Military positioned to launch action

Military positioned to launch action – here
Columnist's exposé reveals planning for 'domestic emergencies'

The United States military is being positioned to be put into action under presidential authority in any one of a dozen scenarios within the United States – including natural disasters, epidemics, terrorist attacks, insurrections, or domestic violence including conspiracies, according to a report from WND columnist Jerome R. Corsi.

He has concluded that under the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, the military of the United States and Canada are turning NORTHCOMM into a domestic military command structure, with authority extending to Mexico, even though Mexico has not formally joined with the current United States-Canadian NORTHCOM command structure.

"President Bush appears to have positioned the U.S. military and the National Guard acting under presidential authority to intervene in a wide range of domestic incidents that could occur anywhere in North America," he wrote.

He cited a number of developments, including the 2002 order establishing NORTHCOM as response for "homeland defense" of the U.S., Canada, Mexico and parts of the Caribbean and some Atlantic and Pacific waters.

That organization already controls the North American Aerospace Defense Command, a joint U.S.-Canadian effort, he said.

Secondly, section 1076 of the John Warner Defense Appropriation Act for Fiscal Year 2007 grants the president the right to commandeer federal troops or state National Guard to use them domestically, he noted.

And as WND has reported, the new National Security (NSPD-51) and Homeland Security (HSPD-20) Presidential Directives signed May 6 give the president unprecedented, almost dictatorial, powers should the president declare a national emergency.

The columnist noted such a combination of provisions would allow President Bush to mobilize for a variety of events – such as a hurricane.

He said under USNORTHCOM, the U.S. command center, a number of exercises and operations already have been carried out, including ARDENT SENTRY – NORTHERN EDGE, VIGILANT GUARD, ALASKA SHIELD and others.

An exercise that finished just a few weeks ago included the Canada Command as a full partner and was the largest exercise to date in terms of the number of personnel, the length of the drill, the cost and the complexity of the exercise series. The exercise took place in New England, Alaska, as well as Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana, with cross-border deployments staged in the Indiana part of the exercise, he wrote.

Gen. Victor E. Renuart, commander of NORAD and USNORTHCOM, recently told the media the exercise "allowed us to validate the incredible amount of planning that has gone on since Hurricane Katrina, not only to respond to things like a hurricane, but also to ensure that the agencies responsible for homeland security and homeland defense really can work together under a series of demanding scenarios."

WND also has reported that KBR, formerly a Halliburton subsidiary, has in place a $385 million Department of Homeland Security contract to build on a contingency basis detention facilities that could be utilized for domestic emergencies, including sudden mass immigration across our southern border.