Mission Creep

[slaveplanet]

I searched back GD & LBN a bit and didn't see a thread- did this one slip past everyone or just me. Seems in the same spirit as the Franks article.
I guess it's bye bye Posse Comitatus....



http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/suncommentary/la-op-arkin23nov23,0,7518681.story?coll=la-headlines-suncomment

Mission Creep Hits Home
LA Times
By William M. Arkin
William M. Arkin is a military affairs analyst who writes regularly for Opinion. E-mail: [email protected].

November 23, 2003

SOUTH POMFRET, Vt. — Preoccupied with the war in Iraq and still traumatized by Sept. 11, 2001, the American public has paid little attention to some of what is being done inside the United States in the name of anti-terrorism. Under the banner of "homeland security," the military and intelligence communities are implementing far-reaching changes that blur the lines between terrorism and other kinds of crises and will break down long-established barriers to military action and surveillance within the U.S.

"We must start thinking differently," says Air Force Gen. Ralph E. "Ed" Eberhart, the newly installed commander of Northern Command, the military's homeland security arm. Before 9/11, he says, the military and intelligence systems were focused on "the away game" and not properly focused on "the home game." "Home," of course, is the United States.

Eberhart's Colorado-based command is charged with enhancing homeland security in two ways: by improving the military's capability to defend the country's borders, coasts and airspace — unquestionably within the military's long-established mission — and by providing "military assistance to civil authorities" when authorized by the secretary of Defense or the president.

That too may sound unexceptionable: The military has long had mechanisms to respond to a request for help from state governors. New after 9/11 are more aggressive preparations and the presumption that local government will not be able to carry the new homeland security load. Being the military, moreover, contingency planners approach preparing by assuming the worst. All of this is a major — and potentially dangerous — departure from past policy.

The U.S. military operates under the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits the direct use of federal troops "to execute the laws" of the United States. The courts have interpreted this to mean that the military is prohibited from any active role in direct civilian law enforcement, such as search, seizure or arrest of civilians. snip-

[SpiralHawk]

1. Creepy

Creepy up the wazoo. The fingers of the Iron Fist continue to encircle the nation's throat -- waiting for the moment to CLENCH and begin SQEEZING tighter and tighter.

But this, too, shall pass. And it will pass far sooner than THEY could ever imagine.

With sighted faith, SH

[slaveplanet]

2. I hope you hit the link

there is some choice stuff here...domestic data mining.

These fokkers are just drooling for expansion of power.
expansion =more money=new toys to terrorize the sheeple

[maddezmom]

3. hit the link

<<<<This year, the Pentagon inspector general authorized assigning military special agents to 56 FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force operations at FBI field offices. These military agents will pursue leads in local communities of potential threats to the military. Eberhart also plans to have his own cadre of agents working with local law enforcement. Next year, he plans to transform Joint Task Force Six, a drug interdiction unit of 160 military personnel at Ft. Bliss, Texas, into Joint Interagency Task Force North. The new task force will be given nationwide responsibility for working with law enforcement agencies.>>>>>

Would Anti-War protestors be in this category? I believe the answer is yes.

[cosmicdot]

4. "It's not that we're heading toward martial law. We're not."

so the article states

I'm not so sure.

Police forces across America look like Darth Vader's forces.