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The manhunt for the Boston Marathon bombing suspects offered the nation a window into the stunning military-style capabilities of our local law enforcement agencies. For the past 30 years, police departments throughout the United States have benefitted from the government’s largesse in the form of military weaponry and training, incentives offered in the ongoing “War on Drugs.” For the average citizen watching events such as the intense pursuit of the Tsarnaev brothers on television, it would be difficult to discern between fully outfitted police SWAT teams and the military. The lines blurred even further Monday as a new dynamic was...

WASHINGTON — The U.S. military is ready to assist after what Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel called a “cruel act of terror” in Boston. Testifying on Capitol Hill, Hagel said Tuesday that the attack on the Boston Marathon was terrorism, and that the Pentagon is prepared to respond quickly to any request from domestic law enforcement. “(The attack) is clearly an act of terror and will be approached as an act of terror,” Hagel said. snip More than 400 Massachusetts National Guardsmen remain on duty to continue to assist local authorities, according to a news release from the Guard. The 211th...

However, Holder says that in situations akin to the 1941 assault on Pearl Harbor or the September 11, 2001 attacks, the president might have to order the use of deadly force in the U.S. "The question you have posed is entirely hypothetical, unlikely to occur, and one we hope no President will ever have to confront," Holder wrote. "It is possible, I supposed, to imagine an extraordinary circumstance in which it would be necessary and appropriate under the Constitution and applicable laws of the United States for the President to authorize the military to use lethal force within the territory...

This morning, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) told Glenn Beck’s radio team that he had some new information about the U.S. government drone program — information that some individuals might find troubling. Later in the day, TheBlaze obtained letters that were sent to the senator by Attorney General Eric Holder and President Barack Obama’s chief counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan. It is select contents in Holder’s letter that citizens might find most problematic. After Paul sent an inquiry to learn more about the government’s drone program and to ask whether “the president has the power to authorize lethal force, such as a...

In a radio interview, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky, questioned whether the Obama administration may be covering up the role played by the CIA annex in Benghazi in a possible scheme to run guns to rebels in the Middle East. The annex was attacked Sept. 11 along with the special U.S. mission in Benghazi. Charged Paul: “There has been a lot made of the political cover up of President Obama’s administration saying this (Benghazi attack) had something to do with a homemade film from some guy in Los Angeles. But in reality the question is, or the secondary quotation is, why...

"We have cleared away the rubble of crisis," President Obama reported in his State of the Union address, "and we can say with renewed confidence that the State of our Union is stronger." He cited troops coming home after a decade of "grinding war," six million jobs created "after years of grueling recession," American car purchases up, foreign oil purchases down, a healing housing market, a rebounding stock market, corporate profits that "have skyrocketed to all-time highs," Republicans and Democrats working together "to reduce the deficit by more than $2.5 trillion," "tens of thousands" of American jobs created by green...

Here is the Utube link. Listen and comment as the head of the FBI is asked if Bo and the DOJ have the authority to order the killing of our own citizens inside the US. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG80Wk9HiYs

The New York Police Department is testing a new device that can detect firearms concealed beneath layers of clothing. Dubbed “T-Ray,” the machine detects terahertz radiation, a high-frequency electromagnetic natural energy that is emitted by people. It also detects the presence of hidden metal from a distance, The Wall Street Journal reported. snip The boxy machine can be hidden in a vehicle, allowing officers to discreetly scan their target and may provide an alternative to the NYPD's reliance on the controversial tactic of stop-and-frisk, where officers routinely search large numbers of men in high-crime areas, AFP reported. snip The program...

<p>Presumably, a proposal being developed in Texas right now won’t be necessary should its petition on the White House website to secede from the union be successful.</p> <p>But if not, the Lone Star state apparently wants to be prepared to challenge whatever it views as a federal encroachment on the rights of the state, or its citizens.</p>

Jeff Knox: There's no constitutional justification for 150,000 federal cops During this heated election season, the politicians and the pundits banter back and forth about the economy, jobs and important social issues, with back-to-back TV commercials making claims and accusations followed immediately by the opposition’s counter-claims and counter-accusations. But in the midst of all of this political wrangling, the Obama administration’s war on gun owners – in the name of the war on crime, the war on drugs, the war on gun trafficking to Mexico and what used to be called the war on terror – rages on. When I...

