[cynicom]

Whoa here hoss.... Arrest powers???? Never....Arrest Ridge for not caring a damn about individual freedom and the constitution. We already have to many Federal cowboys with the power of arrest

This is no longer a citizen army, it is a "professional" army. I want no part of them enforcing the law...Never...

[IronJack]

"Let's just open the door a crack and see if anyone hollers."

If Joe Biden -- or any Democrat for that matter -- is in favor of this kind of assault on our civil liberties, then it should be setting off alarms all over Conservative-dom.

This is probably the most dangerous period in American history. It is the turning point at which the government finally had the courage to admit that it is planning war on its own citizens. If anyone if naive enough to believe that this is about terrorism, don't buy a watch in New York City.

Any attempt to revise Posse Comitatus should be met with howls of rage and a quiet determination to resist at all costs. It means that "working within the system" just got to be a much narrower option.

Note to Mr. Ridge: The terrorists are OUTSIDE this country, and the military is not supposed to be deployed domestically. We already have a POLICE force. How can you leave our borders wide open to every swarthy bomb-thrower, then demand the right to march soldiers up and down our town square to "protect" us? Why not stop the rats before they get off the ship? Because you, sir, are a liar and a tool of tyrants.

[IronJack]

I could see support for a constitutional amendment to PROHIBIT use of the United States Armed Forces in domestic situations.

This is frightening on an Orwellian scale.

[Rebelbase]

Can't the President declare Martial Law in some situations which would override the Posse Comitatus Act?

[Prodigal Son]

The government should consider reversing a more than a century of tradition and law to give the military authority to make arrests and fire their weapons on U.S. soil in the event of a terrorist attack, Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge said.

Uh... No.

[proudofthesouth]

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

[linn37]

nope its a bad idea,time to pop that trial balloon

[VaBthang4]

That was an asinine thing to say "giving soldiers arrest powers".

They already have the ability to detain until Law Enforcement arrives. And if the Law Enforcment officers think he/or she is a terrorist then he/or she could be transferred back to Military authority in order to go before a military tribunal.

Some of these Conservative politicians need to think before they speak......all that statement is going to do is piss off Liberals and Conservatives. Ridge screwed up saying something like that.....that in the end is a stupid solution to anything.

[Ahban]

Any body who believes this power would only be used against foriegn terrorists and not US Citizens please signify by smashing your head through your monitor!!!!

Its OK. You aren't using it anyway.

[RCW2001]

March along, single file, "citizen" and be prepared to 'show your papers' as required...

[Fred Mertz]

This will not stand. It's foolhardy and dangerous.

[Mulder]

This is a very bad idea.

The military should never be used for domestic law enforcement.

[cynicom]

Gene

Bush better refute this one real quick as it will be another nail in his re-election coffin. He better disown this bastard child real quick. Even better take Ridge to the woodshed or fire the man.

[Jhoffa_]

Ridge said officials haven't yet discussed giving the military powers to arrest U.S. citizens, though such authority might be discussed once Bush's homeland security department is created.

Reichstag Bump..

[NetValue]

Ok. How do you reconcile that you were willing to use military forces to augment "police" on our borders? Or the National Guardsmen at the airports? Or the Coast Guard in our ports?

This says that you are not completely aginst using the military domestically.

[Jhoffa_]

WHAT? WHAT?

You don't trust the military? this is "war" you know.. You bunch of liberal pansies. It's us or the enemy. Dubya can be trusted with these powers, he's our king! If you aren't a terrorist, then you have nothing to fear! We all have to give up some "liberties" to be safe you know!

(/Devils Advocate)

I am amazed at the short sightedness in the shadow of 9/11..

It's shocking.

[Semper911]

The government should consider reversing a more than a century of tradition and law to give the military authority to make arrests and fire their weapons on U.S. soil...

It is because of that century-old "tradition" that the U.S. Coast Guard was never made a part of the DoD. The USCG is the only part of the US Armed Forces that has law enforcement powers in the US.

And it damn well better stay that way. Anything else is martial law.

[virgil]

The term "Dept of Homeland Security" implies they should have special domestic powers. I don't want this department that will probably become another bloated bureaucratic agency. Its a bad idea.

[saltlick]

The bigger picture is coming into focus-- the first bells went off at the astounding rate at which news outlets released polls showing Americans were willing to give up freedoms for security. The releasing of those polls seemed premature given the urgency of the events at the time (>3000 lives lost, Pentagon attacked, President flying all over the place, people are not sure what's going on,and the media are reporting on POLLS??)

[bok]

Department of Homeland Siegcurity reichstag. we will arrest you but we will not bother doing it to illegal aliens, they will become our obedient government servants.

[snopercod]

Amerika

[Beelzebubba]

Bang

(Not exactly about guns, but extremely relevant in principle.)

[a merkin]

I'd give our liders' comments on national security more credence if there were honest discussions about initiatives like Rep. Tancredo's.

The stunning national silence followinging his suggestion that we employ the military to protect our borders tells me where there heads are at.

(Hint: It's where the sun don't shine.)

