Report: ‘Army Unit to be Deployed for Domestic Operations’

Brigade Combat Team From Iraq Said to be First Active 'Dedicated' Assignment by U.S. Unit to Northern Command

'May be Called Upon to Help With Civil Unrest, Crowd Control' Beginning in October, According to Military Paper...

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From Democracy Now!…

Beginning in October, the Army plans to station an active unit inside the United States for the first time to serve as an on-call federal response in times of emergency. The 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team has spent thirty-five of the last sixty months in Iraq, but now the unit is training for domestic operations. The unit will soon be under the day-to-day control of US Army North, the Army service component of Northern Command. The Army Times reports this new mission marks the first time an active unit has been given a dedicated assignment to Northern Command. The paper says the Army unit may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control. The soldiers are learning to use so-called nonlethal weapons designed to subdue unruly or dangerous individuals and crowds.

The report from Army Times is certainly troubling, given the timing and the Constitution-hating evil-doers still allowed by Congress to continue holding the reins of our military. Back in 2005, an AP report headlined: “Bush: Boost military role in domestic emergencies” discussed the Constitutional issues that would block such domestic deployments of the U.S. military. Guess they got that all worked out? Or Bush just decided that following (and defending) the Constitution is a bit too quaint for him at this point in his failed “Presidency”.

The brigade, according to the report, will be “known for the next year as…Consequence Management Response Force.” Rest easy, kids!

(Hat-tip BRAD BLOG commenter “KestrelBrighteyes”.)

UPDATE: Glenn Greenwald has more on this and its legal provenance. Hat-tip Melissa at Shakesville.

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Report: ‘Army Unit to be Deployed for Domestic Operations’

11 Comments

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11 Responses

  1. 1)
    jacki penny said on 9/24/2008 @ 2:39pm PT: [Permalink]

    hey Brad,

    can the country even hold an election if the current president declares martial law?

  2. Avatar photo
    2)
    Brad Friedman said on 9/24/2008 @ 2:58pm PT: [Permalink]

    I suspect he’s got a “legal” claim to over-ride the Constitution (which requires said elections) for anything he damned well pleases at this point. Not a legit “legal” claim, mind you, but one he’s issued and would order both his politicized DoJ and the Dept. of Defense to enforce. Whether the latter would do it, of course, is another issue entirely.

    But sure, he can do anything now that the bar has been so lowered, without objection, from the U.S. Congress or any other body that might have stopped him previously.

  3. 3)
    michelle l. said on 9/24/2008 @ 3:15pm PT: [Permalink]

    They’ve probably been planning this a long, long time. Former Republican Governor Ernie Fletcher of Kentucky raised eyebrows while purchasing tons of body armor for police officers several years ago. He was getting plenty of grants, and one was Kellogg Foundation. I’m not sure whether it was for the body armor.

    Does Bush/Cheney mission-accomplished mean to collapse the financial system, provoke unrest, rage and despair, and then deploy the military to turn against and kill their own people?

    These people in Washington DC seem so greedy, corrupt, and blood-thirsty.

    Ask one of them to show you the DoD budget which has never, ever been balanced. It’s a bottomless pit, and they can do anything they want there.

    Just ask to see it!

    Now, where are the terrorists? And who are we supposed to be afraid of?

    Nobody trusts anybody anymore in this country. These so-called leaders have ripped our homeland to pieces while destroying any hope of global respect or admiration.

    Who will have to deal with this mess? Obama or Nader? Or some delusional Republican?

    (Pity the fool!)

  4. 4)
    Shannon Williford said on 9/24/2008 @ 4:31pm PT: [Permalink]

    This is absolutely the worst thing I’ve heard from the Administration yet!
    I suppose since their power comes from illegal elections, they don’t feel there is any need to follow the Constitution.
    “No standing army.” Was that in there? Did it mean that no army is deployed on our soil? That’s how I remember it from Civics class 35 years ago.
    This sounds like Mexico or some other banana republic.
    Civil unrest? Crowd control???
    Does anybody have a country they recomend where we can live?

    shw

  5. 5)
    Phil said on 9/24/2008 @ 5:05pm PT: [Permalink]

    I say the motherfucker e.g. BUSH is in trouble Brad, I say his powers although REAL are coming to an intermittent end, as reality sets in and fate comes to pass. HE COULD DO SOME NASTY SHIT STILL, BUT HE WILL BE KNOWN AS THE DOMESTIC TERRORIST THAT DID IT IF HE DOES. HE CAN’T EDIT A WIKI TO CHANGE THAT FUCKING HISTORY.

  6. 6)
    Phil said on 9/24/2008 @ 5:08pm PT: [Permalink]

    IN other words the fucker could do it, but better fucking not. And think folks, the military turned on the people? NO… Come on. I am ex military, am I GOING to follow his unconstitutional shit? NO. His time is done. He’s fucked.

  7. 7)
    Lora said on 9/24/2008 @ 5:47pm PT: [Permalink]

    A fascist military coup in the US? NOT beyond the realm of possibility.

    Sometimes they’re really out to get you.

  8. 8)
    jacki penny said on 9/25/2008 @ 2:01am PT: [Permalink]

    a miltary friend of mine told me that all U.S military personel has had to (or will in the near future) sign an agreement that they would fire on fellow Americans if ordered to do so. does anyone know more about this?

    i personally can’t believe that our own people would agree to do that. i just figured when it came down to the dirty work the people in charge would hire blackwater mercs.

  9. 9)
    Nunyabiz said on 9/25/2008 @ 5:34am PT: [Permalink]

    All you need to know to prove to you that “many” in the US military will do exactly as they are told, including murdering American Citizens is just look at how many are religiously delusional especially in the upper levels.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abgcC80lL1A

    This is all you need to know right here, now be afraid, be very afraid.
    We are getting exactly what we deserve for allowing this administration to continue and not stop them YEARS AGO.
    I just cant wait until Empress Palin takes over, she will make Bush look like FDR.

  10. 10)
    czaragorn said on 9/25/2008 @ 9:48am PT: [Permalink]

    I’m feeling very afraid, indeed! It really looks like they’re going to try to shoot the moon. Only one snag: If you were a US Army MP E-4, say, and were ordered to go forth and arrest Obama and drag his criminal ass to duhbaya for punishment, would you?????

  11. 11)
    czaragorn said on 9/25/2008 @ 9:52am PT: [Permalink]

    And, honest, my first glance at the headline read, in my apparently addled mind, “Army Unfit…” Sigh……………

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