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Congress Proposes Bill to Allow Worldwide War ... Including INSIDE the U.S.
Americans who have been paying attention are outraged that Bush lied us into Iraq by making up false claims about weapons of mass destruction and pretending that Saddam Hussein had a hand in 9/11.
Many are disgusted that Obama got us into a war in Libya without Congressional authorization.
But as the ACLU noted
yesterday, Congress is going even further ... proposing handing
permanent, world-wide war-making powers to the president - including the
ability to make war within the United States:
A hugely important provision for Congress to authorize a new worldwide war has been tucked away inside the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The bill was marked up by members of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) last Wednesday that poured into Thursday morning (2:45 a.m. to be exact).
A couple of minutes past midnight, Rep. John Garamendi
(D-Calif.) offered an amendment to strike Sec. 1034 — the new
authorization for worldwide war provision — from the NDAA. Visibly
angry that such a large sweeping provision had not yet had any public
hearing whatsoever, he vigorously characterized it as a very broad
declaration of war.
Rep. Garamendi was very concerned by the
limitless geographic boundaries of the provision. Essentially, it
would enable the U.S. to use military force anywhere in the world (including within the U.S.) in search of terrorists.
***
While
a new authorization for worldwide war has had its first public
debate, it unfortunately only lasted a hair over 10 minutes and
occurred after midnight.
Though it is a very troubling expansion
of war authority, it has been lingering for more than three years as a
“sleeper provision,” and it is finally getting the attention of some
members of Congress. We hope that further debate in Congress in the
weeks ahead will allow for a more in-depth examination of unchecked
authority to wage worldwide war, and what the outcomes of such a
provision will yield.
As I noted in 2008:
An article in the Army Times reveals that the 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team will be redeployed from Iraq to domestic operations within the United States.
The
unit will soon be under the day-to-day control of US Army North, the
Army service component of Northern Command. The Army Times reports
this new mission marks the first time an active unit has been given a
dedicated assignment to Northern Command. The paper says the Army unit
may be called upon to help with "civil unrest" and "crowd control".
The soldiers are learning to use so-called "nonlethal weapons" designed to subdue unruly or dangerous individuals and crowds.
This violates posse comitatus and the Constitution. But, hey, we're in a "national emergency", so who cares, right?
(We're still in a declared state of national emergency).
I noted a couple of months later:
Everyone knows that deploying 20,000 troops on U.S. soil violates Posse Comitatus and the Constitution.
And everyone understands that staging troops within the U.S. to "help out with civil unrest and crowd control" increases the danger of overt martial law.
But no one is asking an obvious question: Does the government's own excuse for deploying the troops make any sense?
Other Encroachments On Civil Rights Under Obama
As bad as Bush was, the truth is that, in many ways, freedom and constitutional rights are under attack even more than during the Bush years.
Obama has presided over the most draconian crackdown on leaks in our history -- even more so than Nixon.
As Marjorie Cohen - professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law and past president of the National Lawyers Guild - writes at the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy:
Army
Pfc. Bradley Manning, who is facing court-martial for leaking
military reports and diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks, is being held in
solitary confinement in Quantico brig in Virginia. Each night, he is
forced to strip naked and sleep in a gown made of coarse material. He
has been made to stand naked in the morning as other inmates walked by
and looked. As journalist Lance Tapley documents in his chapter on
torture in the supermax prisons in The United States and Torture,
solitary confinement can lead to hallucinations and suicide; it is
considered to be torture. Manning's forced nudity amounts to
humiliating and degrading treatment, in violation of U.S. and
international law.
Nevertheless, President Barack Obama
defended Manning's treatment, saying, "I've actually asked the
Pentagon whether or not the procedures . . . are appropriate. They
assured me they are." Obama's deference is reminiscent of President
George W. Bush, who asked "the most senior legal officers in the U.S.
government" to review the interrogation techniques. "They assured me
they did not constitute torture," Bush said.
***
After State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley criticized Manning's
conditions of confinement, the White House forced him to resign.
Crowley had said the restrictions were "ridiculous, counterproductive
and stupid." It appears that Washington is more intent on sending a
message to would-be whistleblowers than on upholding the laws that
prohibit torture and abuse.