[TigersEye]

``I think it is time to revisit it,'' Senator Joe Biden, a Delaware Democrat, said...

That's enough to know it's a bad idea.

...on the ``Fox News Sunday'' program. That would ``allow for military that has expertise with weapons of mass destruction to be called in'' if such a plot was discovered.

...First of all, Joe, there is already a Federal task force for handling WMD's that has been around for over twenty years (for nuclear and other radioactive weapons anyway) up and running all this time. Not to mention the FBI which is supposed to deal with other such domestic threats. Secondly, Joe, giving the military powers to arrest and shoot in domestic situations has no relevance whatsoever in dealing with WMD's or 'plots', as I'm sure you know you disingenuous commie swine.

[savedbygrace]

Bump for later reading

[habaes corpussel]

Now hold on one cotton picking minute! What are we doing?

"The government should consider reversing a more than a century of tradition and law to give the military authority to make arrests and fire their weapons on U.S. soil in the event of a terrorist attack, Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge said."

Jose Padella is what then? If the Military does not have the power to arrest American Citizens it sure the heck does not have the right to detain them either. Ridge is contradicting a Bush Executive Order.

"``Right now, when you call in the military, the military would not be allowed to shoot-to-kill, if in fact they were approaching the weapon,'' Biden said."

This is pure unadulterated bull! The Joint Resolution on the use of force gives the Commander and Chief the authority to use the Military on US Soil for direct actions in the time of a national emergency to protect the United States. The Resolution supercedes the Posse Comitatus Act. The Legislative Intent of the Posse Comitatus Act was to involve the Military in “Law Enforcement Purposes”. If Congress is really this concerned then Officially Declare War. I got to wonder what is really behind this latest move? Biden worries me.

I totally agree that Congress should empower the Military to arrest, detain and try ALL Terrorist both Foreign and Domestic. However, I remain very, very guarded over the rest of it. I highly recommend we all watch how this unfolds. This has a huge potential to become excessive..

Unless this is a political move to keep everyone minds off the economy?

[Willie Green]

The government should consider reversing a more than a century of tradition and law to give the military authority to make arrests and fire their weapons on U.S. soil in the event of a terrorist attack, Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge said.

Ridge has his head up his butt. The military already has all the authority it needs to defend our borders just like General Black Jack Pershing did.

[Bella_Bru]

Just tattoo the ID number on my forehead ping!

[habaes corpussel]

I just heard a ABC news clip where Senator Fred Thompson is saying that he supports modifying the Posse Comitatus Act to include the military in searches and seizures in the United States. I think Congress has now really gone off the deep end. There is no need for modifying the Posse Comitatus Act If we are at war, the Joint Resolution or even an Act of War will do just fine. This is becoming very dangerous. I trust the Bush administration to a large extent though I have my concerns with them. But I do not blindly trust the US Government nor any other future Administration.

This is scary.

[lwoodham]

You are right, it would be used against Americans when democrats are in power.

[Lexington Green]

They came for the druggies, and I did not protest because I was not a druggie.............

[bloggerjohn]

Assymetrical Assymetrical Assymetrical

Let me repeat again. This makes NOOOO sense because it is asymmetrical. A militray force, from a battallion to an F16 squadron, is useless against a few terrorists skulking in a large city. The ONLY use of a large professional military force, rather than simply funding conventional law enforcement, is to subdue large numbers of citizens.

Why can't anyone see that?

[Byron_the_Aussie]

Stasi bump.

[Byron_the_Aussie]

...fears that terrorists might attempt a nuclear, biological or chemical attack on U.S. territory are prompting some lawmakers to support revisions to the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which restricts the use of the military in civilian law enforcement....

[PatrioticAmerican]

I believe such actions by the military is called, "Martial Law". Called anything else, it is still martial law.

[PatrioticAmerican]

Two things:

1. Define "terrorist attack".

2. Define "army". Ours our "theirs"? Ours is so thin that they would need foreign armies to do the job.

[Living Stone]

Hillary! is sure gonna have some neat internal security mechanisms to work with when she gets elected president.

[Texasforever]

Not that it will make any difference, this is what Ridge actually said, not the WP's paraphrasing

Ridge said Sunday that it ``goes against our instincts as a country to empower the military with the ability to arrest,'' and called the prospect ``very unlikely.''

[healey22]

The military should be deployed only to the borders facing Mexico and Canada and the INS should deploy all border patrol agents inside of the United States for interior enforcement.

[philman_36]

Interviewed yesterday on "Fox News Sunday," Mr. Biden, a member of the Judiciary Committee, said the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which prevents the military from exercising police powers in this country, should be re-examined and "has to be amended."
Such a change will happen soon, he said.

[packrat01]

It is ``not very realistic'' to deny the military the ability, for example, to shoot at suspected terrorists trying to deploy chemical, biological or nuclear weapons on a passenger train, Biden said.

What's the military doing on the passenger train in the first place?

If somebody needs shootin', shoot 'em; acting as a citizen, subject to the same rules as everyone else.