The increasing militarization of preparations for an outbreak of swine flu is proceeding rapidly and without very much public debate, despite the relatively mild nature of the disease so far and the fact that many experts believe the panic has been overblown.
Earlier this week, Republican Representative Paul Broun of Georgia warned a town hall meeting that a “socialistic elite” may be preparing to declare martial law in the United States using a pandemic disease as the pretext. “They’re trying to develop an environment where they can take over,” he told attendees according to an article in the Athens Banner-Herald. “We’ve seen that historically.”
In another alarming development this week, National Guard troops are involved in a drill to take over a high school in Maine to deal with potential riots and panic over distribution of treatment for the H1N1 virus, the Maine Sun Journal reported Thursday. “The National Guardsmen will take on the roles of panicked citizens and military police and practice what they would do, such as using tear gas, in the case of a riot,” said the newspaper article entitled “National Guard Drill at High School to Prepare for Possible H1N1 Riot.” The story also noted that local law enforcement would be involved.
This is all despite the fact that the Maine Center for Disease Control has reported just one death tied to the swine flu, and the man actually died from “underlying conditions complicated by H1N1,” according to Dr. Dora Mills, the center’s director.
“This is just a component of moving the stuff from point A to B,” assured the director of Oxford County’s emergency management agency, Scott Parker. He told the Sun Journal that the plan would only be put in place “if needed.”
Apparently concerns about panic and disorder were raised during a conference in April, so the governor and the adjutant General of the Maine National Guard decided to formulate a plan to bring in military police.
But if state military police preparations weren’t bad enough, the federal government now wants to usurp state forces for domestic use under the Pentagon’s command. Though at least the states are fighting back on this issue.
The National Governors Association wrote a letter to the Department of Defense last week criticizing the proposals to take control of their National Guard units for domestic disasters. “Strong potential exists for confusion in mission execution and the dilution of governors' control over situations with which they are more familiar and better capable of handling than a federal military commander," the letter stated.
But no matter who retains control of the National Guard troops preparing to deal with swine flu, the federal government’s increasingly militarized “emergency preparations” for the virus are developing quickly and mostly under the radar. Just last month CNN and Fox News reported online that the U.S. military was drawing up plans to deal with a spread of the swine flu. “The Pentagon is preparing to make troops available if necessary to help the Federal Emergency Management Agency tackle a potential outbreak of the H1N1 virus,” according to a July 29 Fox News article entitled "Military Poised to Help FEMA Battle Swine Flu Outbreak."
And as early as last year, reports also began to surface that federal troops were preparing for “homeland defense” missions and would be operating on American soil — in what would appear to be a violation of the Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits the use of military forces in domestic law enforcement.
“They may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control,” noted the Army Times in a 2008 article entitled "Brigade homeland tours start Oct. 1." The soldiers will also be responsible for things like knowing how to set up road blocks and the use of “nonlethal” weapons normally reserved for war-zones to subdue Americans.
Additionally, the Obama administration has recently resurrected the heavily criticized Bush-era proposal to “update” quarantine regulations, while the U.S. Army advertises jobs for “internment/resettlement specialists” on its website.
The federal government’s health authorities operate quarantine centers from Anchorage to Miami, and in 2005 George W. Bush used an executive order to add flu that has the “potential” to create a pandemic to a list of quarantinable diseases. Will the military be used to enforce the quarantines? It is appearing increasingly possible, if it comes to that.
This is all happening at a time when countless experts are warning that fears about the swine-flu virus have been blown out of proportion. In many places the disease even seems to be dissipating. “We'll probably see something that won't be that bad,” said Ontario’s former chief medical officer, Dr. Richard Schabas. “We would not expect it to be as bad as the flu year was in 2003 with the Fujian strain.”
He noted that a pandemic would be expected to kill thousands just in Canada, but so far the swine flu has claimed 66 lives there. “You tell me how overblown that is.… Our preparations always have to be advised not just by the sense of possibilities, but by a sense of probabilities.”
England’s chief medical officer, Liam Donaldson, recently announced plans to scale back the National Pandemic Flu Service from about 1,600 call-center workers to less than 600 as the number of cases there continues to fall. He warned of the potential for a “second wave,” but so far the disease has been less deadly than even the regular seasonal flu.
Australian National University microbiologist Peter Collignon told ABC News the H1N1 virus was no worse than annual influenza strains. “My major concern about what's happening is the fear is out of proportion to what the data shows," he said, adding that the use of the word “pandemic” was creating unnecessary concern.
But here in the United States, the emergency preparations continue to expand along with the power of the federal government. There has already been discussion of forced vaccinations. And an inspection of so-called “executive orders” issued by past presidents and continuing under Obama reveals that the executive branch already claims sweeping “emergency” powers to deal with health concerns.
Unless Americans start demanding some transparency and accountability, the trend towards bigger and more aggressive government will likely continue. This time the excuse happens to be swine flu, but there will always be some “crisis” not to be “wasted,” as Obama’s chief of staff Rahm Emanuel put it.
The preparations currently under way to deal with swine flu are not only unconstitutional, they are probably more dangerous than the virus itself. It is time for Americans to take personal responsibility for their health and their government and to say enough is enough.
National Guard drill at high school to prepare for possible H1N1 riot
PARIS — Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School will be the site of a National Guard riot control drill Thursday morning to prepare in the event of a panic over distribution of serum to treat the swine flu.
The school on Route 26 at the Paris-Norway town line has been designated by state officials as a distribution site for the H1N1 flu vaccine. The drill is to prepare for a worst-case scenario should the serum have to be transported from Augusta and people rush to get it.
