Must read! The Pentagon is muscling in everywhere. "We no longer have a civilian-led government."

[DeepModem Mom]

(edited for copyright purposes-proud patriot Moderator Democratic Underground)

The Pentagon is muscling in everywhere. It's time to stop the mission creep.
By Thomas A. Schweich
Sunday, December 21, 2008; Page B01

We no longer have a civilian-led government. It is hard for a lifelong Republican and son of a retired Air Force colonel to say this, but the most unnerving legacy of the Bush administration is the encroachment of the Department of Defense into a striking number of aspects of civilian government. Our Constitution is at risk.

President-elect Barack Obama's selections of James L. Jones, a retired four-star Marine general, to be his national security adviser and, it appears, retired Navy Adm. Dennis C. Blair to be his director of national intelligence present the incoming administration with an important opportunity -- and a major risk. These appointments could pave the way for these respected military officers to reverse the current trend of Pentagon encroachment upon civilian government functions, or they could complete the silent military coup d'etat that has been steadily gaining ground below the radar screen of most Americans and the media.

While serving the State Department in several senior capacities over the past four years, I witnessed firsthand the quiet, de facto military takeover of much of the U.S. government. The first assault on civilian government occurred in faraway places -- Iraq and Afghanistan -- and was, in theory, justified by the exigencies of war....

***

(O)ur military forces, in a bureaucratic sense, soon marched on Washington itself.

As military officers sought to take over the role played by civilian development experts abroad, Pentagon bureaucrats quietly populated the National Security Council and the State Department with their own personnel (some civilians, some consultants, some retired officers, some officers on "detail" from the Pentagon) to ensure that the Defense Department could keep an eye on its rival agencies. Vice President Cheney, himself a former secretary of defense, and his good friend Rumsfeld ensured the success of this seeding effort by some fairly forceful means. At least twice, I saw Cheney staffers show up unannounced at State Department meetings, and I heard other State Department officials grumble about this habit. The Rumsfeld officials could play hardball, sometimes even leaking to the press the results of classified meetings that did not go their way in order to get the decisions reversed. After I got wind of the Pentagon's dislike for the approved interagency anti-drug strategy for Afghanistan, details of the plan quickly wound up in the hands of foreign countries sympathetic to the Pentagon view. I've heard other, similarly troubling stories about leaks of classified information to the press....

(snip)

( Thomas A. Schweich served the Bush administration as ambassador for counter-narcotics in Afghanistan and deputy assistant secretary of state for international law enforcement affairs.)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/19/AR2008121902748.html?nav%3Dmost_emailed&sub=AR

[williesgirl]

1. Wow - this guy should stay off small planes for a long, long time. rec'd

[pinqy]

2. Well, he lost a lot of credibility with...

..."Now the Pentagon has drawn up plans to deploy 20,000 U.S. soldiers inside our borders by 2011, ostensibly to help state and local officials respond to terrorist attacks or other catastrophes. But that mission could easily spill over from emergency counterterrorism work into border-patrol efforts, intelligence gathering and law enforcement operations -- which would run smack into the Posse Comitatus Act, the long-standing law restricting the military's role in domestic law enforcement."

What he's talking about is the re-assignment of 1st Brigade Combat Team of 3rd Infantry Division to NorthCom control. There's no "deployment," they're simply returning from their rotation in Iraq. Federal troops have always been available for response to emergencies, terrorist attacks, etc, and all this administrative move does is establish one brigade under NorthCom, to be more easily used than a "pick whoever is avialable" strategy. "deploy 20,000 U.S. soldiers inside our borders" sounds like we don't already have U.S. soldiers stationed CONUS. I'm pretty sure the 20,000 is an exaggeration, as well...that would be a full division, not the single Brigade Combat Team of reality.

And if the Pentagon has had such power, then how did Rumsfeld et al get their attack plan for Iraq approved rather than what the Army staff actually wanted?

[prostock69]

14. Actually, there was already a story regarding the 20,000 U.S. soldiers

posed on DU a while back...http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3626276

It sounds real to me.

[pinqy]

27. you're right

I didn't notice that the BCT is just the first unit assigned, and the rest of the Division will be reassigned later.

But note that these soldiers would have been assigned to the US anyway, along with the other 7 Divisions stationed CONUS (after 1ID withdraws from Germany)

[bertman]

15. Pinqy, in the past a designated brigade was not SPECIFICALLY deployed for domestic

emergencies. There have been active-duty brigades used for emergency relief, I'm sure, but I couldn't tell you where and when.

