Interesting Comment  

An anonymous reader left this comment on my recent post about the commencement of active military operations in the Northcom region. I didn't see which domain it was posted from (note that I have SiteMeter and Google Analytics set up here, but neither makes available data past the most recent 100 visitors, and even that is partially anonymised), so I've no idea if it really is from someone stationed in Iraq or not, but it was such a long comment that I thought I'd promote it to a post of its own - food for thought regardless of where it came from.

I am currently serving in the Arizona Army National Guard as a combat medic. I am an E-4, SPC. My medical company is deployed to Iraq, where I am working as a flight medic around Baghdad. We're supposed to be home by Christmas. (Isn't that always the case when Johnny goes off to war.)

I read the 3ID/1stBCT article in the Army Times when in came out in the PX, and then again last night through a website with the link, and have been howling/arguing/frothing at the mouth about the horrific possibilities of this development and, more importantly, what it means, to anyone who will listen. The Army is full of half-smart rednecks with a NASCAR fetish, but I have been pleasantly surprised to find a few fellow travelers. This has everyone confused and worried.

It's always most important to ask Why?

Why is an active-duty, urban combat trained, Infantry brigade combat team (8,000 soldiers) being assigned to domestic duty? The National Guard has always filled this role. We exist to assist the people in times of earthquakes, fire, and flood emergencies. The Army Times article specifically mentioned earthquakes in California. WTF? The California National Guard has numerous units ready to respond to an earthquake, even with the relentless overseas deployments. This has ALWAYS been the case and is a primary reason for the Guard to exist as a state force.

And frankly, if the reason for this change was 'the Guard is overstretched'...why not just come out and say that? People would just say, "Oh...ok. That makes sense."

As for civil unrest (ominously listed in the article as the primary use of this new Quick Reaction Force)....the National Guard, under authority of the state governor, is able and ready to assist civilian law enforcement when requested by the governor. It is exempt from the Posse Comitatus Act in this role. The Guard has been called out many times by the governor to assist in keeping law and order. This is from Wikipedia.org page on the National Guard.

"The New York National Guard were ordered to respond to the Rochester 1964 race riot by Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller in July of that year, the first such use of the Guard in a Northern city. The California Army National Guard were mobilized by the Governor of California during the Watts Riots, in August 1965, to provide security and help restore order."

Having an active-duty Army combat team on call to respond to civil unrest or natural disasters is an unprecented change in the way the U.S. military structure exists in our country. And no one, aside from posts to a few internet sites, is talking about it.

This is also from the Posse Comitatus page on Wikipedia.org:

"HR5122 also known as the John Warner Defense Authorization Act was signed by the president on Oct 17, 2006 John Warner National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007. Section 1076 Text of Hr5122 is titled "Use of the Armed Forces in major public emergencies". Removing the legalese from the text, and combining multiple sentences, it provides that: The President may employ the armed forces to restore public order in any State of the United States the President determines hinders the execution of laws or deprives people of a right, privilege, immunity, or protection named in the Constitution and secured by law or opposes or obstructs the execution of the laws of the United States or impedes the course of justice under those laws. The actual text is on page 322-323 of the legislation. As of 2008, these changes were repealed, changing the text of the law back to the original 1807 wording, under Public Law 110-181 (H.R. 4986, Section 1068)"

Apparently, in the 2008 Defense bill, these draconian changes were repealed. Of course, there still exists numerous methods for the Administration to declare martial-law and institute the COG structure. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_and_Homeland_Security_Presidential_Directive

I checked the 3ID/1stBCT website. There is no mention of the BCT's new role. But the site has a link to the 1stBCT Public Affairs Officer. I would encourage you to contact the PAO and ask a few questions. http://www.stewart.army.mil/3didweb/1st%20BCT/1stBrigadehom.htm

I will offer this bit of information, if you didn't already know. The 3ID/1stBCT in their new Homeland Defense role will be under the operational control of NORTHCOM. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northcom

NORTHCOM's first commander was Gen. Ralph Eberhart. If that names rings a bell, it's because he was commander of NORAD during 9/11...and according to many of the books I've read about 9/11...if the government intentionally turned a blind eye (or worse)...Eberhart was one of the key players involved in limiting the appropriate military responses to the hijackings. He's on The Team, as Cheney might say.

So...to answer the question of Why? Here goes: I believe that the administration is preparing or planning for something major to happen prior to the election that will require a "temporary" declaration of martial-law and suspension of the presidential election on 4 November. I think the more Obama appears to be the likely winner, the more likely the 'major disaster' scenario is to be implemented.

The administration discussed this exact scenario, in detail, prior to the 2004 election. http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO407C.html

If these steps are taken, it is very likely that people will rebel or demostrate. Really, the people of this country are more primed to take to the streets than at any point since the American Revolution. They've had it with the lying, cheating, dying and stealing...especially since the 14 Sept. Wall Street crash. Bill Clinton said on David Letterman last night that 2/3rds of Americans are struggling to pay their bills. 2/3rds!!! More than 50 percent of the country is using half its monthly income to pay their mortgage. Like Bob Dylan said, "When you ain't got nothing, you've got nothing to lose..."

The administration knows this...or at least suspects the peasants are restless. So, they've taken the steps necessary to implement military control of the population. Now, 8,000 soldiers are not going to be able to control the whole country...but they will be able to respond within 24 hours to quell any major unrest and make enough of a scene on TV to discourage the rest of the people from leaving their house.

OR...given that the Army Times article lists CBRNE as a major focus of their training, it seems possible that the 'major emergency' would involve some sort of low-yield nuke, biowarfare outbreak. From my experience, the Army doesn't train you for a mission that you won't be doing. If they're focusing on crowd control and CBRNE, well, that's what they're gonna be doing in real-world operations. They won't be filling sandbags in Galveston. Perhaps they're training to cordon off the area around the 'major emergency' site.

This would fit the pattern of pre-placed emergency resources that existed on 9/11. The Fairfax County FD, PD and EMS were all standing by for the NRO jet-into-a-building drill and were within minutes of the Pentagon. And FEMA and the NY OEM had an biowarfare emergency response drill planned in NYC for 12 Sept and were ready to roll on 9/11.

I'm not a Chicken Little 'The Sky Is Falling' type. But this shit scares me. I'm over here in Iraq and wondering what kind of country I'm coming home to this winter.

Thanks for wading through this post. It's a pleasure to serve a great country.

Best regards,
A soldier in Iraq