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Bush moves
towards martial law
Toward freedom | Oct. 28, 2006
In a stealth
maneuver, President Bush has signed into law a provision which,
according to Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), will actually
encourage the President to declare federal martial law (1). It does
so by revising the Insurrection Act, a set of laws that limits the
President's ability to deploy troops within the United States. The
Insurrection Act (10 U.S.C.331 -335) has historically, along with
the Posse Comitatus Act (18 U.S.C.1385), helped to enforce strict
prohibitions on military involvement in domestic law enforcement.
With one cloaked swipe of his pen, Bush is seeking to undo those
prohibitions.
Public Law
109-364, or the "John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007"
(H.R.5122) (2), which was signed by the commander in chief on
October 17th, 2006, in a private Oval Office ceremony, allows the
President to declare a "public emergency" and station troops
anywhere in America and take control of state-based National Guard
units without the consent of the governor or local authorities, in
order to "suppress public disorder."
President Bush
seized this unprecedented power on the very same day that he signed
the equally odious Military Commissions Act of 2006. In a sense, the
two laws complement one another. One allows for torture and
detention abroad, while the other seeks to enforce acquiescence at
home, preparing to order the military onto the streets of America.
Remember, the term for putting an area under military law
enforcement control is precise; the term is "martial law."
Section 1076 of
the massive Authorization Act, which grants the Pentagon another
$500-plus-billion for its ill-advised adventures, is entitled, "Use
of the Armed Forces in Major Public Emergencies." Section 333,
"Major public emergencies; interference with State and Federal law"
states that "the President may employ the armed forces, including
the National Guard in Federal service, to restore public order and
enforce the laws of the United States when, as a result of a natural
disaster, epidemic, or other serious public health emergency,
terrorist attack or incident, or other condition in any State or
possession of the United States, the President determines that
domestic violence has occurred to such an extent that the
constituted authorities of the State or possession are incapable of
("refuse" or "fail" in) maintaining public order, "in order to
suppress, in any State, any insurrection, domestic violence,
unlawful combination, or conspiracy."
For the current President, "enforcement of the laws to restore
public order" means to commandeer guardsmen from any state, over the
objections of local governmental, military and local police
entities; ship them off to another state; conscript them in a law
enforcement mode; and set them loose against "disorderly" citizenry
- protesters, possibly, or those who object to forced vaccinations
and quarantines in the event of a bio-terror event.
The law also facilitates militarized police round-ups and detention
of protesters, so called "illegal aliens," "potential terrorists"
and other "undesirables" for detention in facilities already
contracted for and under construction by Halliburton. That's right.
Under the cover of a trumped-up "immigration emergency" and the
frenzied militarization of the southern border, detention camps are
being constructed right under our noses, camps designed for anyone
who resists the foreign and domestic agenda of the Bush
administration.
An article on "recent contract awards" in a recent issue of the
slick, insider "Journal of Counterterrorism & Homeland Security
International" reported that "global engineering and technical
services powerhouse KBR [Kellog, Brown & Root] announced in January
2006 that its Government and Infrastructure division was awarded an
Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract to support
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities in the
event of an emergency." "With a maximum total value of $385 million
over a five year term," the report notes, "the contract is to be
executed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers," "for establishing
temporary detention and processing capabilities to augment existing
ICE Detention and Removal Operations (DRO) - in the event of an
emergency influx of immigrants into the U.S., or to support the
rapid development of new programs." The report points out that "KBR
is the engineering and construction subsidiary of Halliburton." (3)
So, in addition to authorizing another $532.8 billion for the
Pentagon, including a $70-billion "supplemental provision" which
covers the cost of the ongoing, mad military maneuvers in Iraq,
Afghanistan, and other places, the new law, signed by the president
in a private White House ceremony, further collapses the historic
divide between the police and the military: a tell-tale sign of a
rapidly consolidating police state in America, all accomplished
amidst ongoing U.S. imperial pretensions of global domination, sold
to an "emergency managed" and seemingly willfully gullible public as
a "global war on terrorism."
Make no mistake about it: the de-facto repeal of the Posse Comitatus
Act (PCA) is an ominous assault on American democratic tradition and
jurisprudence. The 1878 Act, which reads, "Whoever, except in cases
and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or
Act of Congress, willfully uses any part of the Army or Air Force as
a posse comitatus or otherwise to execute the laws shall be fined
under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both," is
the only U.S. criminal statute that outlaws military operations
directed against the American people under the cover of 'law
enforcement.' As such, it has been the best protection we've had
against the power-hungry intentions of an unscrupulous and reckless
executive, an executive intent on using force to enforce its will.
