Army deploys combat unit in US for possible civil unrest

[BrklynLiberal]

For the first time ever, the US military is deploying an active duty regular Army combat unit for full-time use inside the United States to deal with emergencies, including potential civil unrest.

Beginning on October 1, the First Brigade Combat Team of the Third Division will be placed under the command of US Army North, the Army’s component of the Pentagon’s Northern Command (NorthCom), which was created in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks with the stated mission of defending the US “homeland” and aiding federal, state and local authorities.

The unit—known as the “Raiders”—is among the Army’s most “blooded.” It has spent nearly three out of the last five years deployed in Iraq, leading the assault on Baghdad in 2003 and carrying out house-to-house combat in the suppression of resistance in the city of Ramadi. It was the first brigade combat team to be sent to Iraq three times.

While active-duty units previously have been used in temporary assignments, such as the combat-equipped troops deployed in New Orleans, which was effectively placed under martial law in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, this marks the first time that an Army combat unit has been given a dedicated assignment in which US soil constitutes its “battle zone.

<snip>

They may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control,” the paper reports. It quotes the unit’s commander, Col. Robert Cloutier, as saying that the 1st BCT’s soldiers are being trained in the use of “the first ever nonlethal package the Army has fielded.” The weapons, the paper reported, are “designed to subdue unruly or dangerous individuals without killing them.” The equipment includes beanbag bullets, shields and batons and equipment for erecting roadblocks.

<snip>

In an online interview with reporters earlier this month, NorthCom officers were asked about the implications of the new deployment for the Posse Comitatus Act, the 230-year-old legal statute that bars the use of US military forces for law enforcement purposes within the US itself.

Col. Lou Volger, NorthCom’s chief of future operations, tried to downplay any enforcement role, but added, “We will integrate with law enforcement to understand the situation and make sure we’re aware of any threats.”

<snip>

The Bush administration has worked to tear down any barriers to the use of the military in domestic repression. Thus, in the 2007 Pentagon spending bill it inserted a measure to amend the Posse Comitatus Act to clear the way for the domestic deployment of the military in the event of natural disaster, terrorist attack or “other conditions in which the president determines that domestic violence has occurred to the extent that state officials cannot maintain public order.”

The provision granted the president sweeping new powers to impose martial law by declaring a “public emergency” for virtually any reason, allowing him to deploy troops anywhere in the US and to take control of state-based National Guard units without the consent of state governors in order to “suppress public disorder.”

The provision was subsequently repealed by Congress as part of the 2008 military appropriations legislation, but the intent remains. Given the sweeping powers claimed by the White House in the name of the “commander in chief” in a global war on terror—powers to suspend habeas corpus, carry out wholesale domestic spying and conduct torture—there is no reason to believe it would respect legal restrictions against the use of military force at home

<snip>

More at link
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/sep2008/mili-s25.shtml

[thunder rising]

1. First Brigade Combat Team ... really a brigade? that's it? phhhht!

[wundermaus]

7. phhhht!, Indeed...

Can you imagine the carnage of a scene where 2 to 3 thousand combat seasoned soldiers encounter 20 to 30 thousand angry American citizens? As an American citizen, I can not; it would be horrific and unimaginable. The use of the military and private armies domestically against it's own citizens is as clear an action of WAR as could be declared.

" A Brigade is a significantly large unit, consisting of between 1,500 and 3,200 soldiers that can be employed on independent or semi-independent operations." - http://www.gruntsmilitary.com/brigade.shtml

[paparush]

15. They're just gonna fry us with the Microwave Truck (ADS)

http://www.mondovista.com/microwave.html

[hack89]

21. There have always been hundreds of thousands of soldiers

stationed in the US. Been like that for ever. Were they less of a threat then this single brigade? What about all the other brigades returning from Iraq and Afghanistan - are they less of a threat because they haven't been officially deployed here? Has anything really changed that much since last year or the year before?

[NeedleCast]

22. Exactly

I'm not sure what the BFD is about this?

[readmoreoften]

28. I suppose the laws our country was founded on means zero to you. Were the founders 'just stupid'?

Why do you think they put posse comitatus on the books? It's called the balance of power. The executive branch is not supposed to command troops on American soil against American people. That is martial law. Period. End of question. If local authorities have a local problem, they contact the National Guard, their LOCAL well-regulated militia.

These are the freedoms our country was built on . Period. End of question.

If you're not fighting to protect the freedom from the ability of the executive branch to wage war against the people of the US who oppose him or her, then you are fighting for name that doesn't mean anything, a border line.

The army infantry does not exist to be first responders or bridge builders.

[hack89]

30. The OP says that the changes to Posse Comitatus Act were rejected by Congress

so my point stands - nothing has really changes since Bush has been President.

The President has always had the power to implement martial law - Bush has no more power in that regard than Clinton.

These troops are not presently being used against American citizens - nor is it likely that they ever will.

[grasswire]

2. does Obama want that power?

Or will he rescind that order?

[tama]

13. Ask yourself

is Obama for the establishment or a revolutionary?

[Pastiche423]

24. Too easy - The Establishment

[NeedleCast]

3. So where did they get deployed to?

The word deployed has a pretty specific meaning in the military. It means your unit has been mobilized and is out of garrison (the base where it is typically stationed).

[edhopper]

4. I guess

the Constitution is just a worthless piece of paper.

