Bush-Era Debate: Using G.I.’s in U.S.

New York Times ^ | July 24, 2009 | MARK MAZZETTI and DAVID JOHNSTON

[Clinging Bitterly]

That’s the job of the FBI.

Actually it's not. It's the job of state and local civilian law enforcement agents, under the command of County Sheriffs. I believe they may ask for the assistance of federal agents if needed.

[jwparkerjr]

It’s called a mutual aid agreement. They are in place all over the US. This is an unusual display of its use but such agreements serve a valuable purpose, especially in rural areas where local resources are limited.

[happinesswithoutpeace]

What was the motivation of the discussion about this? that the lak 6 would have required the teams...six..whomever for a takedown?....sounds like HRT or whomever was not thought of being up to the job?

[Jumper]

The National Guard belongs to the governor of each state. Even the officers can be appointed as seen fit to include those without any military experience (say Ohio) or the oh so infamous Kentucy Colonel.... The U.S. Armed Forces and Reserves are what wee are talking about here.

[ROCKLOBSTER]

The idea of sending troops to arrest people within in the US makes me really uncomfortable. That’s the job of the FBI. Imagine if he had sent this precedent, and then it became okay for Obama to do this with “right-wing extremists.”

Oh, you mean like Janet Reno and Waco?

[DuncanWaring]

I tried googling that incident about a month ago and didn’t find anything. can you point me somewhere to read about it?

Punch "nazi saboteurs" into Altavista and get 40,000+ hits, including:

http://www.fbi.gov/libref/historic/famcases/nazi/nazi.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Pastorius

[2harddrive]

Didn’t they ALREADY do this, under Clinton, at Waco? Soldiers, tanks, attack helicopters, strafing machine guns, etc. Of course there, the flamethrowers incinerated the remaining evidence.

[2harddrive]

Plus, let’s not forget that at Ruby Ridge, under Bush 1, they mobilized armored troop carriers, machine guns, and had F-16’s buzzing the house where Randy Weaver lived with his kids and wife - till the sniper killed her, of course.

[newnhdad]

This diversion came a little late, Axlerod. The news cycle is already focusing on Obama’s racism..

[Paradox]

Bush decided against it. Bush was right.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

Rahm Emanuel’s internal polling must be absolutely horrible. Expect more ‘leaked’ Bush-bashing stories in the coming days from Belala, Carville, et al.

[Rodebrecht]

You're right about that.


Sheriff Mack
I bought a copy to send to my county sheriff.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks justiceseeker93. Nice historical perspective. There was also the crackdown and roundup of the “Bonus Army” by troops during the Hoover administration, an event that helped hand the 1932 election over to FDR.

[justiceseeker93]

Excellent point re the "Bonus Army" incident in 1932. Did the Army make arrests there? I know there were a few deaths and injuries. IIRC, Herbert Hoover was upset that the military had gone too far. Gen. MacArthur was the commanding officer there, but it didn't seem to hurt his career.

I was also thinking of incidents involving the National Guard, either under the command of the governor of a state where it was summoned to help "police" a disturbance, or federalized by the President in office at the time. There have been numerous situations of either type since the Civil War, but I'm not sure about the National Guard making arrests or handing that task over to other agencies. Plus, I'm not sure if the National Guard would be classified as military for the purposes of the Posse Comitatus Act.