Vol. 72/No. 42      October 27, 2008

The brigade consists of 4,700 troops based at Fort Stewart, Georgia. It is the first army unit to be assigned to the U.S. Northern Command, or NorthCom.

A military combat command within U.S. borders was first established by the William Clinton administration. In 2002 NorthCom was formally set up to deal with civil disorder within the United States, the first time the military has been charged with doing so—rather than just the police—since the aftermath of the Civil War.

The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 prohibits use of the military to enforce domestic law. Posse Comitatus can, and has, been superseded by the Insurrection Act, which allows a president to use troops in a domestic disturbance. President George H. Bush invoked this law in 1992 to send U.S. troops to Los Angeles to put down an anti-police rebellion in the aftermath of the acquittal of the four cops who beat Rodney King.

An article in the September 8 Army Times said the brigade “may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control.” A NorthCom spokesman, army Col. Michael Boatner, denied this was the case, claiming, “This response force will not be called upon to help with law enforcement, civil disturbance, or crowd control,” but rather in the event of natural disasters or “weapons of mass destruction attacks.”

Col. Roger Cloutier, the brigade’s commander, said it will also train in the use of a package of “non-lethal” weapons, some of which the troops used in Iraq. These include mobile roadblock equipment; spike strips to slow, stop, or control traffic; beanbag bullets; and Tasers. “I was the first guy in the brigade to get Tasered,” said Cloutier, describing it as “your worst muscle cramp ever.” Tasers have increasingly been used by police to incapacitate or kill workers.

The brigade carried out its first military exercise, “Vibrant Response,” in mid-September. As part of presenting its role to the public as disaster relief work, NorthCom sent troops to the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of hurricanes Gustav and Ike.

Capitalist parties in Germany are now discussing a similar move with their military. German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union has won the agreement of its coalition partner, the Social Democratic Party, to change the constitution to permit the deployment of the military on domestic soil. The constitution currently provides for use of the army if the country is at war or in cases of emergencies or natural disasters.

Merkel’s cabinet also voted October 7 to send another 1,000 soldiers to Afghanistan and to extend their tour of duty to 14 months. With 3,500 troops currently on the ground in Afghanistan, Germany has the third largest imperialist force there, after the United States and the United Kingdom.
 
 
Related articles:
U.S. gov’t seeks more allies inside Afghanistan  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home