The persistent denials of our rulers notwithstanding, it’s becoming increasingly clear that they are preparing for an all-out military occupation of the Rodina (we might as well start using the Soviet term, rather than “homeland”), as this item from the Daily Herald of Carroll, Iowa illustrates:
“The Carroll National Guard unit will train on urban military operations by holding a four-day exercise at Arcadia. The purpose of the April 2-5 drill will be to gather intelligence, then search for and apprehend a suspected weapons dealer, according to Sgt. Mike Kots, readiness NCO for Alpha Company.
Citizens, law enforcement, media and other supporters will participate.”
I interject at this point to italicize a couple of key points: First, this is a search for a “weapons dealer,” not someone designated a “warlord,” “terrorist,” or as some other typically foreign enemy. Second, it’s interesting that the “media” is listed among “supporters” of this martial law training exercise; this was almost certainly a moment of unintended candor.
To continue:
“Troops will spend Thursday, April 2, staging at a forward operations base at Carroll. The next day company leaders will conduct reconnaissance and begin patrolling the streets of Arcadia to identify possible locations of the weapons dealer.
The primary phase will be done Saturday, April 4, when convoys will be deployed from Carroll to Arcadia. Pictures of the arms dealer will be shown in Arcadia, and soldiers will go door to door asking if residents have seen the suspect.” (Emphasis added.)
It’s not difficult to imagine how the skills employed in this exercise (which, for training purposes, would only involve cooperating homeowners) would come in handy next time an emergency, either natural or man-made, provides a pretext for post-Katrina-style firearms confiscation.
To continue once more:
“`Once credible intelligence has been gathered,'” said Kots, “`portions of the town will be road-blocked and more in-depth searches of homes and vehicles will be conducted in accordance with the residents’ wishes.”
What’s really grotesque here is the way soldiers are being trained to use civilians as “human shields” when carrying out firearms confiscation:
`One of the techniques we use in today’s political environment is cordon and knock,’ Kots explained. `We ask for the head of the household, get permission to search, then have them open doors and cupboards. The homeowner maintains control. We peer over their shoulder, and the soldier uses the homeowner’s body language and position to protect him.'”
How heroic.
The report concludes: “`During this phase of the operation, troops will interact with residents and media while implementing crowd-control measures and possibly treating and evacuating injured persons.'”
Once again, it’s noteworthy that the “embedded” local media is participating in this exercise: Why would this be necessary unless this drill prefigures domestic disarmament operations?
(Hat tip: FreedomFighterRadio.net)
UPDATE —
Apparently, this particular training operation was called off, owing to negative public reaction nation-wide. Next time, they’ll have to be a bit more subtle.
11:28 am on February 21, 2009
