Up to 13,500 military personnel will help to provide security at the London 2012 Olympic Games, the Ministry of Defence has announced.I find it a concern that the military will be used as security against the British public. It appears they will be heavily armed too.
Security would be police-led but the military would make a "significant contribution", the MoD said.
The defence secretary also said the military would be using its full range of capabilities and equipment to "keep London safe during the Olympics".Is there no equivilant of Posse Comitatus in England? Not that it's looking like it will be around for much longer in America though.
He added: "Military hardware will be used, we'll be deploying helicopters, we'll be deploying Typhoon fighters to defend London's airspace, we'll be deploying ground-to-air missile systems."
“Someone who has guns, someone who has ammunition that is weatherproofed, someone who has 7 days of food in their house” could be treated as a potential terrorist and be subject to indefinite military detention, warned freshman Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) in a detailed and impassioned speech to the Senate opposing S.1867, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Section 1031 of that measure allows the indefinite military detention of any individual – including a U.S. citizen – who is designated a suspected terrorist or “unlawful combatant.” As Senator Paul pointed out, existing laws and official policy guidelines are replete with open-ended definitions under which law-abiding U.S. citizens could be regarded as actual or potential terrorists. (link)
Many people are preparing for a harsh future. We're seeing fiancial meltdowns, civil unrest and a general mistrust in / apathy towards the ruling classes.
They in turn are making thier own preparations for the day when the people tell them they are no longer wanted.
Military control of the population won't be accepted without question through legislation like the Civil Contingencies act or the National Defence Authorisation act. It has to be seen as normal and non theatening. It has to be introduced slowly, say by having the miltary run security at an extremely high profile event.
They will only be there to protect against terrorist threats of course. I'm sure British soldiers won't be checking attendees for beer, fags and products that aren't sold by official sponsors will they?
"They'll be working with civilians in mixed teams, searching and checking people going into the stadiums, making sure - airline style - that nothing that shouldn't get in there gets in."When the trouble comes, the Governments of the West will have everything in place to easily declare martial law and control the population through the military.
The only question that remains is, will the army side with the six hundred or with the six million?
14 Comments:
Let's not underestimate our military strategists though, sacrificing a few men to draw the enemy out is an age old tactic and with the troops already here is an open invitation to the bad guys to move the conflict to this country. It is almost as though they want this to happen. Regardless of the rights and wrongs of troops on the streets (I think it is an idiotic idea and will increase the security risks) my advice to the military is to volunteer for another tour of Helmand next summer. It will be safer.
At least that's how they would try to sell it to us
Johnnyrvf - I envy you. It's pretty naff watching events unfold as predicted, when only a few years ago people thought you were crazy for predicting them.
Truth is more people die from bee stings or peanut allergies than terrorists.
And let's be perfectly honest here it is western foreign policy that causes terrorism and nothing else.
If my country was occupied by foreign troops I'd resist and depending on which perspective the media viewed my actions I would either be a terrorist or a freedom fighter.
This is purely to get us used to seeing troops on the streets.
My thoughts exactly. Under the guise of a benign security operation to keep us 'safe'.
Couple the troop activity with modern legislation and current issues though, it's easy to have a conspiracy theory. One that could well be true as not.
Or one that might not be true now but has the potential to be fairly soon.
??
"Can the British military be used against the British people?
They already have been for decades in Northern Ireland.
According to folks I knew at university, they were just practising ...
DP
So, the army on the streets and airforce in jets above and, er, a small dinghy on the Thames from our much reduced navy is all there as show. Part of the variety theatre sustained at great expense by the IOC and gullible nations. And, to be honest, it's quite nice to see military hardware 'out there' because, in case anyone is being too modern-moral and libertarian about this, we do have enemies in our midst.
Oh, I don't doubt that the nutjobs who follow the RoP (and let us be brutally honest, they won't be from any other religion) will be dissuaded from their acts of lunacy by a tank of a street corner, but it helps us to know we do have something they haven't got.
Correction, we have civilisation too, but we all know that.
I doubt if the army and the fighters zooming overhead would do much to stop another summer of looting for example, though some feel that a healthy volley over their heads might have cleared some of the crowds of robbing scum faster.
As for the army practicing... of course they do. And so would you if you were in charge of them. The greatest sin in military terms is to be unprepared, so why not have some practice whenever you can?
In the military you have to think the unthinkable and practice it all. Troops in swamps in Borneo? Infantry in the mountains of Norway? It's all about practicing just in case...
And now, the final question: do a few thousand squaddies in camo gear and carrying rifles inhibit our lives? I suppose if they stopped me going to Tesco, watching footy or listening to my favourite music then perhaps I would reconsider, but as I am not going anywhere near London in the Olympic fortnight then they probably don't.
Carry on!
PS On Posse Comitatus, there was story recently in the States of nuclear components going missing from a military base, and it was the armed forces and not the cops who swooped on a store (I think) someplace in the US, which shows the military would get involved if they thought there was a clear need.
I meant "Oh, I don't believe that the nutjobs who follow the RoP (and let us be brutally honest, they won't be from any other religion) will be dissuaded from their acts of lunacy by a tank of a street corner"
My error
You are right that we do have enemies in our midst but as OBO 110X points out, that is largely the result of our foreign policy.
Also, the threat is very much hyped up by the powers that be to keep us scared. We never had the current level of security or anywhere close during the IRA threats, and Thatchers policy towards terrorists was to not give them publicity. Now we do the opposite and hype up even the tiniest of threats.
I beleive there is more to having soldiers policing this event than a real threat. I think it is part of normalising armed troops on domestic duties.
I try to be as Libertarian as possible about these things because I beleive and loss of liberty, even if it doesn't affect me, is a loss of liberty for all.
As to the American situation you describe, I think over there, and possibly here too, the military does have juristiction on their installations and in purely military matters. If nuclear materials go missing from a base they are unlikely to involve the police but will have authority to deal with it themselves. Posse Comitatus refers to the military policing civillian matters as I understand it.
Besides, wasn't it the military police that chased the A-Team all over America? :-)
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