Unfortunately, this past week, the president dealt posse comitatus,
along with American democracy, a near fatal blow. Consequently, it
will take an aroused citizenry to undo the damage wrought by this
horrendous act, part and parcel, as we have seen, of a long train of
abuses and outrages perpetrated by this authoritarian
administration.
Despite the unprecedented and shocking nature of this act, there has
been no outcry in the American media, and little reaction from our
elected officials in Congress. On September 19th, a lone Senator
Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) noted that 2007's Defense Authorization
Act contained a "widely opposed provision to allow the President
more control over the National Guard [adopting] changes to the
Insurrection Act, which will make it easier for this or any future
President to use the military to restore domestic order WITHOUT the
consent of the nation's governors."
Senator Leahy went on to stress that, "we certainly do not need to
make it easier for Presidents to declare martial law. Invoking the
Insurrection Act and using the military for law enforcement
activities goes against some of the central tenets of our democracy.
One can easily envision governors and mayors in charge of an
emergency having to constantly look over their shoulders while
someone who has never visited their communities gives the orders."
A few weeks later, on the 29th of September, Leahy entered into the
Congressional Record that he had "grave reservations about certain
provisions of the fiscal Year 2007 Defense Authorization Bill
Conference Report," the language of which, he said, "subverts solid,
longstanding posse comitatus statutes that limit the military's
involvement in law enforcement, thereby making it easier for the
President to declare martial law." This had been "slipped in," Leahy
said, "as a rider with little study," while "other congressional
committees with jurisdiction over these matters had no chance to
comment, let alone hold hearings on, these proposals."
In a telling bit of understatement, the Senator from Vermont noted
that "the implications of changing the (Posse Comitatus) Act are
enormous". "There is good reason," he said, "for the constructive
friction in existing law when it comes to martial law declarations.
Using the military for law enforcement goes against one of the
founding tenets of our democracy. We fail our Constitution,
neglecting the rights of the States, when we make it easier for the
President to declare martial law and trample on local and state
sovereignty."
Senator Leahy's final ruminations: "Since hearing word a couple of
weeks ago that this outcome was likely, I have wondered how Congress
could have gotten to this point. It seems the changes to the
Insurrection Act have survived the Conference because the Pentagon
and the White House want it."
The historic and ominous re-writing of the Insurrection Act,
accomplished in the dead of night, which gives Bush the legal
authority to declare martial law, is now an accomplished fact.
The Pentagon, as one might expect, plays an even more direct role in
martial law operations. Title XIV of the new law, entitled,
"Homeland Defense Technology Transfer Legislative Provisions,"
authorizes "the Secretary of Defense to create a Homeland Defense
Technology Transfer Consortium to improve the effectiveness of the
Department of Defense (DOD) processes for identifying and deploying
relevant DOD technology to federal, State, and local first
responders."
In other words, the law facilitates the "transfer" of the newest in
so-called "crowd control" technology and other weaponry designed to
suppress dissent from the Pentagon to local militarized police
units. The new law builds on and further codifies earlier
"technology transfer" agreements, specifically the 1995 DOD-Justice
Department memorandum of agreement achieved back during the
Clinton-Reno regime.(4)
It has become clear in recent months that a critical mass of the
American people have seen through the lies of the Bush
administration; with the president's polls at an historic low,
growing resistance to the war Iraq, and the Democrats likely to take
back the Congress in mid-term elections, the Bush administration is
on the ropes. And so it is particularly worrying that President Bush
has seen fit, at this juncture to, in effect, declare himself
dictator.
Source:
(1) http://leahy.senate.gov/press/200609/091906a.html and http://leahy.senate.gov/press/200609/092906b.html
See also, Congressional Research Service Report for Congress, "The
Use of Federal Troops for Disaster Assistance: Legal Issues," by
Jennifer K. Elsea, Legislative Attorney, August 14, 2006
(2) http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill+h109-5122
(3) Journal of Counterterrorism & Homeland Security International,
"Recent Contract Awards", Summer 2006, Vol.12, No.2, pg.8; See also,
Peter Dale Scott, "Homeland Security Contracts for Vast New
Detention Camps," New American Media, January 31, 2006.
(4) "Technology Transfer from defense: Concealed Weapons Detection",
National Institute of Justice Journal, No 229, August, 1995,
pp.42-43.
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