Senator Leahy Concerned about NorthCom’s New Army Unit By Matthew Rothschild

[laststeamtrain]

Senator Leahy Concerned about NorthCom’s New Army Unit
By Matthew Rothschild

09/10/08 "The Progressive Magazine" -- October 7, 2008 -- Senator Patrick Leahy is concerned about the Pentagon’s decision to designate an Army unit to Northern Command.

On October 1, the Pentagon, for the first time ever, dedicated an Army force specifically to NorthCom, which is in charge of securing not some foreign region but the United States of America.

The unit it assigned is the 3rd Infantry, First Brigade Combat Team, which has spent three of the last five years in Iraq. It was one of the first units to get to Baghdad, and it was active in retaking and patrolling Fallujah. One of its specialties is counterinsurgency.

This marks a change for NorthCom, which was established on October 1, 2002. Its website still says it “has few permanently assigned forces,” and that “the command is assigned forces whenever necessary to execute missions, as ordered by the President and the Secretary of Defense.”

Leahy “asked for a briefing from his staff” on this development and “wants to monitor the situation,” an aide to Leahy said.

Leahy was instrumental in getting Congress to repeal the “Insurrection Act Rider” in the 2006 defense appropriations bill. That rider had given the President sweeping power to use military troops in ways contrary to the Insurrection Act and Posse Comitatus Act. The rider authorized the President to have troops patrol our streets in response to disasters, epidemics, and any “condition” he might cite.

Leahy said last December that this rider “made it easier for the President to take over the Guard and to declare martial law.” In a Senate statement on April 24, 2007, he cautioned against inserting the military “into domestic situations.” As he put it: “One of the distinguishing characteristics of the United States is that we do not use the military to patrol our communities and neighborhoods.” A few months before that, he warned that we must ensure that “the military is not used in a way that offends and endangers some of our most cherished values and liberties.”

<more>

http://www.progressive.org/mag/wx100708.html

[Vadem]

1. I love Pat Leahy, but why in the hell didn't he do something about ..

it, before it became law????

[bluesmail]

3. I believe * used a handy signing statement

and in his mind it became law, just_like_that.

[Two Americas]

2. this can't be

We have been told here for days now that any worries about this were "tinfoil."

[dgibby]

4. Ain't that the truth!

Do you think we should make a hat for Pat? At least we're in good company now!

[sce56]

5. Did you think Darth Cheney was going to slip quietly into the night?

The other thing that quietly happened was this story on Democracynow http://www.democracynow.org/2008/9/16/headlines

US to Sell 1,000 New Bunker Buster Bombs to Israel

The Bush administration has announced it plans to supply the Israeli Air Force 1,000 new bunker buster bombs built by Boeing that are designed to penetrate fortified facilities located deep underground. The Jerusalem Post reports the bombs would likely be used in the event of an Israeli strike on Iran. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress about the planned sale of the GBU-39 bombs over the weekend. Congress has thirty days to object to the $77 million deal.


I haven't heard a peep about this since so I suppose the DOD is getting ready to ship the bombs to Isreal so they can start WWIII and we will then help them once our forces come under attack in the gulf, some suggest the planning for the attack is after the election before Christmas a nice little gift to the next president if we are not under Martial Law by then do to the Iranian terror attacks that will surely follow any attack on them All kinds of things can happen like I have always said if Gore would have prevailed we would be under President Liberman since they most likely would have included POTUS in the 9-11 casualties!

dr strangelove