…
Having spent a decade in uniform, I’m hopelessly parochial when it comes to the character of most of our military folks. So take this with a grain of salt…
If the stated number is 20,000 a good rule of thumb is to double or even triple that to get to the actual operational number. Because units are going to likely find a ton of money in the form of Homeland Security training budgets with which to, notionally, train for actual, ya’ know, military activities under the purview of this program. That’s how you get things like the anti-drug JTFs in which regular military units “train” alongside the DEA, ICE, etc.
The result, in my admittedly Pollyana-ish view, will be a significant increase in the number of resigned commissions and enlisted folks refusing to re-enlist out of sheer disgust. This will probably be reported under the guise of our military being racist and unwilling to serve under an African-American president.
What you’ll be left with is a solidly politically-motivated officer class (even more so than it currently is) and an NCO corps comprised largely of careerists who adopt the “I’ve already got ten years in, only ten more and I get a pension” mindset.
This is such an awful idea that it could only have been borne from government minds.
So while I hope my brothers and sisters in uniform
It’s what the national guard SHOULD be for. The people who want this realize that it’s easier to order non-local troops to abuse the populace than it is a local militia soldier who has to live and otherwise make a living in the community he’s being ordered to violate.
I’m willing to say that there’s probably a 50% chance that I’ll live to see martial law declared in some US cities within my lifetime. That percentage keeps going up with every new bailout package our government gives out. They’re going to destroy our currency and that will lead to chaos.
That´s true. In Brazil we all see all the time people wanting the Army to do the Police´s job.
“…a significant increase in the number of resigned commissions and enlisted folks refusing to re-enlist out of sheer disgust.”
Scott I spent several years on active duty also. That was my first thought too. The last thing that I or any of the soldiers I knew wanted to do was police US citizens. Most were just there for the GI Bill anyway with no intention of re-enlistment.
And face it, once officers achieve a certain rank they ARE politicians. So no big loss there. That leaves the 20yr lifers and ofcourse, my favorites, the MP’s.
We’re screwed, our kids are definitely screwed. I hear Mexico is nice! lol
Posse what? The average Obama voter doesn’t care about this. Bring it on. As long as Obama is in charge, what could go wrong?
http://rightklik.blogspot.com/
More of the same. We already have an armed standing army in our midst – the police and armed federal officers of all ilk. They have military vehicles, their own air force, they use military tactics, they have a military command structure, they use military small arms, they have military uniforms, they receive military assistance, have military style intelligence operations, and they even have their own special forces ie swat teams.
This new blatant violation of posse commitatus is still quite disturbing. The military has shown that they will absolutely follow orders when they are ordered to disarm and otherwise trample the Liberties of American citizens. They happily disarmed residents of New Orleans by force of arms. None of them defied their superiors and said no. NONE. None of them were ever charged with a crime for this illegal and unconstitutional act. NONE. They followed orders without question. When they’re told to do such things again, and they will, they will follow orders just as they did before.
No good will come of this. None. It will end in bloodshed. Hopefully republicans will be the first ones to feel the jackboot on their neck as armed troops kick their way into their homes. Republicans are the ones who enabled these sorts of things with the war on drugs and the panic of terrorism. They were the ones who championed the patriot act and the war on drugs. They deserve to be the first victims of their own creations.
power to the people!
Does anyone here know what the authorizing legislation was for these actions? I’m assuming that Congress passed legislation to authorize the use of the military in civilian cases, as otherwise it would too obviously be illegal. On the other hand, our current chief executive has been known not to worry much about what’s legal or not legal…