Sunday, February 06, 2005

Now come the Gestapo, soon the SS

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."
  -- George Bush, August 5, 2004, Freudian slipage
This week, former military intelligence analyst William Arkin revealed a hitherto unknown directive, with the Orwellian name "JCS Conplan 0300-97," authorizing the Pentagon to employ special, ultra-secret "anti-terrorist" military units on American soil for what the author claims are "extra-legal missions."

In other words, using U.S. soldiers to kill or arrest Americans, acts that have been illegal since the U.S. Civil War.

[...]

George W. Bush, who clearly believes he holds the mandate of heaven after being re-elected by the less mentally active half of American voters, has decided to "unleash" special forces and all sorts of irregular units.
  Toronto Sun article

I wonder if these are separate from the secret commandos deployed at the auguration.
Notwithstanding the Posse Comitatus Act, the American ruling class have always had the power of the US military -- not just state militias but also federal troops -- at their disposal and frequently used it for domestic repression, crushing workers' strikes and uprisings: "Although the rate of [internal military] intervention has varied from year to year and the targets of interventions have shifted from industrial workers to urban rioters, the overall rates of intervention have remained near the average during the years [1886-95, 1921-35, and 1943-90]: about 18 interventions and 12,000 troops per year" (emphasis added, David Adams, "Internal Military Interventions in the United States," Journal of Peace Research 32.2, 1995).
  Critical Montage post
For more information on the use of American military against American citizens, also see Does the military protect our freedom?

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