[yourout]

5. Anyone want to bet they are preparing to steal the election and the troops.....

are going to be there to deal with the demonstrators.

[BrklynLiberal]

6. Well..they are supposed to take care of "civil unrest"....

This is not good news...and certainly gives some validity to the story that Rep Sherman told about being told that if the bailout bill did not pass, Martial Law could be declared.

[anigbrowl]

8. Yep. 1 soldier for every 2900 Americans.

[NeedleCast]

19. Yes, I will take that bet

What are your stakes?

[readmoreoften]

29. I don't know. You made a fool out of yourself saying the stock market wouldn't drop.

But you never responded to the criticism in that thread. My guess is, if I made a bet with you you wouldn't pay up.

[yowzayowzayowza]

23. Primarily it would fall to the...

local powers that be to "deal with the demonstrators" as a few thousand troops returning from deployment in Iraq are not gunna go very far in pacifying this country and for some reason the National Guard is pretty much indisposed.

[1776Forever]

9. More info from Army Times.......

Beginning Oct. 1 for 12 months, the 1st BCT will be under the day-to-day control of U.S. Army North, the Army service component of Northern Command, as an on-call federal response force for natural or manmade emergencies and disasters, including terrorist attacks.

It is not the first time an active-duty unit has been tapped to help at home. In August 2005, for example, when Hurricane Katrina unleashed hell in Mississippi and Louisiana, several active-duty units were pulled from various posts and mobilized to those areas.

But this new mission marks the first time an active unit has been given a dedicated assignment to NorthCom, a joint command established in 2002 to provide command and control for federal homeland defense efforts and coordinate defense support of civil authorities.

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/09/army_homeland_090708w/

Brigade homeland tours start Oct. 1

3rd Infantry’s 1st BCT trains for a new dwell-time mission. Helping ‘people at home’ may become a permanent part of the active Army

By Gina Cavallaro - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Sep 30, 2008 16:16:12 EDT

(snip)

After 1st BCT finishes its dwell-time mission, expectations are that another, as yet unnamed, active-duty brigade will take over and that the mission will be a permanent one.

“Right now, the response force requirement will be an enduring mission. How the chooses to source that and whether or not they continue to assign them to NorthCom, that could change in the future,” said Army Col. Louis Vogler, chief of NorthCom future operations. “Now, the plan is to assign a force every year.”

The command is at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colo., but the soldiers with 1st BCT, who returned in April after 15 months in Iraq, will operate out of their home post at Fort Stewart, Ga., where they’ll be able to go to school, spend time with their families and train for their new homeland mission as well as the counterinsurgency mission in the war zones.

Stop-loss will not be in effect, so soldiers will be able to leave the Army or move to new assignments during the mission, and the operational tempo will be variable.

Don’t look for any extra time off, though. The at-home mission does not take the place of scheduled combat-zone deployments and will take place during the so-called dwell time a unit gets to reset and regenerate after a deployment.

The 1st of the 3rd is still scheduled to deploy to either Iraq or Afghanistan in early 2010, which means the soldiers will have been home a minimum of 20 months by the time they ship out.

[provis99]

14. Hurrican Katrina "unleashed hell"?

That's Army Times Nietzschean talk for you. The Times is a riot to read sometimes; they like overexcited adjectives more than any other newspaper, except the New York Post.

[PaDUer]

17. That page has gone AWOL!

That page has gone AWOL!

404 Error: File not found

It appears that the page you requested cannot be located at this time.

Please check to make sure that everything in the URL was spelled correctly. Otherwise, use the site search above to find the information you need.

[1776Forever]

25. Try this link - it worked for me this time......

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/09/army_homeland_090708w/

[amdezurik]

10. to bad they missed a good target of opportunity

not long ago there was a gathering of traitors and conspirators gathered in St Paul that should have been rounded up. They call their gang the RNC...

[BrklynLiberal]

12. Good point...

[galileoreloaded]

11. 1st BCT,3rdID is 13,500 troops including armor/air support. Read the article.......n/t

[DemoTex]

16. TO&E question ..

How many soldiers in a brigade? How many in the First Brigade Combat Team?

[earth mom]

18. This was already posted I think. Or are we talking MORE troops?

:wow:

[NeedleCast]

20. No, same unit

[Dover]

26. We have been warned...

Excerpt from Kucinich's Prayer For America


... Let us pray that our nation's leaders will not be overcome with fear. Because today there is great fear in our great Capitol. And this must be understood before we can ask about the shortcomings of Congress in the current environment.

The great fear began when we had to evacuate the Capitol on September 11.

It continued when we had to leave the Capitol again when a bomb scare occurred as members were pressing the CIA during a secret briefing.

It continued when we abandoned Washington when anthrax, possibly from a government lab, arrived in the mail.

It continued when the Attorney General declared a nationwide terror alert and then the Administration brought the destructive Patriot Bill to the floor of the House.

It continued in the release of the bin Laden tapes at the same time the President was announcing the withdrawal from the ABM treaty.

It remains present in the cordoning off of the Capitol.

It is present in the camouflaged armed national guardsmen who greet members of Congress each day we enter the Capitol campus.

It is present in the labyrinth of concrete barriers through which we must pass each time we go to vote...>

http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0226-09.htm

[upi402]

27. I hope Obama stays behind THICK glass, please!!!

These evil-doers have a prison mentality and would feel nothing about doing absolutely anything.
I'll never forget...