Naomi Wolf: Thousands of Troops Are Deployed on U.S. Streets Ready to Carry Out "Crowd Control"

[marmar]

from AlterNet:



Thousands of Troops Are Deployed on U.S. Streets Ready to Carry Out "Crowd Control"

By Naomi Wolf, AlterNet. Posted October 8, 2008.

Members of Congress were told they could face martial law if they didn't pass the bailout bill. This will not be the last time.



Background: the First Brigade of the Third Infantry Division, three to four thousand soldiers, has been deployed in the United States as of October 1. Their stated mission is the form of crowd control they practiced in Iraq, subduing "unruly individuals," and the management of a national emergency. I am in Seattle and heard from the brother of one of the soldiers that they are engaged in exercises now. Amy Goodman reported that an Army spokesperson confirmed that they will have access to lethal and non lethal crowd control technologies and tanks.

George Bush struck down Posse Comitatus, thus making it legal for military to patrol the U.S. He has also legally established that in the "War on Terror," the U.S. is at war around the globe and thus the whole world is a battlefield. Thus the U.S. is also a battlefield.

He also led change to the 1807 Insurrection Act to give him far broader powers in the event of a loosely defined "insurrection" or many other "conditions" he has the power to identify. The Constitution allows the suspension of habeas corpus -- habeas corpus prevents us from being seized by the state and held without trial -- in the event of an "insurrection." With his own army force now, his power to call a group of protesters or angry voters "insurgents" staging an "insurrection" is strengthened.

U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman of California said to Congress, captured on C-Span and viewable on YouTube, that individual members of the House were threatened with martial law within a week if they did not pass the bailout bill:

"The only way they can pass this bill is by creating and sustaining a panic atmosphere. … Many of us were told in private conversations that if we voted against this bill on Monday that the sky would fall, the market would drop two or three thousand points the first day and a couple of thousand on the second day, and a few members were even told that there would be martial law in America if we voted no."

If this is true and Rep. Sherman is not delusional, I ask you to consider that if they are willing to threaten martial law now, it is foolish to assume they will never use that threat again. It is also foolish to trust in an orderly election process to resolve this threat. And why deploy the First Brigade? One thing the deployment accomplishes is to put teeth into such a threat. .....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/rights/101958/thousands_of_troops_are_deployed_on_u.s._streets_ready_to_carry_out_%22crowd_control%22/

[CoffeeCat]

1. Americans will not stand for this...

I don't care how asleep Americans have been in the past. Many of Bush's power plays were fuzzy. People
didn't get what "Habeas Corpus" was. They weren't sure why the Patriot Act was so bad.

However, people absolutely understand what it means to have tanks the US Military stationed in front of the
Starbuck's in their home town, microwaving people with torturous crowd-control devices.

The article mentions "tanks."

Americans will not put up with tanks and uniformed military in their neighborhoods and towns--controlling
the population.

People will understand when they see this, and they won't put up with it.

And another thing...these soldiers. How in the world could they do this to America? If these soldiers are used
to quell dissent and to control people who are speaking out or peacefully demonstrating against this administration--how
in the world could these soldiers go along with these Fascist tactics?

They're Americans. They have families--wives, children, parents. I can't imagine that they would turn on their
own country.

What in the world is going to happen to justify this revolting, unprecedented, jarring and radical action?

[RedLetterRev]

2. Our collective worst mistake all along

has been to say, "It couldn't possibly happen here." No matter what the question was, no matter what the worst path was, *-Co took it.

The military has for the past few years been a magnet for Dominionists, skinheads, neo-nazis, and doomsday religious cultists of all sorts who've been using the training and facilities for exactly the sort of scenario *-Co would love to see: the military they co-opted together turn arms on American citizens. Google it up; it's there for the world to see. They're every one itching for something to break loose on American soil. The fascists would call it crowd control; the religious nuts would call it Armageddon; the skinheads and neo-nazis would call it the race-war they've dreamed of.

The rest of us would call it hell.

If you think for an instant any of them would hesitate -- well, they haven't so far.

Sorry I couldn't offer a cheerier note, but history has left a grim trail of reminders.

[Raster]

9. No our collective worst mistake all along was NOT taking to the streets and demanding

the unelected traitors bush* and cheney* be thrown in prison where they belong.

