martial law?

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http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/10/28/18324231.php

http://www.uruknet.info?p=27769

Bush Moves Toward Martial Law

Frank Morales

 

October 26, 2006

 

In a stealth maneuver, President Bush has signed into law a provision which,

according to Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), 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. "

 

President Bush seized this unprecedented power on the very same day that he

signed the equally odious Military Commissions Act of 2006. In a sense, the two

laws complement one another. One allows for torture and detention abroad, while

the other seeks to enforce acquiescence at home, preparing to order the military

onto the streets of America. Remember, the term for putting an area under

military law enforcement control is precise; the term is " martial law. "

 

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. "

 

For the current President, " enforcement of the laws to restore public order "

means to commandeer guardsmen from any state, over the objections of local

governmental, military and local police entities; ship them off to another

state; conscript them in a law enforcement mode; and set them loose against

" disorderly " citizenry - protesters, possibly, or those who object to forced

vaccinations and quarantines in the event of a bio-terror event.

 

The law also facilitates militarized police round-ups and detention of

protesters, so called " illegal aliens, " " potential terrorists " and other

" undesirables " for detention in facilities already contracted for and under

construction by Halliburton. That's right. Under the cover of a trumped-up

" immigration emergency " and the frenzied militarization of the southern border,

detention camps are being constructed right under our noses, camps designed for

anyone who resists the foreign and domestic agenda of the Bush administration.

 

An article on " recent contract awards " in a recent issue of the slick, insider

" Journal of Counterterrorism & Homeland Security International " reported that

" global engineering and technical services powerhouse KBR [Kellog, Brown & Root]

announced in January 2006 that its Government and Infrastructure division was

awarded an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract to support

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities in the event of an

emergency. " " With a maximum total value of $385 million over a five year term, "

the report notes, " the contract is to be executed by the U.S. Army Corps of

Engineers, " " for establishing temporary detention and processing capabilities to

augment existing ICE Detention and Removal Operations (DRO) - in the event of an

emergency influx of immigrants into the U.S., or to support the rapid

development of new programs. " The report points out that " KBR is the engineering

and construction subsidiary of Halliburton. " (3) So, in addition to authorizing

another $532.8 billion for the Pentagon, including a $70-billion " supplemental

provision " which covers the cost of the ongoing, mad military maneuvers in Iraq,

Afghanistan, and other places, the new law, signed by the president in a private

White House ceremony, further collapses the historic divide between the police

and the military: a tell-tale sign of a rapidly consolidating police state in

America, all accomplished amidst ongoing U.S. imperial pretensions of global

domination, sold to an " emergency managed " and seemingly willfully gullible

public as a " global war on terrorism. "

 

Make no mistake about it: the de-facto repeal of the Posse Comitatus Act (PCA)

is an ominous assault on American democratic tradition and jurisprudence. The

1878 Act, which reads, " Whoever, except in cases and under circumstances

expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress, willfully uses any

part of the Army or Air Force as a posse comitatus or otherwise to execute the

laws shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or

both, " is the only U.S. criminal statute that outlaws military operations

directed against the American people under the cover of 'law enforcement.' As

such, it has been the best protection we've had against the power-hungry

intentions of an unscrupulous and reckless executive, an executive intent on

using force to enforce its will.

 

Unfortunately, this past week, the president dealt posse comitatus, along with

American democracy, a near fatal blow. Consequently, it will take an aroused

citizenry to undo the damage wrought by this horrendous act, part and parcel, as

we have seen, of a long train of abuses and outrages perpetrated by this

authoritarian administration.

 

Despite the unprecedented and shocking nature of this act, there has been no

outcry in the American media, and little reaction from our elected officials in

Congress. On September 19th, a lone Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) noted that

2007's Defense Authorization Act contained a " widely opposed provision to allow

the President more control over the National Guard [adopting] changes to the

Insurrection Act, which will make it easier for this or any future President to

use the military to restore domestic order WITHOUT the consent of the nation's

governors. "

 

Senator Leahy went on to stress that, " we certainly do not need to make it

easier for Presidents to declare martial law. Invoking the Insurrection Act and

using the military for law enforcement activities goes against some of the

central tenets of our democracy. One can easily envision governors and mayors in

charge of an emergency having to constantly look over their shoulders while

someone who has never visited their communities gives the orders. "

 

A few weeks later, on the 29th of September, Leahy entered into the

Congressional Record that he had " grave reservations about certain provisions of

the fiscal Year 2007 Defense Authorization Bill Conference Report, " the language

of which, he said, " subverts solid, longstanding posse comitatus statutes that

limit the military's involvement in law enforcement, thereby making it easier

for the President to declare martial law. " This had been " slipped in, " Leahy

said, " as a rider with little study, " while " other congressional committees with

jurisdiction over these matters had no chance to comment, let alone hold

hearings on, these proposals. "

 

In a telling bit of understatement, the Senator from Vermont noted that " the

implications of changing the (Posse Comitatus) Act are enormous " . " There is good

reason, " he said, " for the constructive friction in existing law when it comes

to martial law declarations. Using the military for law enforcement goes against

one of the founding tenets of our democracy. We fail our Constitution,

neglecting the rights of the States, when we make it easier for the President to

declare martial law and trample on local and state sovereignty. "

 

Senator Leahy's final ruminations: " Since hearing word a couple of weeks ago

that this outcome was likely, I have wondered how Congress could have gotten to

this point. It seems the changes to the Insurrection Act have survived the

Conference because the Pentagon and the White House want it. "

 

The historic and ominous re-writing of the Insurrection Act, accomplished in the

dead of night, which gives Bush the legal authority to declare martial law, is

now an accomplished fact.

 

The Pentagon, as one might expect, plays an even more direct role in martial law

operations. Title XIV of the new law, entitled, " Homeland Defense Technology

Transfer Legislative Provisions, " authorizes " the Secretary of Defense to create

a Homeland Defense Technology Transfer Consortium to improve the effectiveness

of the Department of Defense (DOD) processes for identifying and deploying

relevant DOD technology to federal, State, and local first responders. "

 

In other words, the law facilitates the " transfer " of the newest in so-called

" crowd control " technology and other weaponry designed to suppress dissent from

the Pentagon to local militarized police units. The new law builds on and

further codifies earlier " technology transfer " agreements, specifically the 1995

DOD-Justice Department memorandum of agreement achieved back during the

Clinton-Reno regime.(4)

 

It has become clear in recent months that a critical mass of the American people

have seen through the lies of the Bush administration; with the president's

polls at an historic low, growing resistance to the war Iraq, and the Democrats

likely to take back the Congress in mid-term elections, the Bush administration

is on the ropes. And so it is particularly worrying that President Bush has seen

fit, at this juncture to, in effect, declare himself dictator.

 

Source:

 

(1) http://leahy.senate.gov/press/200609/091906a.html and

http://leahy.senate.gov/press/200609/092906b.html See also, Congressional

Research Service Report for Congress, " The Use of Federal Troops for Disaster

Assistance: Legal Issues, " by Jennifer K. Elsea, Legislative Attorney, August

14, 2006

 

(2) http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill+h109-5122

 

(3) Journal of Counterterrorism & Homeland Security International, " Recent

Contract Awards " , Summer 2006, Vol.12, No.2, pg.8; See also, Peter Dale Scott,

" Homeland Security Contracts for Vast New Detention Camps, " New American Media,

January 31, 2006.

 

(4) " Technology Transfer from defense: Concealed Weapons Detection " , National

Institute of Justice Journal, No 229, August, 1995, pp.42-43.

 

:: Article nr. 27769 sent on 27-oct-2006 03:18 ECT

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