12/19/08

Posse Comitatus

20 Stat. L., 145
June 18, 1878

CHAP. 263 - An act making appropriations for the support of the Army for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-nine, and for other purposes.

SEC. 15. From and after the passage of this act it shall not be lawful to employ any part of the Army of the United States, as a posse comitatus, or otherwise, for the purpose of executing the laws, except in such cases and under such circumstances as such employment of said force may be expressly authorized by the Constitution or by act of Congress; and no money appropriated by this act shall be used to pay any of the expenses incurred in the employment of any troops in violation of this section And any person willfully violating the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction thereof shall be punished by fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars or imprisonment not exceeding two years or by both such fine and imprisonment.

10 U.S.C. (United States Code) 375

Sec. 375. Restriction on direct participation by military personnel: The Secretary of Defense shall prescribe such regulations as may be necessary to ensure that any activity (including the provision of any equipment or facility or the assignment or detail of any personnel) under this chapter does not include or permit direct participation by a member of the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps in a search, seizure, arrest, or other similar activity unless participation in such activity by such member is otherwise authorized by law.

18 U.S.C. 1385

Sec. 1385. Use of Army and Air Force as posse comitatus Whoever, except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act ofCongress, willfully uses any part of the Army or the Air Force as a posse comitatus or otherwise toexecute the laws shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.
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The concept of maintaining continuity of government during and after an emergency is not a new idea.

During the Cold War, Congress established elaborate and rather luxurious survival facilities in the mountains of West Virginia. Presumably, while the American "common folk" would be incinerated, the privileged could survive and guarantee the continuity of government and civilization based on their own criteria for human survival.

It was on this premise that in 1964, the great film Director Stanley Kubrick created the classic "Dr. Strangelove."

According to the Washington Post (March 2002), the operation was re-activated after the 11 September attacks. It is reported to involve officials drawn from all departments, depending on the perceived level of threat (or in the case of Dr. Strangelove... position in government, superior genetics and potential virility for human regeneration). Those taking part, live and work underground for long spells at secret fortified locations on the East Coast. The core group of federal managers would be drawn from the same bureaucratic minions whose self pre-occupation, negligence and apathy caused the deaths of thousands in the World Trade Center.

The plan for a shadow government has been implemented now because of heightened fears that Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network might obtain portable nuclear weapons. An unnamed senior official told the Associated Press news agency that while US intelligence had no specific knowledge of such weapons, the risk was great enough to warrant activation of the plan. Dick Cheney's survival may provide legitimacy for constitutional succession, but he can't run the country by himself. He went on to say that President George W. Bush did not foresee ever needing to turn over government functions to the secret operation, but believed it was prudent to put the plan into action in the light of the war against terrorism and persistent threats of future attacks. Other officials, who spoke to the Washington Post newspaper, said the back-up government consisted of anything from 70 to 150 people at two principal locations on the East Coast. They are suspected to be living and working in heavily fortified mountain bunkers, carved out under Pennsylvania's Raven Rock Mountain and Weather Mountain in Virginia during the Cold War in the 1950s.

These underground cities are home to government officials who rotate through on three-month stints. Their identities and even their titles are kept secret. As with all budding bureaucracies, it is not unreasonable to assume that this number will increase, as will the funding and lavishness of accommodations.Once activated for what some call "bunker duty", they live and work underground 24 hours a day, away from their families. No formal mention was made relative to having families join them as accommodations grow larger.Those deployed for the operation are not allowed to tell anyone where they are going or why. "They're on a 'business trip', that's all," one official was quoted as saying. Although it does not identify the exact location of these sites, the Washington Post says they make use of geological features to render them highly secure.

They are well stocked with food, water, medicine and other supplies and are capable of generating their own power. There are video links, computers and other connections to the unprotected and totally vulnerable civilian populace.The newspaper said that only the executive branch is represented in the full-time shadow administration. Other branches - such as Congress and the judiciary - have separate continuity plans.

The Bush administration is following a script that was maintained during every administration, up through the Clinton years. But at the Pentagon, at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and at the new Office of Homeland Security (Now being elevated to a 170,000 strong super Agency), officials have been busy updating those plans, particularly the way they relate to using the military as a kind of domestic national police for "continuity of government."

For those unaware of fed-speak, this means the protecting of elected officials and bureaucrats from the rest of us, who are viewed as the potential enemy.

Many people feel that the Posse Comitatus act of 1878, might protect them from a police state combining the military and civil law enforcement, with heavy managerial input by the US Department of Justice. But laws are already on the books authorizing martial law, including Section 32CFR 501.4** of the Code of Federal Regulations. These are the rules written by unelected bureaucrats that govern our lives

In broad based terms, the CFR simply states: "Martial law depends for its justification upon public necessity." **(If you have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed you can view 32 CFR 501.4 in PDF format by double clicking this hyperlink with your left mouse button. You can download by right clicking and then left clicking.)

And let us not forget that vast emergency federal powers by decree dates at least to John Kennedy, who issued a raft of such orders during the Cold War. You can read recent Executive Orders and look up the topics of all modern Executive Orders by going to http://www.archives.gov/search/index.html National Archives and Records. They are difficult to pull up and include Executive Orders 12919, 12656, 13228 and the ominous Executive Order 11490. In force today (or replaced by something worse), they reveal how easily our individual liberties and constitutional government can be set aside. For downloads of documents, Right Click on the above Executive Order hyperlinks and Left Click to view or download.

With constitutional government "temporarily" placed in the garbage heap, the American people would be subject to direct control by unelected bureaucrats scrambling to shore up a jack boot heel on the dreams of our Founding Fathers.

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