Martial Law in the US ? Not as far-fetched as you might think !

Foundations are in place for martial law in the US
www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/07/27/1027497418339.html

""From 1982-84 Colonel Oliver North assisted FEMA in drafting its civil defence preparations. Details of these plans emerged during the 1987 Iran-Contra scandal.

They included executive orders providing for suspension of the constitution, the imposition of martial law, internment camps, and the turning over of government to the president and FEMA.

A Miami Herald article on July 5, 1987, reported that the former FEMA director Louis Guiffrida's deputy, John Brinkerhoff, handled the martial law portion of the planning. The plan was said to be similar to one Mr Giuffrida had developed earlier to combat "a national uprising by black militants".""

Plans like this have been a part of the war party's agenda since the (Tom) Huston Plan discovered during the Watergate investigations of the '70s. The Army was using domestic operations then, too, remember ?

With the current war, exactly how much dissent and retribution do you think is tolerable ?

While the fires are still burning, they'll throw this out there while people are still scared and confused. When they come to their senses, the damage will already be done.

... if only in that the dissent is contained, and, for the most part, it doesn't have the same effect on the neo-cons as it did on Johnson or Nixon. The neo-cons simply ignore it and go on with what they desire. Their single-mindedness helps them in that. I doubt that Bush likes seeing protests, but he's well-shielded from them.

As for retribution, so far, I think it's been more subtle--no-fly lists, tax investigations, smears in the press, certainly more domestic investigation of some groups, etc.

I don't think we're going to see martial law unless protests get much larger and much uglier, and that likely won't happen as long as there's no general draft. Even the very selective, occupational specialty draft that's being proposed won't generate huge crowds. The reason for this, as many have suggested, is that the Bush White House controls the news, and the news outlets, to an even larger extent, control themselves.

If that situation were to change, and there were a wholesale shift in public opinion against Bush, legal threats to his presidency, then I wouldn't want to predict what the response would be from the Bushies.

don't think it would be a wise move under the present adminstration, there would be very little willing compliancy and much restance, leaving not much more than a paper lion in power for the world to see . No, we can only exsist as a great power in this world UNITED.

attack on our soil, * is planning Martial Law.

At this point, I'm sort of expecting it to happen due to some sort of domestic incident. Here's the big issue with USA/PATRIOT; the definition of "terrorist" is so open-ended that you, me, Michael Moore, Joe at the corner Walgreen's, anyone can be labled an enemy by the government. My view is this: Bushco wants the excuse and wants it bad. The same so-called "patriots" who were afraid Clinton would pull this in the 1990's have ingested so much Krazy Kool-Aid that they'll readily volunteer to assist in the round up. If anything, they'll soak the shots and allow Bushco to use better troops abroad. Three things to stock up on: long shelf life food, water, basic meds. Of course, a rifle or shotgun thrown in with plenty of ammunition would help, too.

that will be justification for the Republicans to send in the troops and "liberate" the state.

Only Pres. to do it was Lincoln, but it's the rat in the woodpile behind the Guantanamo internment. Take a look at Article I, section 9, subsection (2):

"The privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it."

Lincoln suspended habeas corpus (thus permitting martial law, including summary incarceration) in 1861. Chief Justice Roger Taney overruled it, but Lincoln ignored Taney's order.

It would be EASY. In the words of Dr. Strangelove (on a different subject, "All it requires is the will to do so."