Coming Soon: Tanks in the Streets of Your Hometown

It's time to merge the U.S. Army and your local police department according to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.



In in a meeting with Latin American defense ministers that was scarcely covered by U.S. media, Rumsfeld said that, given the challenges posed by 21st-century threats, it is time to re-think the separation of the armed forces from the police. It was an interesting audience given that separation of the military from domestic police has been a major reform pursued by U.S. and Latin American human-rights organizations as a way of asserting civilian control over the military and reducing abuses, but that didn't deter Rumsfeld:

"Since September. 11, 2001, we have had to conduct an essential re-examination of the relationships between our military and our law enforcement responsibilities in the U.S.," asserted Rumsfeld, who never let the phrase "human rights" pass his lips. "The complex challenges of this new era and the asymmetric threats we face require that all elements of state and society work together." He went on to include under the rubric of "enemies" faced by the armed forces a number of actors who normally would come under the jurisdiction of the civilian authorities. "Terrorists, drug traffickers, hostage takers and criminal gangs form an anti-social combination that increasingly seeks to destabilize civil societies," he declared.

So, apparently our neighbors to the south are encouraged to blur the line between the roles of the military and the police ... but in America there's no need to worry about becoming a military police state, right? Our local police are there to "protect and serve" and we would never really let the Army take over the cities and towns in America, right?



Wait! Better do a little research before you answer. To start, Google the phrase "posse comitatus" which is the 19th century law that prohibits U.S. military involvement in local police affairs.



And, lest you think it's just a bunch of black helicopter militia nuts, check out some of the surprisingly mainstream groups like "The Homeland Security Institute" which features a lengthy essay entitled The Myth of Posse Comitatus written by a U.S. Army Major arguing that the posse comitatus law has been misinterpreted all these years and that there's no reason why the Army should not be policing the streets of your city today.



ZNet (US) - Rumsfeld's 'Dirty Wars'