Senior officials at the Pentagon and its Northern Command (Northcom) have discussed details of the classified plans in interviews with the press, according to an August 8 Washington Post report. The plans call for use of “quick-reaction” forces in response to 15 possible scenarios involving multiple and simultaneous attacks. As many as 3,000 ground troops could be used in response to each attack depending on its extent.

Pentagon officials stressed that the troops are intended to play a supporting role. By law, the U.S. military is constrained from involvement in policing. But they added that in some situations the military may have to “take charge,” according to the Post.

Adm. Timothy Keating, the Northcom commander, told the paper that in the case of a nuclear, chemical, or biological attack inside the United States the Department of Defense would be in the best position to lead a response.

U.S. officials seek to gain greater acceptance for institutionalizing the option of domestic military deployments by draping such moves in civilian trappings. They seek to legitimize the use of the armed forces against future struggles by working people in the United States by making “civil disorder” a military matter, not solely a police matter for city, state, and federal authorities.

The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 restricts the use of troops in domestic law enforcement. In the Post interviews, military lawyers asserted that the president could dispatch troops for action inside the country on his constitutional authority as commander-in-chief. Posse Comitatus exempts actions authorized by the Constitution, they say.

Another avenue considered in the plans to get around legal restrictions on the domestic use of troops is to draw on a common pool of soldiers from National Guard and active-duty units. This approach, which the plans call “dual-use,” was first used last year at the Group of Eight summit in Georgia. National Guard troops, acting under state control, are exempted from Posse Comitatus prohibitions. Last year Congress expanded the authority to use National Guard troops for “homeland defense” missions, such as securing power plants and other vital facilities.

Northcom was initiated by the Clinton administration in the late 1990s—well before 9/11—and was launched in October 2002. It is one of nine “war-fighting” commands of the U.S. military. For the first time in U.S. history, a military command has responsibility for the continental United States, the rest of North America, and Mexico.

A tour of Northcom headquarters found officers “monitoring” aircraft and shipping traffic, the Discovery space shuttle mission, and the National Scout Jamboree, reported the Post.
 
 
Related articles:
Judge overturns gov’t rules weakening union protection for federal workers  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home