I don't like the sound of this....

[Guido]

Bringing US troops home to deal with civil unrest? Excuse me?

US Army unit deployed to home front
Nonlethal force for civil unrest
By Andrew Orlowski
Posted in Government, 25th September 2008 13:34 GMT

A US army brigade combat unit will be deployed at home for the first time, the Army Times reports.

The 1st BCT (Brigade Combat Team), numbering about 650 personnel, has returned from Iraq. But rather than dealing with enemy combatants, it may be called to deal with unruly Americans.

The Team "may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control or to deal with potentially horrific scenarios such as massive poisoning and chaos in response to a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive, or CBRNE, attack."

The troops will be testing "a new modular package of nonlethal capabilities" for the first time. The BCT will be based in Georgia, the paper reports.

The Posse Comitatus Act forbids the use of the US military at home. So the task of dealing with domestic "emergencies" has been the role of the National Guard, for whom there is an exemption. But the demarcation has blurred in recent years, with the National Guard called up to bolster the military occupation of Iraq.

October is traditionally the month of surprises in the US political calendar. But this year, October has come early.

Your thoughts on this unusual deployment are welcome, by email here. ®

From: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/09...me_deployment/

The National Guard handles the domestic stuff, and I understand they're deployed etc, but using an active Army unit reeks of a police state.

I didn't see this covered on any US news site.

[matias]

time to start using that second amendment right

[Keith P]

Originally Posted by Guido

Bringing US troops home to deal with civil unrest? Excuse me?


From: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/09...me_deployment/

The National Guard handles the domestic stuff, and I understand they're deployed etc, but using an active Army unit reeks of a police state.

I didn't see this covered on any US news site.

I try not to be a worry wart but yeh not cool. Let the national guard do their duty.

[progress]

I'd be less concerned with my rights as a US Citizen vs. why they may have actually been called back home. I certainly hope this is not due to word of a potential attack on US soil.

[johnny861]

blah... the national gaurd and/ or army has been used to surpress riots and uprisings domestically for well over a century... the question is, is there some kind of thread as stated in the article that is prompting this deployment.

[Hubb]

^^^^^

just look up the riots in chicago in 1969

[DJ Uhm]

Yeah I read about this the other day. This article tied this into the financial situation we are in and went even further to state the it is all just a big play put on by our leaders to enforce a facist state. I didn't want to post it here, but.........

http://infowars.net/articles/Septemb...08Reporter.htm

[DJ Uhm]

Originally Posted by progress

I'd be less concerned with my rights as a US Citizen vs. why they may have actually been called back home. I certainly hope this is not due to word of a potential attack on US soil.

That's a very ignorant thing to say. You aren't concerned with your rights as a citizen?!!?!111 Congrats you are a shining example of what this gov't and the media want to see. People so trapped by fear that they are willing to be another sheep in the flock.

[Nyteshade]

The Army Times story here:
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/0...d_090708w/?rss

[e-brake]

Originally Posted by johnny861

blah... the national gaurd and/ or army has been used to surpress riots and uprisings domestically for well over a century... the question is, is there some kind of thread as stated in the article that is prompting this deployment.

Ya the military has always been handy in times like this. How else would we have managed to keep Black people from riding on the bus if it wasn't for our valiant armed forces and the fire hoses they used to break up the crowds. Lets not forget about what a bang up job the national guard did in the 1950's when they used dogs and clubs to keep those black kids from going to school with the white kids. I also fear for a world where our government is not allowed to unleash the army to shoot up crowds of young pacifist college students in the 60's who dared to stand in the park and criticize government.

Things always work out so great when we deploy our armed forces and police against our own people! I think everyone should feel the sting of a rubbber bullet at least once in life, combined with the burning of gases in your lungs and the tears of hot pepper spray in your eyes it can really remind you how great it is to live in the land of the free.

[johnny861]

Originally Posted by e-brake

Ya the military has always been handy in times like this. How else would we have managed to keep Black people from riding on the bus if it wasn't for our valiant armed forces and the fire hoses they used to break up the crowds. Lets not forget about what a bang up job the national guard did in the 1950's when they used dogs and clubs to keep those black kids from going to school with the white kids. I also fear for a world where our government is not allowed to unleash the army to shoot up crowds of young pacifist college students in the 60's who dared to stand in the park and criticize government.

Things always work out so great when we deploy our armed forces and police against our own people! I think everyone should feel the sting of a rubbber bullet at least once in life, combined with the burning of gases in your lungs and the tears of hot pepper spray in your eyes it can really remind you how great it is to live in the land of the free.

To play devil's advocate, I believe it was also the military that enforced the integration of schools in alabama...

but, the point I was making is this is nothing new, troops have always been deployed to domestic areas... the big question is what real grounds do they have for being deployed now?

[zerojunkie]

Originally Posted by e-brake

Lets not forget about what a bang up job the national guard did in the 1950's when they used dogs and clubs to keep those black kids from going to school with the white kids.

Right, it's not like the governor was ordering them to do it or anything. It was just those big bad National Guardsmen who took it upon themselves to keep them out of the school.

Don't forget the army regulars who ensured the safety of the little rock nine.

Don't forget the National Guardsmen left when when a court nullified the order the governor had given.

I also fear for a world where our government is not allowed to unleash the army to shoot up crowds of young pacifist college students in the 60's who dared to stand in the park and criticize government.

Not defending what happened at Kent State, but civil protests don't typically consist of burning buildings.

[Nyteshade]

Originally Posted by johnny861

To play devil's advocate, I believe it was also the military that enforced the integration of schools in alabama...

but, the point I was making is this is nothing new, troops have always been deployed to domestic areas... the big question is what real grounds do they have for being deployed now?

They aren't exactly being deployed. They are being kept on retainer for the possibility to be deployed in the event of a disaster or attack. This is a new rotation the Army is setting up.

[johnny861]

Originally Posted by Nyteshade

They aren't exactly being deployed. They are being kept on retainer for the possibility to be deployed in the event of a disaster or attack. This is a new rotation the Army is setting up.

Ah ok, well this sounds like much ado about nothing then.

[e-brake]

Originally Posted by zerojunkie

Right, it's not like the governor was ordering them to do it or anything. It was just those big bad National Guardsmen who took it upon themselves to keep them out of the school.

I know that the national guard themselves are not to blame, in all of these cases they are doing exactly what they were trained to do. The fact is the Millitary is a blunt instrument that should not be used against the American people. Reguardless of who ordered them to be there the end result is always the same, if you use the military or national guard for crowd control Americans are going to be injured by them at the end of the day, they are trained to kick ass and win wars, not to be local police. We have 232 years of history showing this to be a fact.

Its disturbing to hear that we are pulling troops out of war zones to come state side for the purpose of suppressing civil unrest. The millitary should never be used as Police and we have 200 year old rules in place that are supposed to make it illegal. (granted the laws have never stopped them from using them in the past)

If they are worried about civil unrest then they need to be training more local and state police agencies to handle crowd control, or hiring more Police to function in riot situations. Civil unrest is a Police issue not a military issue, and using the military to handle a police issue is a recipe for disaster.