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The Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security recently notified law enforcement agencies and associations, such as the National Association of Chiefs of Police, about the Obama Administration's interest in using the military during "emergencies."
Government officials reported that the Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator W. Craig Fugate met with the Commander of the US Northern Command, General Gene Renuart, to discuss "pre-disaster...
"My initial reaction is: why are we allowing federal troops to basically invade the sovereignty of individual states when each state has its own law enforcement agencies and each state possesses an armed and trained National Guard and, in the case of some states such as New York, a trained militia?" according to New York police officer Ed Aquino.
"We have not used armed federal troops in New York since the Civil War when Union troops and Navy battleships attacked dissenters who opposed conscription by the Union Army," she added
Political strategist Mike Baker is disturbed over this latest “emergency plan” designed to allow federal troops to operate freely within US borders.
“This is a constitutionally unsound development for our nation. While President Barack Obama and his ilk worry about how America’s military is perceived by other nations and are concerned with how we treat enemies, they seem to be willing to use extreme measures against their own citizens. Will we witness another Branch Davidian massacre in the name of ‘emergency response’ or other rationale? It’s not a positive development for this nation,” said Baker.
“This is not something we should be celebrating. This is something we as Americans should fear,” states another NYPD officer.
“If states do not have the capability to respond on their own to a hurricane or earthquake, then perhaps they should increase their capabilities or change their leadership,” said Det. Benny Cardoza.
“Using Hurricane Katrina as an excuse to increase federal authority in the affairs of individual states is a sorry excuse and one that should be shunned by citizens and local cops,” states the decorated cop.
"This is not something we should be celebrating. This is something we as Americans should fear," states another NYPD officer.
"If states do not have the capability to respond on their own to a hurricane or earthquake, then perhaps they should increase their capabilities or change their leadership," said Det. Benny Cardoza.
"Using Hurricane Katrina as an excuse to increase federal authority in the affairs of individual states is a sorry excuse and one that should be shunned by citizens and local cops," states the decorated cop.
This violates Posse Comitatus which clearly forbids Federal troops from conducting law enforcement operations in the continental United States.
....according to Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont),[the new law] will actually encourage the President to declare federal martial law (1). It does so by revising the Insurrection Act, a set of laws that limits the President's ability to deploy troops within the United States. The Insurrection Act (10 U.S.C.331 -335) has historically, along with the Posse Comitatus Act (18 U.S.C.1385), helped to enforce strict prohibitions on military involvement in domestic law enforcement. With one cloaked swipe of his pen, Bush is seeking to undo those prohibitions.
Public Law 109-364, or the "John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007" (H.R.5122) (2), which was signed by the commander in chief on October 17th, 2006, in a private Oval Office ceremony, allows the President to declare a "public emergency" and station troops anywhere in America and take control of state-based National Guard units without the consent of the governor or local authorities, in order to "suppress public disorder."
Section 1076 of the massive Authorization Act, which grants the Pentagon another $500-plus-billion for its ill-advised adventures, is entitled, "Use of the Armed Forces in Major Public Emergencies."
Section 333, "Major public emergencies; interference with State and Federal law" states that "the President may employ the armed forces, including the National Guard in Federal service, to restore public order and enforce the laws of the United States when, as a result of a natural disaster, epidemic, or other serious public health emergency, terrorist attack or incident, or other condition in any State or possession of the United States, the President determines that domestic violence has occurred to such an extent that the constituted authorities of the State or possession are incapable of ("refuse" or "fail" in) maintaining public order, "in order to suppress, in any State, any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy."
Toward Freedom
Originally posted by Jakes51
reply to post by crimvelvet
Ouch, talk about getting hit in chops with that one crimvelvet! What you just shared with us is some bad news and I'm not kidding. That is dictatorship plain and simple! Now they think because President Obama's predecessor concocted this ugly bill; it is okay for him to carry it out? Our current President is supposed to be an attorney and a specialist in Constitutional law, correct? Why on this green earth would he stand back and allow this bill to remain solvent is beyond me? With his education he should know better! Some change huh? Same old rerun but with different actors.
More
Lost in the midst of hundreds of pages, Public Law 109-364, better known as the "John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007" (H.R.5122) includes a specific section on the role of the Military in national emergencies.
Section 1076 of this legislation entitled "Use of the Armed Forces in Major Public Emergencies" allows the President of the United States the deploy the armed forces and the National Guard across the US, to "restore public order and enforce the laws of the United States" in the case of "a natural disaster, epidemic, or other serious public health emergency":
SEC. 1076. USE OF THE ARMED FORCES IN MAJOR PUBLIC EMERGENCIES.
(a) Use of the Armed Forces Authorized-
(1) IN GENERAL- Section 333 of title 10, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:
`Sec. 333. Major public emergencies; interference with State and Federal law
`(a) Use of Armed Forces in Major Public Emergencies- (1) The President may employ the armed forces, including the National Guard in Federal service, to--
`(A) restore public order and enforce the laws of the United States when, as a result of a natural disaster, epidemic, or other serious public health emergency, terrorist attack or incident, or other condition in any State or possession of the United States, the President determines that-
According to former administration officials, at a top-level meeting in 2002, then-vice president Dick Cheney and his allies lobbied hard for sending U.S. troops onto the streets of a Buffalo, N.Y., suburb to kick down doors and kill or capture a group of terrorist suspects, the so-called Lackawanna Six.
In that debate, Cheney relied on a legal memo by Justice Department official John Yoo that said neither the Fourth Amendment nor the Posse Comitatus Act, the federal statute that restricts the use of standing armies to keep the peace at home, could check the commander in chief’s power to use the military domestically.