General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsRW heads spinning as US Military practices for counter insurgency, in the South West.
As many people who have read my posts in the past know, I tend to believe that the RW is planning on, and in fact preparing for a break down of civil order, or even a civil war. There are an estimated 3 million preppers in the US. That is roughly speaking one percent of the population, and no one knows how accurate that estimate may be. There are an estimated 20,000 to 60,000 militia members in the US as well. Again, that is the ones we know about.
Then there are believers of other fringe groups. The ones who have Molon Labe stickers, and other items. There are 3% believers, who think that when they reach 3% of the population they will be able to successfully resist the Government's efforts to disarm them.
That doesn't include the Sovereign Citizens, the self proclaimed patriots, and the Racists and hate oriented groups out there.
These groups scour the internet and converse in chat rooms, half of whose members are probably Federal Agents. Yet the numbers are growing. At Amazon alone there are more than 28 thousand items listed as Survival Gear. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_kk_1?rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Asurvival+gear&keywords=survival+gear&ie=UTF8&qid=1427457670
So there is a significant market for survival and prepper type gear. Now, none of this is CT. All of this is right there, and they make no bones about it. These are people who believe that they are going to one day stand firm against the break down of civilization, or stand up against the abuses of an overreaching Government. You can denounce them as crazy, but there are a lot of them out there, more than enough to cause plenty of problems. Look at the Bundy Ranch if you think I'm joking or making big problems out of nothing. Enough militia types were able to gather quickly enough to create a massive standoff situation. One where even if the Federal Agents had won, the cost would have been catastrophic. And victory was not assured by any stretch of the imagination.
So what makes me want to post about this, one of my personal interests this morning? Am I especially bored? No, I've been reading the news this morning and came across this.
Operation Jade Helm begins in July and will last for eight weeks. Soldiers will operate in and around towns in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah and Colorado where some of them will drop from planes while carrying weapons loaded with blanks in what military officials have dubbed Realistic Military Training.
But with residents of the entire states of Texas and Utah dubbed 'hostile' for the purposes of the exercises, Jade Helm has some concerned the drills are too realistic.
The attached map is interesting.
Now, even thought I think this is merely a training exercise, there are many on the right who will see it as a practice for a real effort to suppress their rights, whatever those rights are at the moment. They change. What is potentially dangerous is some of the militia types that are active in the region will decide this isn't practice, and attack the invaders.
No, I am not warning that the uprising is about to begin. I just wanted to let those interested know that the RW is going to be very tense over the next month or so as they warily watch what is going on. With a little luck, this training exercise will pass by without any incidents. Because nobody wants to see this crap erupt.
Before you snort and laugh and think that the military can easily deal with these yahoos. Remember that things tend to spiral out of control rather quickly. All the planes, helicopters, and armored vehicles didn't manage to pacify Afghanistan. All the bombings and drone strikes and tanks in the world haven't done much to stop ISIL/ISIS/IS. The "rebels" in Yemen are basically in charge now. http://www.washingtonpost.com/posttv/world/houthi-rebels-release-former-yemen-prime-minister-from-house-arrest/2015/03/16/2c67aa9e-cc20-11e4-8730-4f473416e759_video.html
Renew Deal
(81,893 posts)I kid. Maybe just around Arpaio's office.
NaturalHigh
(12,778 posts)Their per diem would be good for our economy.
linuxman
(2,337 posts)Millions of items of camping gear on Amazon.com? *Gasp*
3 million preppers alone! Holy shit! How will the government deal with so many families with an extra stock of canned goods and bottled water? I hear most of those paranoid freaks live in Florida. Don't let them fool you. "hurricanes" is just one big cover for the real nefarious intent.
Military troops triggering a reaction from crazies in the area? Dear Lord! Imagine if the counterinsurgency training that has been going on in large areas of NC as part of Robin Sage were to trigger such a reaction simultaneously! Two front domestic war!!!
The author should really see if The Blaze is hiring.
Savannahmann
(3,891 posts)Ok, so it's just my imagination.
Hmm. I'm not sure, what exactly would all those shotguns, shotgun shells, Mini-14's be used for during a Hurricane? Perhaps those are for camping. Um, I've been camping a few times, and never run into anything that would require apocalyptic levels of firepower. Meh, perhaps I was just lucky.
Well, at least we know where a half dozen of the estimated three hundred million firearms are located. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/06/04/a-minority-of-americans-own-guns-but-just-how-many-is-unclear/
So what would a Spider Hole be used for in a Hurricane? I mean, with all that rain you would think that he would drown wouldn't he?
The SPLC says there are 784 hate groups in the US. http://www.splcenter.org/hate-map I didn't know the SPLC was a bunch of nuts who were throwing out nonsense to try and scare folks. Now that I do, I guess I should cancel the mailing list I was on right?
Besides, what would the SPLC know about hate groups.
So those estimated 100,000 Sovereign Citizens that the Federal Government and the SPLC say exist are no real danger. That's really good to know. For some reason they are the top threat to police, and the members seem to kill more cops than others. http://www.policemag.com/channel/patrol/articles/2012/09/sovereign-citizens-a-clear-and-present-danger.aspx
Well, I'm sure those are for sporting purposes. Especially the machine gun in the corner.
http://www.prepperhelper.com/post/2012/07/21/An-Interview-with-Gun-Preparedness.aspx
I'm sure that this guy is just an innocent sportsman who likes to hunt a lot of something. Flies perhaps.
linuxman
(2,337 posts)Oh dear! That first guy had 2 whole shotguns and what appears to be 3 22s! Terrify! Add to that a 20 dollar box of bulk-pack shotgun shells scattered on the floor? Someone think of the children! Why, there must be more than $500 worth of firepower in this pic alone! Firearms as potent as this usually aren't even considered as part of an assault weapons ban, but the glint in his/the dog's eye has me second guessing.
An unaccredited shot of what appears to be the board room of an arms company or the set of a movie? Clearly some Cletus in Alabama has stocked the guest bedroom of the trailer at the expense of re-tarring the driveway.
Gasp! A Safe full of guns! Why there must be at least 30+ in there! Normally I wouldn't be bothered, as most humans can only wield one at a time, but I highly suspect that this (highly probable) octopus extremist and 3 -4 friends could spell doom for the country!
Truly the revolution is already underway.
Fred Sanders
(23,946 posts)Nuclear Unicorn
(19,497 posts)conference room. It's not a prepper/sovereign citizen stockpile.
sendero
(28,552 posts).... "prepper" can mean just about anything. When I was a kid, the Boy Scout's motto was "be prepared". Sometimes I read stuff on the net that basically characterizes "being prepared" as bad or that people who are "prepared" are somehow subversive.
It's all pretty stupid and it's pretty hard for me to think of a downside to having some food and water stored.