The distinction here is that this brigade has been given a primary mission of domestic activity.

[pinqy]

29. I know, and I said so

But what's the practical difference? And the word "deployed" is misleading as it implies ongoing active operations. Do you consider the Army units in Germany and Italy as "deployed?"

As far as day to day operations, there will be no practical difference between 3 ID and the other 7 divisions stationed CONUS. It's a pure administrative matter to make use of active duty military easier in case of emergency. Any of the 8 stateside divisions could be used for domestic purposes, and the fact that one will be dedicated to that doesn't change anything except ease of activation. It's not like there will suddenly be armed patrols or anything, any more than there has been in Germany or Italy since the occupation ended.

Or do you consider the units assigned to EUCOM "deployed" for operations against Europe?

[antimatter98]

17. Marines working with Calif. Police

http://blogofbile.com/2008/12/18/usmc-military-police-help-with-california-dui-checkpoint/

[pinqy]

26. As observers

Marine Lt. Thomas Beck tells News Channel 3 the Military Police were not arresting people. They were just watching the checkpoint to see how they should do it on base.

"We were not actively participating in enforcing any laws. We were there to observe and observe only, " said Lt. Beck.

The California Highway Patrol says they invited the Marines to tag along.

"We had the DUI checkpoint and invited the Marine Corps in a show of good relations between our two departments," said CHP Officer Rob McLoud.

http://www.kesq.com/Global/story.asp?S=9534627&nav=9qrx

The CHP inviting the USMC MPs to observe is hardly military takeover.

[rateyes]

3. My bet is that the military will be with the people, and not the government

come the next revolution---which, IMO, could happen very soon.

[Pacifist Patriot]

4. I'm going to have to hold off quaking in my shoes at the appointments of two retired military.

Probably personal bias though. The retired military with whom I am acquainted, and yes I am talking about high-ranking officers, are about as anti military-led government as you can get.

We probably have as much to fear from civilian hawks as we do men and women who actually have military experience and understand the consequences.

[DeepModem Mom]

5. I think his view is they could go either way. My guess (hope?) is that they go the right way...

as outlined.

And civilian hawks? We have had our fill of those guys!

[truedelphi]

13. I cautiously will join you on this one. n/t

[bertman]

16. Is it civilian government if many of the officials are RETIRED military? Being active duty

military doesn't really matter so much if your entire life has been spent as a military officer/NCO and that's your whole outlook on life.

I agree that there are many competent, honorable individuals in public service who do great work and only carry their background along as part of their learning experience. What bothers me is that military mindset is almost always conservative.

On the other hand, so many civilian males that I know are military wannabees that it's pathetic. They worship the military and think their stink don't shyte, if you know what I mean. That's often scarier than guys who have been in combat and know that it should always be the last option after all else fails.

[ProfessorGAC]

25. I Know Two Of Them. I Agree With You

Both colonels. (USAF and Army)

They would join the people in a revolt against the gov't before they took action against our own people.

My experience is the same as yours.
GAC

[bigtree]

6. he's surrounded himself with them

. . . hope he comes to his senses and cleans the floor from underneath them

[KoKo]

7. kick....

[snot]

8. K&R'd

[malaise]

9. One question: Why did he take so long to speak?

Why the silence until Bush is a lame fugg?

[starroute]

10. A lot of this is about evading scrutiny

After Watergate, the CIA was placed on a pretty short leash and subjected to Congressional oversight. The military intelligence and special ops forces don't have the same limitations and therefore offer many advantages to those like Rumsfeld who enjoy playing secret games.

Add to this the enormous boondoggle that is the military-industrial complex -- where billions of dollars are routinely skimmed off for personal enrichment, influence-peddling, or simply off-the-books operations -- coupled with the outsourcing of even many civilian government operations to these same defense contractors, and you have the recipe for a kind of shadow government that is already fully in action.

The fact that this same shadow government is now muscling its way back in and taking over the regular government should come as no surprise to anyone. It's where all the power and money are, after all, and questions about turf wars between DoD and DoS are the least of it.

If there's one thing I know about the next four or eight years, it's that this will be Barack Obama's biggest battle. To get control of this country's fate back into the hands of civilian government, he is going to reclaim that vast part of our national wealth and national policy that is currently being poured mindlessly into military budgets and military initiatives -- and he is going to have to fight everyone who would stop him.

I don't know if that's even possible -- usually countries have to lose major wars to get the covert power of their military cut back down to size. Obama might just sign off on the problem, thinking it's the only way to get his domestic agenda enacted, or he might take it on and be destroyed by it. But either way, it's going to be the greatest struggle of his presidency.