A grainy picture is starting to emerge of the suspects involved in the shootings Thursday morning that claimed the lives of two St. John Parish sheriff's deputies and injured two others. Five of them had apparently been under surveillance in DeSoto Parish in north Louisiana two months ago, and at least one of them was considered a fugitive in Nebraska and Kansas for "making terroristic threats" as well as allegedly selling marijuana. Authorities believe that suspect, Kyle Joekel, 29, may have ties to anti-government groups, in particular a loose organization known as Posse Comitatus that generally doesn't recognize authority above...

This PDF document of a declassified Air Force intelligence report obtained by CBS News Radio KNX-1070 spells out what I have been warning about on the air for over a year now: View this document on Scribd The report from KNX-1070 a CBS affiliate in Los Angeles by Charles Feldman (Click here for full story and audio report) has one extract which is particularly disturbing: Under U.S. Air Force rules, drones are not allowed to conduct “non-consensual surveillance” on U.S. citizens or property, though there are some apparent exceptions. What has critics alarmed is that data collected by drones accidentally,...

The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) proposes that the U.S. Army be used to plan, command, and carry out (with the help of civilian law enforcement) domestic police missions. So says a story appearing in the May/June issue of the influential organization’s official journal, Foreign Affairs. The article lacks a single reference to the Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits such actions. In an article penned by Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, General Raymond T. Odierno, the CFR would see the Army used to address “challenges in the United States itself” in order to keep the homeland safe from

"snip"CHICAGO (CBS) – U.S. fighter jets will be actively flying over Chicago on Friday as part of a security drill in the days before the NATO Summit. The U.S. North American Aerospace Defense (NORAD) Command Region fighters–including Air Force KC-135 tankers, Air Force F-16s, and a Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin helicopters–will be visible on Friday morning, beginning around 9 a.m..

Is there a drone in your neighbourhood? Rise of spy planes exposed after FAA is forced to reveal 63 launch sites across U.S. Unmanned spy planes are being launched from locations in 20 states and owners include the military and universities. There are at least 63 active drone sites around the U.S, federal authorities have been forced to reveal following a landmark Freedom of Information lawsuit. The unmanned planes – some of which may have been designed to kill terror suspects – are being launched from locations in 20 states. Most of the active drones are deployed from military installations,...

The Obama administration wants Congress to grant it even broader authority and more funding to send U.S. troops on missions around the world dealing with everything from terror and narcotics to supporting national governments facing opposition and law enforcement operations, senior Defense Department officials told a Senate Armed Services Subcommittee. And lawmakers seemed happy to comply. According to the administration, the line between terrorism and crime is becoming increasingly blurry. And so, the Pentagon officials claimed, legislation is needed to further blur the line between national defense and law enforcement. More power should also be granted to allow U.S. troops...

Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) has introduced a bill that would allow the President to imprison an unlimited number of American citizens (as well as foreigners) indefinitely without trial. Known as The Enemy Belligerent Interrogation, Detention, and Prosecution Act of 2010, or S. 3081, the bill authorizes the President to deny a detainee a trial by jury simply by designating that person an “enemy belligerent.” The bill, which has eight cosponsors, explicitly names U.S. citizens as among those who can be detained indefinitely without trial: An individual, including a citizen of the United States, determined to be an unprivileged enemy belligerent...

In his latest signing statement Obama said: "My administration will not authorize the indefinite military detention without trial of American citizens," Obama said in the signing statement. "Indeed, I believe that doing so would break with our most important traditions and values as a nation." Now why would he even need to say that were it not possible? Does his signing statement make you feel safer? It ought not. After all, it was Obama who said unequivocally that he would not use signing statements to "get his way." [VIDEO AT SITE] Obviously it is now possible for Obama to hold...

Regime Grabs Power to Detain US Citizens January 03, 2012 BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Yeah, and I can't believe that nobody's talking about that, either: The thing Obama signed on New Year's Eve, the new Defense Authorization Act.I don't know if people don't know what's in this or if other things take precedence. Well, it is being reported because I saw it. I saw it reported. Obama signed this thing, the new Defense Authorization Act on New Year's Eve. Folks, you know what this thing does? It allows the United States military to detain anybody for no reason! They don't...

You know these are interesting times when Glenn Beck, Dianne Feinstein, Rand Paul and the ACLU all agree on an issue. The issue in question is Subtitle D of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), headed to the president’s desk. These under-the-radar provisions, co-sponsored by Senators John McCain and Carl Levin, would allow for the indefinite military detention of any person alleged to be a member of Al Qaeda, the Taliban or “associated forces.” The provisions also apply to any person who supports or aids “belligerent” acts against the United States, whether the person is apprehended here or abroad. 
...

An old adage reads, "If it quacks like a duck, then it's probably a duck." The push by the Obama Administration to progressively strip Americans of basic liberties in the pursuit of political objectives has now taken on more draconian overtones, and no one seems to have noticed. While the media quibbles over Romney versus Gingrich, the Occupy movement, and other diversions, President Obama continues to undermine law and order, dismantling the US Constitution piece by piece. When public officials seek to limit freedom, it can be concluded that these officials want to rule instead of govern. Cloaking seizures of...

President Barack Obama faced a civil liberties backlash today after he signed a law that will allow terror suspects to be held indefinitely- even raising the prospects of U.S. citizens being sent to Guantanamo Bay. The controversial move, revealed last night, effectively extends the laws of the battlefield to American soil. The move shows a clear hardening of Mr Obama’s anti-terror policies, and a major shift from the liberal stance that helped him sweep into power three years ago.

Barack Obama has abandoned a commitment to veto a new security law that allows the military to indefinitely detain without trial American terrorism suspects arrested on US soil who could then be shipped to Guantánamo Bay. Human rights groups accused the president of deserting his principles and disregarding the long-established principle that the military is not used in domestic policing. The legislation has also been strongly criticised by libertarians on the right angered at the stripping of individual rights for the duration of "a war that appears to have no end". The law, contained in the defence authorisation bill that...

Less than a month after he threatened to veto terrifying legislation that would cease constitutional rights as we know it, Obama has revoked his warning and plans to authorize a bill allowing indefinite detention and torture of Americans. After passing in the House of Representatives earlier this year, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 went before the US Senate last week, where it was met with overwhelming approval. In the days before, the Obama administration issued a policy statement on November 17 saying explicitly that the president would veto the bill, as it would challenge “the president’s...

Well now we know, for those who have been holding out “hope” that Obama will veto the 1031 Indefinite Detainment Bill against holding U.S. Citizens without rights to a trial or lawyer or charges for the rest of their lives…. It was Obama who required the bill have the language of U.S. Citizens being held without rights in the bill! The only reason he would veto it, is because it does not give him the absolute power as he wants!...Here is Senator Levin on the floor of the Senate revealing it was Obama himself who Demanded U.S. Citizens be part...

Even at this 11th hour –when all of our liberties and freedom are about to go down the drain –many people still don’t understand that the indefinite detention bill passed by Congress allows indefinite detention of Americans on American soil....Another sponsor of the bill –Senator Levin –has also repeatedly said that the bill applies to American citizens on American soil, citing the Supreme Court case of Hamdi which ruled that American citizens can be treated as enemy combatants: “The Supreme Court has recently ruled there is no bar to the United States holding one of its own citizens as an...

Since 9/11, Senator Lindsey Graham has said repeatedly that we must fight the terrorists “over there” so we don’t have to fight them “over here.” But this week, Graham threw that all out the window. Apparently, we are now at war everywhere. Forever. Commenting on the controversial Section 1031 of the National Defense Authorization Act — which many contend gives the federal government new powers to arrest American citizens without charge — Graham made clear this week that “1031, the statement of authority to detain, does apply to American citizens and it designates the world as the battlefield, including the...

The new Martial Law Bill which affirms the detention of American citizens indefinitely without due process of law passed the Senate 93-7. Habeas corpus just got knifed in full daylight, left to bleed in the cracks of the Capitol commingling with the blood of patriots who died for this country. The blood drawn like butter by Senate vampires drooling and gurgling with delight, appetites satiated… for now. Their ecstasy whisps through depraved neurons as their spit foams upon the very name of freedom. And while there are hints Obama may veto it, my opinion is that the bill has been...

Under the ‘worldwide indefinite detention without charge or trial’ provision of S.1867, the National Defense Authorization Act bill, which is set to be up for a vote on the Senate floor this week, the legislation will “basically say in law for the first time that the homeland is part of the battlefield,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who supports the bill. The bill was drafted in SECRET by Senators Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.), before being passed in a closed-door committee meeting without any kind of hearing. The language appears in sections 1031 and 1032 of the NDAA...

Under Sections 1031and 1032 of the National Defense Authorization Act for the Fiscal Year 2012, the United States Congress has proposed to give the Department of Defense the explicit power to take civilians into military custody, detain them indefinitely with no charges or trial. Well hidden in the 682-page long National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the Bill under the title ‘Detainee Matters’ has received tragically sparse coverage in the American national media, widely-read national newspapers and broadly-watched national television channels blocking the existence of this impending legislation described by rights organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) as...

Sen. Rand Paul Defends American Citizens Against Indefinite Detainment http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rghhz_t5POo&feature=player_embedded Good video.

Can the president use the military to arrest anyone he wants, keep that person away from a judge and jury, and lock him up for as long as he wants? In the Senate's dark and terrifying vision of the Constitution, he can. Congress is supposed to work in public. That requirement is in the Constitution. It is there because the folks who wrote the Constitution had suffered long and hard under the British Privy Council, a secret group that advised the king and ran his government. We know from the now-defunct supercommittee, and other times when Congress has locked its...

IF YOU THOUGHT POLICE BRUTALITY WAS BAD … WAIT UNTIL YOU SEE WHAT CONGRESS WANTS TO DO NEXT WEEK The police brutality against peaceful protesters in Berkeley, Davis, Oakland and elsewhere is bad enough. But next week, Congress will vote on explicitly creating a police state. The ACLU’s Washington legislative office explains: The Senate is gearing up for a vote on Monday or Tuesday that goes to the very heart of who we are as Americans. The Senate will be voting on a bill that will direct American military resources not at an enemy shooting at our military in a...

While nearly all Americans head to family and friends to celebrate Thanksgiving, the Senate is gearing up for a vote on Monday or Tuesday that goes to the very heart of who we are as Americans. The Senate will be voting on a bill that will direct American military resources not at an enemy shooting at our military in a war zone, but at American citizens and other civilians far from any battlefield — even people in the United States itself. Senators need to hear from you, on whether you think your front yard is part of a “battlefield” and...

Remember that debate between Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich, where Mr. Gingrich suggested we should expand and strengthen the Patriot Act in the name of protecting US citizens from terrorists? Mr. Gingrich indicated that there exists a line between criminal law and the war on terror, and that we need not worry the government will overstep its bounds. While Americans enjoy the Thanksgiving weekend and join the annual running of the bulls celebration at malls and retail outlets, something sinister is taking place in Congress – and it should scare the hell out of you. If the President and...

Note the timing! October '08 and not another peep out of the libs since then!   October 21, 2008 Deployment Erodes Longstanding Separation Between Civilian And Military GovernmentFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASECONTACT: (212) 549-2666; NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union today demanded information from the government about reports that an active military unit has been deployed inside the U.S. to help with "civil unrest" and "crowd control" – matters traditionally handled by civilian authorities. This deployment jeopardizes the longstanding separation between civilian and military government, and the public has a right to know where and why the unit has been...

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has adopted new procedures for using the Defense Department’s vast array of cyberwarfare capabilities in case of an attack on vital computer networks inside the United States, delicately navigating historic rules that restrict military action on American soil. Related * Times Topic: Computer Security (Cybersecurity) The system would mirror that used when the military is called on in natural disasters like hurricanes or wildfires. A presidential order dispatches the military forces, working under the control of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Under the new rules, the president would approve the use of the military’s expertise...

Can you imagine the cries of police state, racism, incipient fascism and fill-in-your-favorite-epithet if a conservative pundit—let alone a Republican president—proposed the massive insertion of US military forces into American inner cities for law enforcement purposes? But that's precisely what Ed Schultz proposed on his MSNBC show this evening. Ed is apparently unaware that the use of the military for such law-enforcement purposes would raise serious issues under the Posse Comitatus Act. But beyond that, it would utterly distort the mission of our military, and provoke valid civil-liberty concerns. Schultz should try bouncing his brainstorm off the Joint Chiefs and...

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE COUNCIL OF GOVERNORS By the authority vested in me as President by theConstitution and the laws of the United States of America,including section 1822 of the National Defense AuthorizationAct of 2008 (Public Law 110-181), and in order to strengthenfurther the partnership between the Federal Government and Stategovernments to protect our Nation and its people and property,it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. Council of Governors. (a) There is established a Council of Governors (Council).The Council shall consist of 10 State Governors appointed bythe President (Members), of whom no more than five shall be ofthe same political...

Justification and Options for Creating U.S. Capabilities Establishing security is the sine qua non of stability operations, since it is a prerequisite for reconstruction and development. Security requires a mix of military and police forces to deal with a range of threats from insurgents to criminal organizations. This research examines the creation of a high-end police force, which the authors call a Stability Police Force (SPF). The study considers what size force is necessary, how responsive it needs to be, where in the government it might be located, what capabilities it should have, how it could be staffed, and its...

This has to be the scariest thing I have read in a very long time. The Rand Corporation was asked by the US Army to prepare a report recommending whether or not the US Needed a National Stability Police force. Basically a call for American "Brown Shirts" Rand's answer was a resounding yes. Our analysis clearly indicates that the United States needs an SPF or some other way to accomplish the SPF mission. Stability operations have become an inescapable reality of U.S. foreign policy. Establishing security with soldiers and police is critical because it is difficult to achieve other objectives—such...

I know someone who purchased this from RAND. By page 19 this report goes from discussing the need for a Special Police Force overseas to supplement interventions, to suddenly needing a force that can circumvent Posse Comitatus. Posse Comitatus exists for a reason and any attempt to circumvent it, not matter how nicely packaged, is a step on the way to "Special" police becoming "Secret" police. They call it :A STABILITY POLICE FORCE: This study asks several questions. First, is a Stability Police Force (SPF) necessary? An SPF is a high-end police force that engages in a range of tasks...

During an appearance as the guest speaker at the Oct. 8 meeting of The World Affairs Council of San Antonio, Jeffrey F. Addicott told the story of what happened after U.S. Northern Command issued a plea for help to professors serving at the nation’s 200 law schools: Only one professor replied. Addicott.

It's not hard to understand why President Barack Obama appalls supporters of traditional American liberties. In the first six months of his presidency, he's fought for radically expanded federal power, while asserting a quasi-royal prerogative to control the auto industry and pushing for a government takeover of the health care sector, as well as a cap-and-trade scheme that would regulate virtually every human activity that emits carbon dioxide. But if you're inclined to thank God for small favors, there's this at least: Obama hasn't yet proposed turning the U.S. military against American citizens. Last week, the New York Times revealed...

My reply to Linder's letter follows his letter. db Dear Mr. Bachert: Thank you for contacting me regarding the use of foreign military personnel in local law enforcement operations. I appreciate hearing from you on this issue. First, it is true that the U.S. Armed Forces will be holding training exercises in July 2009 with military personnel from Australia, Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom in the Southeast region of our country. These multilateral operations are a part of the government's strategy to prevent and manage terrorist threats and attacks. Since the September 11, 2001, attacks on our homeland, the...

A $226,000 armored vehicle for the North Richland Hills Police Department SWAT team arrived a few days ago to replace one the agency got in 1990. To many people that vehicle — and others like it used by police departments across the country — will go unnoticed. The public seems to largely accept the use of military-type equipment, technology and tactics as not only appropriate but also necessary to fight crime and make communities more safe and secure. Armored vehicles are used by law enforcement agencies in Fort Worth, Arlington and Bedford and at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, just to name...

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. -- Schenectady Police Chief Mark Chaires said, "This is unprecedented - all these officers getting in trouble at the same time for all these different reasons. Five Schenectady police officers recently accused of everything from driving drunk to beating up a man are leading city officials to look at taking drastic action to fix a department tainted by the few who may have acted illegally, like Darren Lawrence and Michael Brown who are accused of driving while intoxicated. Chief Chaires said, "Those two officers, we're definitely going to seek termination, and we're not ruling it out with any...

Geneva County (Ala.) Sheriff Greg Ward tells CNSNews.com that he was the one who called in U.S. Army troops from Fort Rucker, Ala., on the night of March 10 – during one of the bloodiest murder sprees in Alabama history. “I got a message from my 911 dispatcher that said we had a call from a lieutenant colonel at Ft. Rucker just to let us know that Ft. Rucker was there if we needed generators, lights, equipment and stuff like that. I told the dispatcher that I would get back with them,” Ward told CNSNews.com in a telephone interview. “You’ve...

The commander of the Alabama Bureau of Investigation office in Dothan, Ala., told CNSNews.com that neither he nor his agents called for U.S. troops to come to the scene of murders in Samson, Ala., on the night of March 10 -- but he was very glad they came. "I don't know who called them," Lt. Barry Tucker told CNSNews.com. “I didn't. I didn't have time to call anybody."

Much has been written about the Posse Comitatus Act. As a few others have noted, much of this commentary is “just plain nonsense.”2 The majority opinion, however, including that of the Department of Defense, maintains that this 19th-century law strictly limits almost all DOD participation in any activity related to “law enforcement” or “homeland security.”3 This fundamental mischaracterization, while understandable, is potentially dangerous to national security and has done nothing to protect civil liberties. So how did a racist law from the bitter Reconstruction period morph, in many minds, into shorthand for the respected principle that Americans do not want...