On Thursday morning, four or five National Guard Humvees will travel from Augusta to Paris with vials of fake serum. The National Guardsmen will take on the roles of panicked citizens and military police and practice what they would do, such as using tear gas, in the case of a riot.
"This is just a component of moving the stuff from point A to B," said Oxford County Emergency Management Agency Director Scott Parker. The plan will be put into place only if needed, he said.
Plans were developed in April to have vials of serum sent from the federal government to Augusta, Parker said. From Augusta, the supplies will be transported to designated distribution centers.
During the April conference, concerns were raised about a possible out-of-control rush on the serum, Parker said. Because of that concern, Gov. John Baldacci and Gen. John Libby, adjutant general of the Maine National Guard, agreed that a plan should be devised to quell such a disturbance.
Local police chiefs have also been involved in the planning, Parker said. In a real event, local police would be in charge of security once the serum arrives in Paris. "We own it. We're in charge of providing security," he said.
As of Aug. 5, the Maine Center for Disease Control said there had been 323 confirmed cases of H1N1 in Maine, of which 176 are Maine residents and the rest out-of-staters diagnosed in Maine. A total of 19 people required hospitalization. Sixty percent of the victims were under the age of 25.
On Tuesday, health authorities reported Maine's first death from the H1N1 virus. Dr. Dora Anne Mills, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control, said a York County man in his 50s was hospitalized for three weeks and died last week of underlying conditions complicated by H1N1.
National Guard Takes Over School In Swine Flu “Vaccine Riot” Drill
Troops to play the role of panic stricken citizens pleading for inoculations
Steve Watson
Infowars.net
Thursday, August 13, 2009
A High School in Maine is to be taken over by the National Guard today for the purposes of a drill that will see Guardsmen deal with unruly citizens begging for swine flu vaccines.
Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School in Paris, ME, has been chosen as a distribution site for the H1N1 flu vaccine by state officials.
Today’s drill will enact a riot scenario after Gov. John Baldacci and Gen. John Libby, adjutant general of the Maine National Guard, agreed that measures should be in place to deal with a possible public rush for inoculations against swine flu.
“On Thursday morning, four or five National Guard Humvees will travel from Augusta to Paris with vials of fake serum.” reports the Maine Sun Journal.
“The National Guardsmen will take on the roles of panicked citizens and military police and practice what they would do, such as using tear gas, in the case of a riot.” The article continues.
Local police will also liaise with the National Guard on the school grounds. The school itself will remain open, according to the report.
Center for Disease Control figures state that there are 323 confirmed cases of H1N1 in Maine. One man has died from the disease, though he was said to have “underlying health conditions” that were worsened by the flu.
This story dovetails with reports from late July indicating that the U.S. military is gearing up to get involved in the H1N1 swine flu outbreak promised to strike in the Fall.
“The U.S. military wants to establish regional teams of military personnel to assist civilian authorities in the event of a significant outbreak of the H1N1 virus this fall, according to Defense Department officials,” a proposal that is currently on the desk of Defense Secretary Robert Gates, according to a CNN report.
The report indicates that the troops could be drawn from either active duty forces or the National Guard and Reserve forces, or both.
“As a first step, Gates is being asked to sign a so-called ‘execution order’ that would authorize the military to begin to conduct the detailed planning to execute the proposed plan.” the report states.
Gates’ overtures to usurp control of the Guard in a national emergency, and even to eventually merge the Guard and the Army Reserves into the “Total Force” of the U.S. military, under management of the DoD, has riled state authorities.
Last week The National Governors Association wrote to the Pentagon condemning the military’s open plans to effectively seize domestic control of National Guard and federal forces deployed in the event of a disaster or terrorist attack.
The NGA noted that the military’s agenda amounted to a dilution of governors’ constitutional responsibilities.
In addition to these ongoing proposals, the Pentagon has announced that at least 20,000 more active duty soldiers will be placed inside the United States under Northcom to “help state and local officials respond to a nuclear terrorist attack or other domestic catastrophe.”
According to Northcom itself, the move also encompasses “civil unrest and crowd control”.
The ACLU has warned that the deployment represents an expansion in presidential and military authority and a militarization of homeland security.
This trend hasn’t gone unnoticed on Capitol Hill either. Georgia Congressman Paul Broun warned attendees of a town hall event Tuesday that the Obama administration is planning to use a pandemic or a natural disaster to implement martial law in the United States, in the wake of increased political unrest and plunging approval ratings.
The use of the National Guard for law enforcement duties and confrontation of the American people is becoming increasingly commonplace throughout the US.
National Guard troops were used to control the public during the Boston Marathon, the Kentucky Derby, and during New Year celebrations in Times Square last year.
As we reported last week, the sheriff of Alabama’s most populous county has announced he will probably have to bring in National Guard troops to perform law enforcement duties due to budget cuts.
Such a move has been replicated in other parts of the country, including in Schenectady New York, where budgetary constraints were not even cited as a reason for the changeover.
Back in April of this year, The Maryland National Guard was put on alert under an anti-terrorism program in anticipation of nationwide Tea Party protests. A “Force Protection advisory” document stated that Guardsmen and Guard facilities might become “targets of opportunity.”
One month earlier in March, the United States Army Reserve Command published a Force Protection Advisory recommending “situational awareness” and “mitigation measures” in response to End the Fed protests.
Other National Guard outfits have recently undergone training to engage in combat with “militia” groups, and held door to door gun confiscation drills.
Meanwhile, the Army National Guard is advertising for qualified personnel to work as Corrections Officers and Internment/Resettlement Specialists.
The use of military assets in civilian law enforcement is still illegal under Posse Comitatus, unless a clear state of emergency exists.
No comments:
Post a Comment