This link has been bookmarked by 1 people . It was first bookmarked on 10 Oct 2008, by Clay Burell.
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10 Oct 08
Clay BurellAnd this is not in the news. Annotated link http://www.diigo.com/bookmark/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffingtonpost.com%2Fnaomi-wolf%2Fthe-battle-plan-iii-deplo_b_133662.html
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We should worry because history shows that there are no magic shields that protect citizens in a weakening democracy once troops are deployed in civilian streets. It is folly to assume that military units would never obey orders to take action against their own fellow civilians -- say 'unruly individuals' at a protest or turned away from a voting booth. Chinese soldiers round up at gunpoint Chinese parents protesting tainted milk; German soldiers arrested Germans in 1933; Italian soldiers obediently beat up Italian editors and journalists in 1920; Russian soldiers brutalize compatriot Georgians. Lawyers at the Center for Constitutional Rights and the National Lawyers Guild say that these are legitimate questions to ask now: The U.S. military reports to the Commander in Chief -- not to Congress.
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If the U.S. is a battlefield does military law override civilian law? The president has said he can call anybody an 'enemy combatant': can the Third Battalion seize U.S. citizens and keep them in military detention? What about interrogation? What rules apply? If the First Brigade is sent to the Washington Post newsroom to seize 'inflammatory' or 'classified' work threatening 'national security', and the executive editor resists, can they Taser him? Detain him? Col. David Antoon says that if ordered to, they must do all of this. If reporters take pictures of the altercation can the Third Battalion seize their film? Arrest them? If ordered to, Antoon says they must. If the president declares a state of emergency and Congress disagrees, he can send the First Brigade into the halls of Congress, according to Antoon. History shows that once troops are visibly deployed in the vicinity of a parliament, parliamentarians become very passive -- even while the nation is still a technically functioning democracy.
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I argue that a coup has taken place, without the headlines.
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