***
Torture is
commonplace in countries strongly allied with the United States. Vice
President Omar Suleiman, Egypt's intelligence chief, was the
lynchpin for Egyptian torture when the CIA sent prisoners to Egypt in
its extraordinary rendition program. A former CIA agent observed, "If
you want a serious interrogation, you send a prisoner to Jordan. If
you want them to be tortured, you send them to Syria. If you want
someone to disappear - never to see them again - you send them to
Egypt." In her chapter in The United States and Torture, New Yorker journalist Jane Mayer cites Egypt as the most common destination for suspects rendered by the United States.
As I pointed out in March:
Former
constitutional law teacher Glenn Greenwald says that - in his defense
of state secrecy, illegal spying, preventative detention, harassment
of whistleblowers and other issues of civil liberties - Obama is even
worse than Bush.
Indeed, Obama has authorized "targeted assassinations" against U.S. citizens. Even Bush didn't openly do something so abhorrent to the rule of law.
Obama is trying to expand spying well beyond the Bush administration's programs. Indeed, the Obama administration is arguing that citizens should never be able to sue the government for illegal spying.
Obama's indefinite detention policy is an Orwellian nightmare, which will create more terrorists.
Furthermore
- as hard as it is for Democrats to believe - the disinformation and
propaganda campaigns launched by Bush have only increased under Obama. See this and this.
And as I pointed out last year:
According to Department of Defense training manuals, protest is considered "low-level terrorism". And see this, this and this.
An FBI memo also labels peace protesters as "terrorists".
***
A 2003 FBI memo describes protesters' use of videotaping as an "intimidation" technique, even though - as the ACLU
points out - "Most mainstream demonstrators often use videotape
during protests to document law enforcement activity and, more
importantly, deter police from acting outside the law." The FBI
appears to be objecting to the use of cameras to document unlawful
behavior by law enforcement itself.
The Internet has been labeled
as a breeding ground for terrorists, with anyone who questions the
government's versions of history being especially equated with
terrorists.
Government agencies such as FEMA are allegedly teaching that the Founding Fathers should be considered terrorists.
The government is also using anti-terrorism laws to keep people from learning what pollutants are in their own community. See this, this, this and this.
Claims of "national security"
are also used to keep basic financial information - such as who got
bailout money - secret. That might not bode for particularly warm and
friendly treatment for someone persistently demanding the release of
such information.
The state of Missouri tried to label
as terrorists current Congressman Ron Paul and his supporters, former
Congressman Bob Barr, libertarians in general, anyone who holds gold,
and a host of other people.
And according to a law school professor and former president of the National Lawyers Guild, pursuant to the Military Commissions Act:
Anyone who ... speaks out against the government's policies could be declared an "unlawful enemy combatant" and imprisoned indefinitely. That includes American citizens.
Obama has refused to reverse these practices.
»
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Yeah, you'd think more people in the USSA would catch on to what has happened and what is happening than germans in the 1930s and 1940s.
Clearly not.
ya for sure, like, thats a really interesting point and everything, but whens 'Jersey Shore on'? :P
Well this supreme court ruling should come in handy......
Supreme Court OKs warrantless searcheshttp://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2015072154_scotus17.html
oh great king, if I were to tell you a mountain 7 yihanas high, 7 yihanas wide, and 7 yihanas deep were coming from the east to crush everything in its path, and ...from the west...from the north...from the south, what would you do oh great king when death comes rolling in?
Heaven protect us from the chickenhawks. They all seem to know exactly what "we" should do about this or that...so long as they don't actually have to don the fatigues (I'm sorry, they're "BDUs" or "cammies" now) and walk the walk.
One tour at the pointy end of the spear usually is enough to give one a whole different perspective on war.
I hope you are underestimating some of these fellow, Pops.
The truth of your last sentence will be questioned by many - until after their first fight.
ok, here goes my first comment on Zerohedge:
None of this surprises me. The Roman elite voted on numerous provisions to "convert" the Roman Legion (a volunteer army) into a domestic police force, but when Roman society finally degraded into chaos, the soldiers simply decided to disband and head back out into the rural areas and start farming.
Isn't it telling that every initiative underway in WashingtonDC is angled toward the perservation of Washington's legitimacy? Seriously- name me ONE bill currently on Capital Hill that has the interests of the citizenry at its core. If it isn't authored by Ron Paul, then it is pushing some agenda to further concentrate power in DC.
As for marching on DC.... why? What good does an angry mob do?
Vote with your feet. That's all I'm gonna say.
