Army Col. Michael Boatner, of the US Army’s Northern Command, denied to the website Homeland Security Today all the blog talk of a US Army combat brigade being deployed for domestic purposes for law enforcement and crowd control. He stated: “This response force will not be called upon to help with law enforcement, civil disturbance or crowd control, but will be used to support lead agencies involved in saving lives, relieving suffering and meeting the needs of communities affected by weapons of mass destruction attacks, accidents or even natural disasters.” Col. Boatner is the future operations division chief of the command unit.
Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman was told by Air Force Lt. Col. Jamie Goodpaster, a public affairs officer for Northern Command, that “Military forces would have weapons on-site, “containerized,” she said — that is, stored in containers — including both lethal and so-called nonlethal weapons. They would have mostly wheeled vehicles, but would also, she said, have access to tanks. She said that use of weapons would be made at a higher level, perhaps at the secretary of defense level.”
The Army felt compelled to release this statement on Tuesday, September 30th, despite the fact that the mainsteam media has yet to cough up one article about this deployment, which began October 1st. Blogs around the country – and world – including the OB Rag blog – have been hollering about this deployment for the past two weeks, since Amy Goodman released an article on September 22nd reporting on the deployment of the Third Infantry Division 1st Combat Brigade.
[Go here for the Homeland Security Today article.]
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We all know how badly Katrina was bungled by every agency from local cops to “Brownie,” right? And we are all aware of the buzz and salivating drool comin’ off the right wing lunatic fringe who openly lust for their notion(s) of a perfect God Bless America, right? By force, right? So in the event of destabilization, where can you really go for help? You next door neighbor? You don’t even KNOW your next door neighbor. The day may come when you are not afraid to show gratitude for the US Army having boots down on US soil. Welcome home, soldiers.