Posted on 03/18/2003 10:14:59 AM PST by Inspectorette
Vandenberg flooded with hate mail over 'deadly force' directive
3/18/03
By NORA K. WALLACE
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Antiwar activists angered by the possibility that Vandenberg Air Force Base may use deadly force against illegal intruders have inundated the installation with hate mail.
"Disturbing, misguided behavior," and "unenlightened warmongering" are some printable excerpts from the emotional torrent of mail -- some vitriolic and a few profane -- received by Vandenberg's e-mail server in the past few days.
The mail, as well as a number of phone calls, followed a "deadly force" directive that came to light because of a group of protesters planning so-called "backcountry" forays onto the classified military installation if a war with Iraq occurs.
Members of the Vandenberg Action Coalition and the Military Globalization Project contend Vandenberg is directly linked to the U.S. war effort and say their plans are to disrupt the base's mission and put a kink into the nation's war strategy.
Vandenberg's commander on Monday emphasized that the decree has always been in place at Vandenberg and other military bases, and is similar to that used by civilian law enforcement agencies encountering threats.
The decree does not apply to those who routinely gather at Vandenberg's main gate with picket signs and banners. Col. Robert M. Worley II, 30th Space Wing commander, said deadly force could be used in extreme circumstances, when base personnel are at risk, or if the infiltrators close in on equipment linked to national security, and only if other means of law enforcement have failed.
"We want to make sure people understand that illegally intruding onto base is a risky proposition," Col. Worley said.
He reiterated that base personnel respect the First Amendment rights of people to protest military policies or programs in a peaceful way, and those in uniform will die to defend those rights, he said.
"But we did not swear an oath to protect somebody or support somebody who wants to illegally infiltrate this base and disrupt our mission or destroy our equipment or threaten our people," Col. Worley said. "That's what we're talking about with backcountry incursions, or people coming in by air or sea."
There is a fundamental difference, the commander said, between the two types of protesters.
"If someone illegally intrudes on this base, they need to understand that somebody coming into the backcountry is not assumed to be a protester," Col. Worley said. "It's assumed to be a potential threat. They'll be confronted by security forces. Based on their (the military security) judgment, experience and training, they have to make a judgment in real time. Always the guidance they have is to use the amount of force reasonable to achieve their objective."
Vandenberg, he noted, is at a heightened level of security, and has been since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
"Our world has changed since 9-11," Col. Worley said. "I conjecture a few years ago, someone encountered in the backcountry of Vandenberg with a backpack on probably would be seen as either a protester or a lost hiker. Today, given the terrorist threat around our nation, a backpack could be a bomb, a vial of anthrax or some other kind of biological or chemical weapon."
Organizers of the clandestine actions say the directive is not surprising to them, and doesn't appear to be a new policy associated only with this world situation.
"They're just underlining it a bit," Santa Cruz-based organizer Peter Lumsdaine said Friday. "People who have gone in and done major (civil disobedience) actions always realize that guns could be pulled on them " It doesn't seem that different from a typical police department. We predicted something. It's not a radical departure."
Somebody tell me that's not the definition of an enemy act. As far as I'm concerned, they are enemy combatants and should be treated accordingly.
Well, a quick check of the Constitution finds Article III, Section 3:
Section 3. Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort.
Sounds like "treason" to me.
Bang
That's 12.7mm for the French protesters.
AF rescue teams had to go out and haul them in. Some of the maggots were hospitalized for hypothermia. They then turned around and tried to sue the Air Force :-(
They must have a death wish of some sort, to say the least.
And everyone knows this. Signs to that effect are posted all over VAFB. It's no secret, and isn't meant to be secret.
'Survivors will be experimented upon.'
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