Does Jade Helm Violate Posse Comitatus? (at Russ Baker's WhoWhatWhy)

Joined
Apr 11, 2010
Messages
2,958
http://whowhatwhy.org/2015/06/01/does-jade-helm-violate-posse-comitatus/

Does Jade Helm Violate Posse Comitatus?



Armor related to Operation Jade Helm across Texas.

Obscured by Jon Stewart’s well-publicized mockery of Texans’ reaction to Jade Helm 15—the US Army’s two-month-long exercise across nine states scheduled to begin in July—is the fact that the criticisms may not all be deranged droolings.

The Daily Show‘s Stewart made headlines earlier in May when he ridiculed Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s decision ordering the State Guard to “monitor” Jade Helm. The comedian-cum-newsman called Jade Helm critics “Lone Star lunatics.” But are they? Or is there more to the story? As always, WhoWhatWhy has remained agnostic while asking questions. Now, we provide a few initial answers. More will undoubtedly come.

***

Jade Helm will be conducted in the states of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, Mississippi, Florida and Louisiana. One other state, Colorado, has dropped off the list, as have at least two counties in Texas, in response to the controversy.

Criticisms of the exercise range from panicked, extreme scenarios, such as imminent martial law and mass arrests, to more nuanced concerns—for example, that military exercises on this scale could desensitize civilian populations to martial law tactics and governance.

The massive exercise, led by the US Army’s Special Operations Command (USASOC) under Lt. General Charles T. Cleveland, will include unconventional warfare units from all service branches, including US Army Special Forces, US Navy SEALS, US Air Force Special Operations, and USMC Marine Special Operations Command.

According to Jade Helm’s official PowerPoint presentation, other participating units are USMC Marine Expeditionary Units, the Army’s 82nd Airborne, and last but not necessarily least, civilian “Interagency Partners.” The latter refers to a range of domestic law enforcement agencies including the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, and Department of Homeland Security.

One contingent, Special Operations, is of particular interest. Special operations units are highly trained elites that specialize, among other things, in assassinations and “extractions” of human targets. In a 2013 article titled “5 Takeaways from the US Special Ops Raids in Somalia and Libya,” published by the Washington DC-based defense trade journal DefenseOne.com, an analyst heaped praise upon “small, multi-agency task forces led by Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) that target individual terrorist and insurgent leaders for death or capture.”

“Infiltrating” Towns and Cities

Jade Helm presenters have stated that troops will “infiltrate” towns and cities, and rove among the civilian population, both in uniform and in civilian clothes. Roy Boyd, chief deputy of the Victoria County Sheriff’s Office, told the Houston Chronicle: “They’re going to set up cells of people and test how well they’re able to move around without getting too noticed in the community… They’re testing their abilities basically [to] blend in with the local environment and not stand out and blow their cover.”

Elaborating further, Thomas Mead, a contractor hired by USASOC, said in a presentation to the Big Spring, Texas, City Council in March that special forces “operators,” as Special Ops soldiers are called, will enlist local roleplayers as informants. Mead told the City Council that operators will be looking for “someone who gives a little nugget of information for them to build an intelligence picture.” KEEP READING AT.. http://whowhatwhy.org/2015/06/01/does-jade-helm-violate-posse-comitatus/
 
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) overrides the Posse Comitatus Act.
 
No it doesn't. The only way you "override" an act is to repeal it. "F" for you in junior high civics.

Really? Does this government follow the guidelines of the Constitution? They basically do whatever they damn well please. "F" for you for NOT paying attention.

The ACLU concerns are worth noting:

The breadth of the NDAA’s worldwide detention authority violates the Constitution and international law because it is not limited to people captured in an actual armed conflict, as required by the laws of war. Under the Bush administration, similar claims of worldwide detention authority were used to hold even a U.S. citizen captured on U.S. soil in military custody, and many in Congress assert that the NDAA should be used in the same way. The ACLU does not believe that the NDAA authorizes military detention of American citizens or anyone else in the United States. Any president’s claim of domestic military detention authority under the NDAA would be unconstitutional and illegal. Nevertheless, there is substantial public debate around whether the NDAA could be read even to repeal the Posse Comitatus Act and authorize indefinite military detention without charge or trial within the United States.
 
Who are we going to war with that we need such a large territory to simulate ? Not Iran I guess.
 
It would be nifty to test sousveillance techniques. Collecting faces, publishing a database, watching the watchers, plus a site for reporting suspicious activity. It is a high profile wargame so they probably won't kill anyone, but it could present a very good opportunity to help train the population in being prepared. Never let a good crisis go to waste!
 
+rep.

I'd add the Spooner quote but I don't have time to look it up.


"If any man's money can be taken by a so-called government, without his own personal consent, all his other rights are taken with it; for with his money the government can, and will, hire soldiers to stand over him, compel him to submit to its arbitrary will, and kill him if he resists."

~ Lysander Spooner
 
It would be nifty to test sousveillance techniques. Collecting faces, publishing a database, watching the watchers, plus a site for reporting suspicious activity. It is a high profile wargame so they probably won't kill anyone, but it could present a very good opportunity to help train the population in being prepared. Never let a good crisis go to waste!

Actually quite a few facebooks and twitters have sprung up doing exactly that, with thousanfs of members, reporting movements and keeping a sharp eye on this. Of course most of them are from the area, since that's where you can see it, but I'm sure they appreciate support and facebook likes. Join them!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/jadehelmintel/

https://www.facebook.com/operationjadehelm

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jade-Helm-15-Information/955577097806115

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Operation-Jade-Helm-And-Beyond/872760622790910

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Operation-JADE-HELM-backup-page/1588771081362941

https://www.facebook.com/JADEhelm015
 
Back
Top