The US military industrial complex only faces one possible end-game: The complex itself collapses as the fiat money source of their financing collapses, or "they" make an enemy out of every other person on Earth, and bankrupt themselves fighting this so-called "permanent global war"
I guess there is a possible third option- "they" actually succeed in killing every other human on Earth and the Bushes, Dick Cheney, and Henry Kissinger all sit around a camp fire in the aftermath of global destruction and relish the "victory" of their NWO as they sing Kumbayah...
Random_Robert, It's lazy ass for first comment. Not true that all legislation is what you say, but too lazy to research because not your point of view. Vote with feet? Go where? Why don't you move to other country you love it more over there.
I do quick search on thomas.loc.gov and I see sponsored legislation to support. We have to elect the right people. Just think if no Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) there be no one there to be angry at provision.
The most important thing you can do now is run for office or find people to run who not bought by corporations and care about country. Or you can vote with feet and run, run far away and hide behind your wall. Be careful not to peek too high.
What is wrong with lazy ass on this blog who keep saying run away. Oh yeah, right, run, so they can do what they want with country. Unless you multinational corporate CEO and then okay I understand why you not want us involved in voting process.
ummm, whistleblower- I said to name me one piece of legislation. All you did was refute my challenge without accepting it.
And vote with your feet does not necessarily mean running away- It can also mean "don't stand still long enough for them to rob you blind."
Aside from that- you've convinced me- I'm announcing my candidacy for President in 2012. If you were a natural born citizen you could be my running mate.
oh wait- I guess that rule no longer applies, either.
We have to elect the right people.
Oh, really? And which angels from heaven might they be? Dems? Pubs? Puh-LEEZ!
It costs millions of dollars to gain office - do you think all those donors pay for nothing?
Elections are for suckers. That version of America is dead and in the ground. Over.
Either build something better or give up. The Constitution isn't going to save you - no one in politics gives a damn about it, and voting only gives them a claim of legitimacy.
How about we elect you (maybe no, you not smart). Other people here. You lazy ape who like to whine from computer, do little research you see enough of congress elected with no money or less money than challenger. Get off your lazy ass stupids who think election for suckers or move where you not have privilege of election and see how much freedom you have. Stupids on this blog. It's funny, you fall right in lap of your masters. Go hide and collect guns, they come to take them and take your land too and make you work for them or die, then what you do lazy ass idiot.
how about we elect somebody (for example, my 3-year old autistic nephew) to teach you Grammar 101 before you post again ? ! ? !
Did you stop to consider that perhaps his native language is not english? How many languages are you able to write in? I don't agree with him that voting will change anything in the USA, but why the personal attack? He does speak some truth "Obama is a corporate whore"
I hope my comments met your grammatical and spelling expectations.
I try to add this edit.
And anyone think Obama election prove all politicians same, it's not right. Look at Obama record, you see he corporate whore, you know he not real change. I read Chris Hedges on blog, he vote Nadar and tell on blog before election, Obama corporate man. Just because Obama is failure is not proof elections not matter. It's what we have, we can use it to get them out.
You know how they all laugh when he elected, knowing now voters not care anymore and stay home play video games. They pat each other on back, happy no one cares about vote.
He's got to be Chinese. I've seen that syntax before from students.
Keep posting. Your writing skills + intellect = comedy gold!
You need to go visit your local snake handler and get some of that venom extracted. It appears to be backing-up into your brain. Your insults and your composition skills are that of spoiled-brat child. Why don't you do some "research" to improve your skills and manners.
Why you write like ESL speaker, but talk like tough American? Is strange.
the task is to convert our military into our neighbors, who will fight along side of us to maintain some sense of community. we as american citizens are in tough place, all the technology and weaponry is in the hands of the criminally insane. our only hope is to appeal to our military people to be real patriots. i KNOW many previous military men who are asking questions. I have often thought we need a prior military and citizen militia who operate at local levels.
The thing is Cheney is terminally ill, Kissinger is some 87 years old and Bush Jr. is a dumbass who can't even tie his own shoes without help.
So in 10 years at the latest Bush will be sitting alone at the campfire and burn his shoes, that incompetent clown.
"Cheney is terminally ill"--
Sometimes our prayers DO get answered.
Nah, he'll have Holder, and Obama, and Bill Dayley to keep him company. All pieces of the same puzzle.
Gentlemen, start your liberal hysteria.
