No this is not tinhattery. You will read quotes directly from Chertoff, the man in charges of Homeland Security. ( just reading those 2 words when speaking of the USA makes me shutter ) Most of you already know about the plans to start stationing a active military force inside our own borders. Of course when anyone raised any concerns about the law known as Posse Comitatus we were told there was nothing to worry about. That they were just there to help in times of Katrina like disasters. Well I suggest if you don't know what Mission Creep is that you Google it.
The soaring level of violence in Mexico resulting from the drug wars there has led the United States to develop plans for a "surge" of civilian and perhaps even military law enforcement should the bloodshed spread across the border, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Wednesday.
U.S. Plans Border ‘Surge’ Against Any Drug Wars
On Dec.21 in the Washington Post was a largely ignored OpEd about the Mission Creep that is going on right now and it discusses how it all came about. It starts like this,
We no longer have a civilian-led government. It is hard for a lifelong Republican and son of a retired Air Force colonel to say this, but the most unnerving legacy of the Bush administration is the encroachment of the Department of Defense into a striking number of aspects of civilian government. Our Constitution is at risk. The Pentagon is muscling in everywhere. It's time to stop the mission creep.
This was written not by some pajama blogger but by Thomas A. Schweich, a former senior State Dept. employee. Someone who just might know the facts and the rest of the OpEd seems to prove that. He continues to point out what is happening now and when added to Chertoffs words should give us all pause.
The encroachment within America's borders continued with the military's increased involvement in domestic surveillance and its attempts to usurp the role of the federal courts in reviewing detainee cases. The Pentagon also resisted ceding any authority over its extensive intelligence operations to the first director of national intelligence, John D. Negroponte -- a State Department official who eventually gave up his post to Mike McConnell, a former Navy admiral. The Bush administration also appointed Michael V. Hayden, a four-star Air Force general, to be the director of the CIA. National Security Adviser Stephen J. Hadley saw much of the responsibility for developing and implementing policy on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan -- surely the national security adviser's job -- given to Lt. Gen. Douglas E. Lute, Bush's new "war czar." By 2008, the military was running much of the national security apparatus.
The Pentagon opened a southern front earlier this year when it attempted to dominate the new Merida Initiative, a promising $400 million program to help Mexico battle drug cartels. Despite the admirable efforts of the federal drug czar, John P. Walters, to keep the White House focused on the civilian law-enforcement purpose of the Merida Initiative, the military runs a big chunk of that program as well.
Now the Pentagon has drawn up plans to deploy 20,000 U.S. soldiers inside our borders by 2011, ostensibly to help state and local officials respond to terrorist attacks or other catastrophes. But that mission could easily spill over from emergency counterterrorism work into border-patrol efforts, intelligence gathering and law enforcement operations -- which would run smack into the Posse Comitatus Act, the long-standing law restricting the military's role in domestic law enforcement. So the generals are not only dominating our government activities abroad, at our borders and in Washington, but they also seem to intend to spread out across the heartland of America.
Many people will think of our law called Posse Comitatus and that it should stop any of this nonsense. That was my original thought a few years ago until I looked a bit deeper. Let me quote what I think will explain the DODs reasoning, or at least it's excuse for going forward.
The Bush administration claims that the use of the military to support civil authorities stems from core national values as expressed in the Constitution. Article I, Section 8. It states, "Congress shall have power... to provide for calling forth the Militia to execute laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections, and repel Invasions." Article II, Section 3 states the President, "...shall take care that the Laws be faithfully executed." The 10th Amendment reads, "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it, are reserved to the States respectively...," providing the basis that Federal government support, including DoD assistance, is provided in support of State and local authorities...
The Bush administration indicates that the President is authorized by the Constitution and Title 10 (10 USC 331–334) to suppress insurrections, rebellions, and domestic violence. After issuing a Cease and Desist Order, the President issues an executive order that directs the Attorney General and the SECDEF to take appropriate steps to disperse insurgents and restore law and order. The Attorney General is then responsible to coordinate the federal response to domestic civil disturbances. The restrictions of the Posse Comitatus Act no longer apply to federal troops executing the orders of the President to quell the disturbance in accordance with Rules of the Use of Force (RUF) approved by the DoD General Counsel and the Attorney General. Bush administration claims U.S. military can police American citizens
Still just a bit skeptical ? Back on Dec.17 was this following article about our own US War College.
A new report by the U.S. Army War College talks about the possibility of Pentagon resources and troops being used should the economic crisis lead to civil unrest, such as protests against businesses and government or runs on beleaguered banks.
"Widespread civil violence inside the United States would force the defense establishment to reorient priorities in extremis to defend basic domestic order and human security," said the War College report. Ariz. police say they are prepared as War College warns military must prep for unrest; IMF warns of economic riots
This is all just something to think about. How you act or react could be very important in the next few yrs as America decides how to handle many of the issues facing us such as the War on Drug, Medical Marijuana, Immigration, Prison Reform, Mission Creep, and maybe even the fate of our own Democracy. If I have made you curious enough for more look up the plan know as Operation Garden Plot