In a disturbing comment on "OK, so who DID they slaughter?" poster "DOESITMATTER" suggested a scenario in which a drone pilot and helicopter gunship both mis-target apparent "militants" in Los Angeles, "cut[ting] to ribbons a group of Los Angeles commuters in one location and destroy[ing] a hospital at another site."
According to Mr. Obama, assassination of American citizens is now OK, so is "DOESITMATTER" really that far over-the-top?
I sure hope so. Because if not, it could get much much worse. Suppose "our" pols, following Mr. Schwarzenegger’s lead, recognize we can’t afford more prisons — or to super-size the law-and-order industry any more — and realize there’s a "mature," economic and well-rehearsed solution just waiting to be repatriated – – –
WASHINGTON: The CIA received secret permission to attack a wider range of targets, including suspected militants whose names are not known, as part of a dramatic expansion of its campaign of drone strikes in Pakistan’s border region, current and former counter-terrorism officials say.
The expanded authority, approved two years ago by the Bush administration and continued by Barack Obama, permits the agency to rely on what officials describe as "pattern-of-life" analysis… The information was used to target suspected militants, even when their full identities were not known, the officials said. Previously the CIA was restricted in most cases to killing only individuals whose names were on an approved list…
The rules had transformed the program… into a large-scale campaign of air strikes…
Instead of just a few dozen attacks a year, CIA-operated unmanned aircraft now carry out multiple missile strikes each week… [S]ome analysts said permitting the CIA to kill people whose names were unknown created a serious risk of killing innocent people. — CIA allowed to kill terrorist suspects without identification, DAVID CLOUD, http://www.smh.com.au, May 7, 2010
I know, I know. It couldn’t happen here.
After all, even though they have already begun to use drones here in the U.S., – – –
– – – they aren’t armed.
Yet.
"I know, I know. It couldn’t happen here." Too late. Remember when Gov. Ronny Reagan gassed students at UCBerkeley? National Guard shot students in Ohio? Patriot Act? Sen. Joe 'tailgunner' Lieberman? Military drones had the glam-bomber Shahzad bagged and tagged? Thank you Mr. Scahill by the by, excellent journalism. Yeah, it'll happen here and that's just a matter of time. Maybe not even months. Days?
I think an argument can be made that one of the reasons for our overseas wars is to harden both our soldiers and our populace for the ruthless putting down of any large scale 'civil unrest' in the US.
That is indeed one of the main reasons for these wars: to prepare "the troops" to serve as domestic dissent-suppressors here at home (U.S. Northern Command [NORTHCOM] was established for this very reason, Pentagon propaganda to the contrary notwithstanding). True, the PRIMARY reason for these wars is and always will be the economic aggrandizement of our Ruling Classes (in this case, oil, or the path through which oil will travel from the fields to transshipment points). But this secondary purpose dovetails nicely with the first.
The biggest question will be: For how long will the Powers That Be be able to harness and direct the domestic military repression against "the right" targets (i.e., those most unpopular with the majority, Muslims and "illegal aliens" being the current "poodles") before an awakening occurs and the heretofore brain-dead majority realizes "Hey, they've run out of domestic enemies! It looks like we might be next!"?
With growing dissatisfaction across the country the US government would view any criticism of the government as form of terrorism and militancy.The US aleardy target people for simply speaking up against the US policies.
"The Commercial Club of Chicago, concerned since 1877 with the need for a military garrison, was motivated by the Haymarket Riot in 1886 to arrange for the donation of 632 acres (2.6 km²) of land to the Federal Government for this purpose. Troops arrived in November 1887 to what was initially called Camp Highwood. A year later, Camp Highwood was renamed Fort Sheridan. Troops stationed at Fort Sheridan were used in 1894 to quell labor unrest during the Pullman Strike…."
[wikipedia]
Labor Department official earlier this week and obtained by McClatchy , reveals the Obama administration's growing concerns about potential health and safety problems posed by the oil spill and its inability to force BP to respond to them.
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