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September 19, 2005
GOP to Give U.S. Military Authority Over U.S. Citizens?
Republicans look poised to revoke the Posse Comitatus Act and establish military rule in the United States.
That is, at least during times of natural disasters, like the recent flooding of the Gulf Coast.
The Christian Science Monitor reported that Senator John Warner (R - Va.) want to "review" the 1878 law, which bars the armed forces from engaging in law enforcement in the Unite States.
"In rare cases, Warner wrote in a letter to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, only the Pentagon has the resources to respond effectively to a catastrophic event," reported USA Today.
Warner's words echo those spoken by Bush in his speech on September 15, (you know, the one where he appeared with his shirt buttoned incorrectly?), in which he called the armed forces "the institution of our government most capable of massive logistical operations on a moment's notice."
Of course, under Bill Clinton's presidency, FEMA was actually capable of managing massive logistical operations on a momen't notice.
But now that Bush has gutted the federal government's funding by cutting taxes for his friends, and gutted the federal government of its professional and capable civil servants by appointing his friends, OF COURSE the U.S. military remains as the only wing of the federal government that can do anything quickly.
Gutting FEMA to its currently impotent status plays perfectly into the GOP's campaign to sway public opinion toward the notion that the federal government is weak and useless, so that the allegedly more efficient private sector can step in and save the day (thank you Halliburton who, according to former employees and CBS news, is wasting and millions of dollars in American-taxpayer money due to poor management and outright fraud).
But it also plays allowing Donald Rumsfeld to unleash the U.S. army against its own citizens.
A couple weeks ago (see the Sept. 7 post), I reflected on a fear held by many in the 1980s, that FEMA would suspend the U.S. Constitution during a time of "national crisis" (an authority bestowed upon it by President Reagan) and how FEMA's recent performance made it clear it couldn't even tie its shoes, let alone establish martial law.
Little did I realize that, duh, the Bush Administration still seeks the ability to establish martial law, but simply planned to just go directly to the U.S. military (and its new army of private contractors), rather than bother letting a civilian authority like FEMA take control.
A Christian Science Monitor poll asked the following question.
Should Congress authorize the use of active-duty troops after domestic emergencies like hurricanes?
The responses, with 818 recorded at the time of this writing are as follows:
No. Changing laws meant to protect civil liberties isn't the way to solve a management problem.
70.9%
Yes. The scope and depth of disasters like Katrina mandate a greater military response.
29.1%
Posted by MJuhre at September 19, 2005 03:00 PM