[UK populist]

5. You are forgetting where they have been for the last 5 years

They have been in Iraq for the best part of 3-4 years in this period. They are battle hardened and the majority of them are probably suffering the effects of PTSD. This creates a very different mindset in a person. They have spent the last 5 years having to follow orders to the letter while there friends and colleagues are being injured or getting killed and their only way to survive has been to follow them orders. If you think just because these soldiers are back on home soil they can just switch of what has been drummed in to them then you are mistaken. I have said before and I sadly say again there will be lots of blood spilled before and after this election if it looks like Obama is going to win and they try to steal it away from the people. I sincerely hope I am wrong but the powers that be will not give up without pushing your country to the edge of a revolution whether it be Fascist in nature or democratic.

[Doctor_J]

10. Bullshit

The 2000 election was stolen in plain view. People are placed in cages at conventions.

As long as American Idol is aired without annoying interruptions actually showing the tanks rolling down the streets, 99.9% of the populace won't even know it's happening.

[immoderate]

3. The Bush Administration -- They hate us for our freedoms.

They bring democracy to the Middle East, and fascism to America.

--IMM

[endthewar]

23. LOL!

:rofl:

[Tutankhamun]

4. If the GOP actually tries to use these troops against Americans, they're going to have one bloody

fight on their hands.

[colonel odis]

14. i'll second that.

i doubt very seriously that american troops would open fire on americans, especially given what they've seen the last 5 years.

if they do, however, they will be biting off more than they can chew.

[tonycinla]

21. do not believe that

i am ex military(combat) and remember Kent State and the crazy 60s well.Things are actually crazier now.It definitely could happen.

[colonel odis]

22. if you don't believe my first sentence, then believe my second one.

[BadGimp]

6. This YouTube video interview w Naomi Wolf a much deeper

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XgkeTanCGI

It raised the hair on my arms.

This video should be required viewing by all Patriots.

Good luck my friends..

[Pachamama]

7. "It Can't Happen Here" - Sinclair Lewis

....or can it?

[reggie the dog]

8. soldiers patrol in France

They walk around places like train stations and the Eiffel Tower. They have no tanks, but they have mititary rifles. They are NEVER used for crowd control, they are NEVER used even in case of RIOTS. They are supposedly just there if a terrorist attack would break out, mostly they walk around and smoke cigs.

[FiveGoodMen]

11. And you're confident that that's all the pukes would do here?

[reggie the dog]

17. not at all

I am worried what the next regime here in France will do with the soldiers too.

[FiveGoodMen]

24. Ah, got it.

I didn't quite understand where you where going with that at first.

(Bad news about France)

[reggie the dog]

27. I think it is because I am american

but I just do not like soldiers patrolling the streets, or train stations, with automatic weapons, basically just 18 or 19 year olds, and like I said, they have nothing to do but stand around smoking their cigs...., why are they there? To scare us????terror terror terror.......???? be they in France or the USA I do not like soldiers doing the work of police.

[Porschenut1066]

16. Yes they do, but France is a working democracy where the Government

listens to the people.

[harun]

12. Are there any Republicans left who are still pro-Liberty?

[reggie the dog]

18. The Netherlands?????

[comtec]

28. And the uk

Sadly here the CDA and CU are still sucking bush of every chance they get.
Balky is a fucking idiot whose been blowing bush so long he doesn't know anything else...
The CDA REALLY needs to loose power (christian democratic party).
the next election they probably will loose plurality (35%) to teh SP (socialist party) and we can start rebuilding Holland to it's former glory of tolerance, acceptance, and thought!!

oh well, it's a hope for this allochtonen (foreign born) for this soggy country anyway :)

[kristopher]

13. I agree with TwoSparkles post #1

Let me add that when I went into the military in 1973, civilian crowd/riot control was a standard part of training. As much as I despise the Bush administration, I don't think the evidence offered should be considered any sort of "proof" that something nefarious is in the works.

It would depend on circumstances, but in general, I don't think the people would stand for it nor would most legislators or state governors. And I KNOW that it would be difficult to convince the US military (at all levels) to engage in widespread action against the citizenry.

[Porschenut1066]

15. Who is the Commander of these troops? I can't see them carrying

out illegal orders against US Citizens without risking other units taking up arms on the other side.
This would be a military coup.

