DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE:
DOD DIRECTIVE GRANTS MILITARY AUTHORITY TO ‘QUELL LARGE-SCALE, UNEXPECTED CIVIL DISTURBANCES’
Militarization of federal agencies across the board puts everyday Americans square in the crosshairs;
EXCERPTS:
"“Federal military commanders are provided EMERGENCY AUTHORITY under this Directive. Federal military forces shall not be used to quell civil disturbances unless specifically authorized by the President in accordance with applicable law.. In these circumstances, those Federal military commanders have the authority, in extraordinary emergency circumstances where prior authorization by the President is impossible and duly constituted local authorities are unable to control the situation to engage temporarily in activities that are necessary to quell large-scale, unexpected civil disturbances…”"
"A DoD training manual disseminated last year, for instance, listed people who embrace “individual liberties,” and honor “states’ rights,” among other characteristics, as potential “extremists” likely to be members of “hate groups.”
“Nowadays,” the manual explained, “instead of dressing in sheets or publicly espousing hate messages, many extremists will talk of individual liberties, states’ rights, and how to make the world a better place.”
The manual’s contents dovetails with previous government studies targeting similar groups, such as a study funded by the Department of Homeland Security which characterized Americans “suspicious of centralized federal authority” and “reverent of individual liberty” as “extreme right-wing” terrorists."
"At best, the language contained within the latest DoD directive provides an end run around posse comitatus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posse_Comitatus_Act); at worst, it can be construed as an admission by the feds that they anticipate a future quarrel with at least some portion of the American people, wherein military commanders may be required to make the call to aid local authorities in “controlling the situation.”"
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POSSE COMITATUS LAW MODIFIED IN 2007
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