Dickhead, start your cowardly compliance.
+1 What a servile POS. Let him scamper into the rat hole and lick the hands of his "protectors". Dickhead indeed.
I am an individualist, so therefore, I am my own protector. My body is mortal and I fear no man.
Just gotta laugh at the libtards who whip themselves into a daily frenzy, all the handwringing over percieved boogeymen. And what is the libtard savior? Lawyers? Community Organizers? LMFAO at you pussies.
blah blah blah, you talk shit, but i would guess you're the coward who would run and leave your own brother behind. army of one, lolololol, my own protector, lololol.
kind of guy who will be heeding the masters call. 'We'll let you be 'free' but you have to hunt these radicals/commies /liberals/random people we assign as a threat down, then you'll be free, free to do what we tell you'.
Like the French who collaborated with the Nazis.
best retort i've seen in a while lolololol
while everyone is distracted with useless planted debates about inflation and government spending, the real theft of freedom is happening right under our noses. everyday it is something more egregious. how can we just sit here and let 300 years of fighting for basic human liberties be overturned in 10 just because of 9/11. dont get me wrong that was a horrible tragedy but if anything it should embolden us as citizens to fight for the ideals that define us. if we lose them we have nothing and all those who sacrificed their lives for those ideals die in vain. it blows my mind that our political system is so corrupt or inept or both that people can sit back and do nothing while a rider allowing martial law is slipped into a bill in the middle of the night. And Obama, Mr. hope, Mr. change we can believe in?? I guess you have to elect a progressive in order to strip away every single progressive ideal from the political system while backstopping corporate finance. Just like they put Bush in there to embark on the biggest fiscally irresponsible spending boom in our history doubling the amount of total debt in the system. I just am at a total loss at what to say or do or even think anymore.
++, except it didn't all start with 9/11, our rights have been being eroded for years..............well over 100 years........
Where's all our liberal brethren here - won't PEOPLE DIE if they invade the US?
The liberals are just as fraudulant and disingenuous as the conservatives. The democrats are just as fraudulant and disingenuous as the republicans. They are both elitist, authoritarian criminals in cahoots with the international gangster central banksters. Frankly, I doubt there are more than 4 or 5 honest, liberty-oriented politicians in the entire world today. All the rest are pure, unadulterated, overt predators.
Yes, of course, as I stated here and many times in other posts. My point is where are the bleeding hearts that cannot stand to see one dime of spending cut and bring out the 'people will die arguments' to support it. Oh, and by the way, honest liberal oriented politicians are the worst of the pure unadulterated predators, imho.
Yes. Party A and Party B, both owned by the same bastards.
'Scuse me, I burped.
Every time Obama sees fit to lie to us it's torture to listen. Anyway, why isn't Manning happy to have a chance to show off those huge. magnificent cajones? Or does the little weasel now understand what "Don't tell" meant?
Nice article, GW. There's only one thing that gives me more chills down the spine than total economic collapse, and that is a powerful, totalitarian police State.
To TPTB: "Fuck you."
From: I, insurgent.
ZH needs to figure out who junked you, so we can put them on a terrorist most wanted poster.
Perhaps he is just not in the 'mood' to reverse these practices.
He said he would on the trail in '08.
Guess we cannot trust him huh?.
I'm writing in Ron Paul's name in 2012.
Posse Comitatus ain't what it used to be.
http://www.homelandsecurity.org/journal/articles/trebilcock.htm
Before we get all upset about this, I might point out that they probably know what is going to happen when the US defaults and however nasty using troops domestically sounds, it's still better than me having to fight off the hordes of former welfare recipients myself. I'll probably end up fighting both of them now, but hey.
Who sez they'll be fighting off the Welfare Recipients? They might need more blood from a very unwilling Middle Class!
c'mon ZH'rs - who was it that said if you give up liberty for safety, you end up with neither?
Ben Franklin.
Time to start taking up arms or flapping ones arms and moving along. LOL
Bow to your Fascist overlord (me).
I believe Obama's term has really been an eye-opener: He didnt do so much of what he campaigned on and faithfully promised. So yeah, he's a dud, and people see it--especially the libs. I wonder sometimes if the majority of people are just waiting for the collapse to wash all the politicians out to sea in order to start fresh.
It's the age of enlightenment, bitchez! (I just had to add that, my first "bitchez" post, heh)
Ron Paul 2012