The Neocons could always hire Blackwater to start some trouble and then declare marshal law.

[Sam Ervin jret]

19. And the civilian police are meant to do what? Give up their weapons?

And the millions of people who have weapons?

The entire army can't police Iraq. One brigade in an armed America with civilian police with unknown loyalties? If this was used as a scare tactic, they should have called their bet.

I'm tired of being held hostage by my own, in my own.

[RainDog]

20. Soldiers are giving money to the Obama campaign

From what I've heard from those who are currently serving, the majority of enlisted people HATE Bush. They've informed each other as much as possible, since they've been fed a steady diet of Rush Limbaugh/Fox News while overseas.

Imagine that. Troops who are fed propaganda can see with their own eyes the lies of the Bush administration and bypass the propaganda. I've read things from soldiers who have recently been in Iraq and I don't think the U.S. military, at the enlisted level, would turn on American citizens.

I no longer give any credence to anything Naomi Wolf writes because of her "vision" of Jesus while she was a 13y/o boy. That is delusional, to me. Worse, she is reaching out to the left in the same way that Palin is reaching out of the right with scare tactics delivered by an attractive female. The advice she gave to Gore was bullshit as well... just saying.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4156/is_20060122/ai_n16015894

[tom_paine]

25. A reply to your linked article from Beliefnet

http://blog.beliefnet.com/chatteringmind/2006/01/paging-jane-fonda-naomi-wolf-needs.html

Plus, if you think that Wolf and Palin are the same sides of the coin, then I simply say that you have no "sense of smell", rhetorically-speaking.

Scare tactics to invoke the Founding Fathers? scare tactics to keep saying Don't believe me,look it up yourself. again and again and AGAIN.

Palin says that alot? Don't believe me,look it up yourself.

She says that? REALLY?

Since the Rise of Cable TV and the Death of the American Free Pess, we Americans have been trained by repetition to embrace sloppy thinking and binary thinking. If it is a coincidence, it is a pretty big one, considering it has helped deliver unto tyrants the greatest power imaginable.

But to get back to my original though. Basically everything on TV is binary, doubly so for "News". Yes/no. Right/wrong. He said/she said. Unfortunately, that is the most weak-minded way to vie the world possible, for all of life is saheds of grey and the world casnnot be understood in binary.

In addition to the atrophy of weakening the national mind through repeat application of "Now we'll tell you what to think about what you just saw" Punditocracy, it also encourages several other sloppy thinking patterns which are chaarcterstsic of Third World Tyrants' suv=bjects.

This one is the one you are using when you say what you do about Wolf. The Bushie Lie Machione as made it so that a single odd occurrance or quirk in someone's life is used to discredit 100% of everything they say.

Thomas Jefferson raped slaves, but you listen to him. Ben Franklin was a notorious liar in many circles who ran a Philly Brothel, but you listen to him.

The original Tom Paine associated with radical Jacobins, but you listen to HIM.

It is sloppy think to say we will only listen to people if they are "perfect". But that is the weak-minded condition that repeat applications of Punditocracy and the Bush Lie Macjhine have done to our National Mind.

And perhaps, to your mind, also.

Just something to think about. Along with the reprehensible slave-raping Jefferson and why you have spent all your life believing what HE had to say when obviously his history of serial slave-raping should diqualify him in your eyes 100%.

[lelgt60]

26. Could you tell me which "U.S. Streets" they are deployed on. I would like to go see them.

Are they staying in hotels, parks, Walmart parking lots?

[LiberalEsto]

29. Email to my Congressman today

Dear Congressman Van Hollen,

I am becoming increasingly concerned about reports that "the First Brigade of the Third Infantry Division, three to four thousand soldiers, has been deployed in the United States as of October 1. Their stated mission is the form of crowd control they practiced in Iraq, subduing "unruly individuals," and the management of a national emergency." (Naomi Wolf, Alternet). Has Posse Comitatus been eliminated? Are these troops going to be deployed against American citizens? Is Congress going to do something to prevent the possible imposition of martial law? I hope there is something you and your fellow members of Congress can do to prevent this.

I will also contact Maryland Senators Ben Cardin and Barbara Mikulski. I think we need to bombard members of Congress about this situation.