[tom_paine]

12. That was very well said and true. I agree, even the economy, though more immediately damaging,

takes second seat to this, in my opinion.

Also, to put at least one of the Bush Inner Circle in Jail for their many easily prosecutable felonies...just one of the many Bushie Inner Courtiers' and one of the many dozens of felonies they have openly performed.

I want to believe otherwise, starroute, but my deepening suspicion is that Obama, remembering kennedy, Kennedy, King, Kennedy Jr, Wellstone, baxter and now Connell, may well do much for our antion, but he will do little to nothing on these things.

I hope I am wrong, and if anyone can defy the expectations and show us it was really HIM thinking smarter and longer-term than we, ten Obama is the one.

Hope. But you are right about what is most important...restoring our Constitution and our System of Checks and Balances.

[Laelth]

11. k&r for further exposure.

This is quite significant.

The United States is a LIBERAL Country.

:dem:

-Laelth

[seemslikeadream]

18. No shit Sherlock

Mr. Schweich have you been reading DU?

[BeFree]

20. Indeed

But lets hope he hasn't been for the last week.

DU has been on this aspect of the military since day one. Good work, people.

[seemslikeadream]

21. example

Oooopsie! That’s not a photo of Michael Hayden. That’s Heinrich Himmler….Hitler’s boy! Believe me….it’s an easy mistake to make.

[bertman]

19. Recommend. A must-read.

Starroute, you have nailed it. I believe we are wayyyy too far gone for any civilian leader to be able to deal this malignant organism a death blow.

If it were to happen it would have to be imposed by the military on the military. That's where the money and the arms are. What are the odds of that happening?

[stillcool]

22. I'm not sure that the Pentagon isn't

the seat of power. It certainly has the power of the purse. All kinds of national needs go unattended to, but the Pentagon has taken a bigger slice of the pie for so long, it seems like it pretty much has most of the pie. Can you imagine how many people the Pentagon employs? Just the maintenance of what some people estimate as 1,000 bases on foreign land must require quite a few people, whether Americans or private security personnel. I don't know how it is that a President' reigns in the power behind the empire, when it has grown so out of control.

http://www.globalpolicy.org/empire/intervention/2007/03outpost.htm

[Stand and Fight]

23. Kicking and recommending to read tomorrow. n/t

[Vattel]

24. The biggest test for Obama

is whether he will reduce the executive to its constitutional powers. Bush gave us absolute monarchy. I hope Obama gives us a relatively weak executive branch, but power is rarely surrendered. Ultimately Congress, backed by the people, may have to take power away from the executive.

Biden was all about "Only Congress has the power to decide whether to make war" before the election. But I haven't heard anything from him on that since he joined the ticket.

[prostock69]

30. I have to believe that Obama is going to reverse all that the Bush

Administration has done during the past 8 years to get us to this point--where he has gutted the Constitution with the Patriot Act has tried to do away with Posse Comatitis. Obama said he would restore the rule of law. What that exactly means, I don't know. I do know that the Patriot Act needs to be repealed and he needs to rescind all the power that Bush has gained for the Executive Branch.

What is scary to me is this guy writes like Pres. Bush isn't the one who is trying to overtake our country; that there is another force within the pentagon who is trying to rise up and overthrow the rule of law. Am I reading this wrong?

[lonestarnot]

28. K & R!

[intheflow]

31. Dang it! Too late to rec this, but I can sure kick it.

It's nice to see even Republicans are beginning to catch on to the increased militarization of the government, though it's pathetic it took this guy 8 years to see it, and one has to wonder if he would have spoken out if there was another Republican administration coming in. But still.

K&R if I could.

[L0oniX]

32. I am not surprised at all. Why do you all think I hate the military? DOH

The military is not for defense anymore. That's what it's called as in "defense spending" but the 700 billion a year is for offense. Those asscarrots failed to protect/defend us against 911 and they still want more money so they can keep killing people in other countries which helps to make even more terrorists, therefore insuring their job security. They want war. They are not designed to be peace keepers. They are designed to kill and break shit. They will never know the way of peace and they will take over this country. I expect massive Kent State like occupation of this country soon. They will kill us too because that is what they do. It doesn't matter if they are not on the front lines because all military personnel are complicit in murder and so are we because we support them with our taxes which are forced from us unless you want to become jobless and homeless and that may be the destiny for many Americans in the very near future.

:evilfrown: