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A new report from the U.S. Army War College discusses the use of
American troops to quell civil unrest brought about by a worsening
economic crisis.
The report from the War
College’s Strategic Studies
Institute warns that the U.S. military must prepare for a “violent,
strategic dislocation inside the United States” that could be provoked
by “unforeseen economic collapse” or “loss of functioning political and
legal order.”
Entitled “Known Unknowns: Unconventional
‘Strategic Shocks’ in Defense Strategy Development,” the report was
produced by Nathan Freier, a recently retired Army lieutenant colonel
who is a professor at the college — the Army’s main training institute
for prospective senior officers.
He writes: “To the extent events like
this involve organized violence against local, state, and national
authorities and exceed the capacity of the former two to restore public
order and protect vulnerable populations, DoD [Department of Defense]
would be required to fill the gap.”
Freier continues: “Widespread civil
violence inside the United States would force the defense establishment
to reorient priorities in extremis to defend basic domestic order … An
American government and defense establishment lulled into complacency by
a long-secure domestic order would be forced to rapidly divest some or
most external security commitments in order to address rapidly expanding
human insecurity at home.”
International Monetary Fund Managing
Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn
warned last week of riots and unrest in global markets if the ongoing
financial crisis is not addressed and lower-income households are beset
with credit constraints and rising unemployment, the Phoenix Business
Journal reported.
Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma and Rep.
Brad Sherman of California disclosed that Treasury Secretary Henry
Paulson discussed a worst-case scenario as he pushed the Wall Street
bailout in September, and said that scenario might even require a
declaration of martial law.
The Army
College report states: “DoD might
be forced by circumstances to put its broad resources at the disposal of
civil authorities to contain and reverse violent threats to domestic
tranquility. Under the most extreme circumstances, this might include
use of military force against hostile groups inside the United States.
“Further, DoD would be, by necessity, an
essential enabling hub for the continuity of political authority in a
multi-state or nationwide civil conflict or disturbance.”
He concludes this section of the report
by observing: “DoD is already challenged by stabilization abroad.
Imagine the challenges associated with doing so on a massive scale at
home."
As Newsmax reported earlier, the Defense
Department has made plans to deploy 20,000 troops nationwide by 2011 to
help state and local officials respond to emergencies.
The 130-year-old Posse Comitatus Act
restricts the military’s role in domestic law enforcement. But a 1994
Defense Department Directive allows military commanders to take
emergency actions in domestic situations to save lives, prevent
suffering or mitigate great property damage, according to the Business
Journal.
And Gen. Tommy Franks, who led the U.S.
military operations to liberate Iraq, said in a 2003 interview that if
the U.S. is attacked with a weapon of mass destruction, the Constitution
will likely be discarded in favor of a military form of government.
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