-Caveat Lector-
WEDNESDAY
OCTOBER 13
1999
New military unit
for domestic deployment
By Jon E. Dougherty
� 1999 WorldNetDaily.com
Critics are denouncing recent congressional changes to the Posse Comitatus
Act that will allow a broader use of U.S. military forces in a domestic law
enforcement role including a new unit for deployment in assisting civilian
officers during a terrorist attack.
The new command, established Oct. 7 in Norfolk, Va., will be called the
U.S. Joint Forces Command, and replaces the former U.S. Atlantic Command.
At a ceremony commemorating the new unit, Defense Secretary William Cohen
told participants the American people shouldn't fear the potential of
seeing U.S. military forces on the streets of U.S. cities.
The military must "deal with the threats we are most likely to face," Cohen
told reporters, downplaying concerns about troops operating on home soil.
"The American people should not be concerned about it. They should welcome
it."
The new command is designed to prepare U.S. troops to fight abroad or to
respond if terrorists strike with nuclear, chemical or biological weapons.
In opposing the measure, critics cite the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act, which
prohibits federal troops from
participating in domestic law enforcement activities under most
circumstances. With the concern over domestic terrorism rising since the
World Trade Center bombing and numerous incidences of cyber-attacks on U.S.
defense and financial institutions, the Clinton administration has begun to
relax some of those restrictions.
In July, WorldNetDaily reported the new measures would end the requirement
for local law agencies to reimburse the federal government for any local
use of military equipment, as well as enable the Department of Defense to
deploy military troops in cases of anticipated or actual terrorist
attacks.
Then, David Kopel of the Independence Institute warned that the measures
would, if passed, "set (bad) precedents for years to come."
Since the Waco debacle in 1993, when federal law officers and military
personnel assaulted a church community resulting in the deaths of over 80
men, women and children, Kopel said the federal government has been
"eroding the protections contained in the Posse Comitatus Act." In the
past, he told WorldNetDaily, most of the amendments to the original law
had been based on bogus drug issues. Now, he said, that issue seems to have
shifted to so-called terrorist attacks, or at least the threat of them.
The Defense Department has said only the military has enough equipment to
operate in a poisoned environment, or to manage a massive decontamination
effort. Secretary Cohen told reporters last week that federal law will not
be violated because the military would only respond if requested.
"It is subordinate to civilian control," he said.
But Gregory Nojeim, legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties
Union in Washington, D.C., told WorldNetDaily he is concerned about
"nightmare scenarios" like those in the recent films, "Enemy of the State"
and "The Siege."
"Soldiers are not equipped, by training or temperament, to enforce the laws
with proper regard for civil and constitutional rights," he said. "They're
trained to kill the enemy."
Nojeim said the ACLU is concerned about "letting loose the most effective
fighting force in the history of the world" on American civilians.
Cohen said that the creation of the Joint Forces Command would better
coordinate the training of the four armed services. However, history is
replete with reasons why some Americans continue to be hesitant about using
military troops in a law enforcement capacity.
Besides questions about the Army's Delta Force role during the Waco siege,
most recently, in 1997, U.S. Marines assigned to assist the U.S. Border
Patrol in combating illegal immigration accidentally shot and killed an
18-year-old goat herder. That force has since been withdrawn and
reassigned, but lawmakers have remained committed to expanding the
military's civil law enforcement role in other ways.
For example, the military also has been given an expanded role in defending
against cyber-terrorism, or assaults on U.S. computer systems. The U.S.
Space Command in Colorado will be leading that effort.
Nojeim questioned the need for such an expansion of federal military forces
into the domestic law enforcement arena, even though U.S. officials have
said the nation is now at greater risk of terrorist attack. He also
believes the White House should do a better job of educating the American
people about why the changes to the Posse Comitatus law are needed.
"For years the federal government has showered the FBI with hundreds of
millions of new dollars to help it combat crimes involving chemical and
biological weapons," he told WorldNetDaily. "Taxpayers need to know where
that money has gone and why the president now wants to call in the troops."
Addressing the long-term ramifications of the change in military law
enforcement policy, Nojeim said, "When the crisis hits, those with the
biggest guns will be subordinate to no one."
Jon E. Dougherty is a staff writer for WorldNetDaily.
� 1999 WorldNetDaily.com, Inc.
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