Is it possible that Americans are being prepared for Martial Law?
Consider the "possible" implications portrayed in this story,
Karlis

Indianapolis To Become "Mock Battlefield".
Circle City to be site of three week long urban warfare training

http://infowars.net/articles/may2008/290508Indianapolis.htm

Indianapolis will become a "mock battlefield" for the next three weeks according to local press, as over two thousand marines will stage a huge urban warfare training exercise in and around the city.

Oh boy now you did it Good luck with this one Alex Jones gets shot down here pretty darn quick, you better have lots of ammo

Are Marines not allowed to train for the type of combat they are likely to see in Iraq?

Hi Frenat -- should large numbers of armed marines be training in American cities? If "Yes"; why?
Since when has such urban training been used by the marines, in American cities?

The question to consider:
Would marines be deployed if martial law was declared?
Consider the following:

Bush Paves the Way for Martial Law: 2007 National Defense Authorization Act overturns Posse Comitatus Act
… In October 2006, Bush signed into law the John Warner National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007. Quietly slipped into the law at the last minute, at the request of the Bush administration, were sections changing important legal principles, dating back 200 years, which limit the U.S. government's ability to use the military to intervene in domestic affairs. These changes would allow Bush, whenever he thinks it necessary, to institute martial law--under which the military takes direct control over civilian administration.

Sec. 1042 of the Act, "Use of the Armed Forces in Major Public Emergencies," effectively overturns what is known as posse comitatus. The Posse Comitatus Act is a law, passed in 1878, that prohibits the use of the regular military within the U.S. borders. … (snip).
http://www.inteldaily.com/?c=117&a=1431
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H.R. 5122, also known as the John Warner National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007 was a bill passed in the United States Congress on September 30, 2006 and signed by President George W. Bush on October 17, 2006. H.R. 5122 includes:
...
Expansion of the President's power to declare martial law under revisions to the Insurrection Act, and take charge of United States National Guard troops without state governor authorization when public order has been lost and the state and its constituted authorities cannot enforce the law (repealed as of 2008);
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.R._5122_(2006)

To read what was NOT repealed, scroll down the article to, “Repeal of amendments”.

Comments please?
Karlis

It's possible, I guess - but in all fairness - they have to train somewhere. Warfare in Iraq, for example, is largely urban. New type of war, new type of training.

True, just because they train soldiers in the desert, doesn't mean they are gonna take it over.

Because large numbers of marines are being sent to Iraq, including my old unit. Most mock urban training centers aren't big enough or realistic enough to train large numbers of troops at one time.


Urban warfare wasn't considered as important in years past as it has been in this era. I remember my urban warfare training in infantry school back in 1993. It was a joke; training only lasted for about half a day, and the mock town we trained in consisted of a few small cinder block "buildings". It was hardly the type of environment that would make a present day Marine feel confident knowing he'll be patrolling the cement jungles of Iraq. Taking Marines or soldiers to real-life environments is the best way to train them.


It's always a possibility, but the article you posted only mentions the 26th MEU out of Lejune participating in that exercise. If there were a concerted effort to get Marines ready for martial law within the US, then Marine units everywhere would be going through this kind of training. But that isn't the case. The link also mentioned the Marines training in Toledo, Ohio a few months back, but that was just one company (roughly 200 Marines). Toledo has over 300,000 inhabitants; what impact would 200 Marines have?

NumberOneSon

Ah, more martial law paranoia.

I'm sure we can all think of a few places where they could practice mock battles to their hearts' content, and probably cause millions of dollars' worth of improvements.

The United States Military has been using cities and urban areas for training for quite a while. I myself trained in Denver. It has nothing to do with martial law. Using this type of surrounding trains you to deal with situations that may arise in the future (such as in Afghanistan/Iraq and many other countries) The DoD's objective is to not let any such conflict take place on American soil... Anyway, if you do a little reading you will find that using such areas for training is not rare and its a good way for the Soldier to learn and try to use more of their senses than they would in a natural training environment.

When I was in the Marines we trained in Australia, Japan, Okinawa and places in the U.S. and we weren't planning on taking any of those countries over or enacting martial law.

Right. My unit even went to Latvia and trained with the Brits, Russians, and Swedes. We set up check points along roadsides, participated in a mock-offensive outside some villages, etc.,...all good training, but there was no intention of taking over for Latvian law enforcement personnel.

Heck, I'd say 99% of the Marines involved in that operation are no longer in the service, myself included, so if there was some kind of alterior motive then what was the point since almost everyone involved isn't around anymore? Karlis' link even mentions "The Millennium Challenge 2002", but that was 6 years ago; how many of the men and women involved are still even in the service? What's the point of spending millions of dollars on martial-law training operations if the majority of participants leave the service before martial law is ever enforced?

NumberOneSon

Question that comes to mind ... do such military exercises abide by the US Constitution, in the strictest sense?

The following web-site seems to shed more light as to what could be a "darker purpose" behind the marine urban training exercises.
http://antwerpen.indymedia.org/news/2008/06/15490.php
"... A year ago, the Bush administration created NSPD-51, which effects martial law in the event of an emergency. Under the provisions of NSPD-51, the Bush administration itself will be able to decide just what constitutes such an emergency. It has steadfastly refused to explain the particulars of the directive to Congressional leaders, including Bernie Thompson, Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. On July 20, an apprehensive Oregon Representative Peter DeFaszio confided to journalists: " Maybe the people who think there's a conspiracy out there are right.
…

" ... The FBI set up the Indianapolis terror drills, according to 26th MEU Public Affairs Officer 1LT Timothy Patrick. Major T.A. Smith, Chief Deputy of the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Office, told us that the Department of Homeland Security was also involved in planning the drills.

"We contacted Special Agent Robert Myrick, the FBI’s lead agent for the exercise, who refused to answer questions. He referred us to Wendy Osborn of FBI Public Affairs, who referred us back to the 26th MEU.

"According to Lt. Patrick, until June 19 Marines will be identifying, targeting, and executing raids on designated “terrorist cells” in abandoned houses and industrial buildings. Each raid will involve between a squad and a platoon of Marines, and will be preceded by the arrival of a public affairs detachment urging civilians not to be alarmed. Most raids will be at night, and will not be announced until shortly before they take place. Local police and other first responders will handle traffic, answer complaints, and evacuate possible casualties.

"The 26th MEU has a new Military Operations Urban Terrain (MOUT), or urban combat training village, at Camp Lejeune. Much closer to Camp Lejeune than Indiana, the FBI has its own extensive “Hogan’s Alley” urban combat training center in Quantico, Va.

"When asked about the need to go all the way to Indiana to train in civilian communities, Lt. Patrick responded that all this would help take Marines “out of their comfort zone” and go beyond “muscle memory.” ..."
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Consider the following, in which some pertinent points are raised.
http://www.dailynewscaster.com/2008/06/03/...n-indianapolis/
“ … Under the guise of urban warfare training the 26th Expeditionary Unit an elite group of U.S. Marines will conduct a martial law training exercise at 26 “surrendered” locations in central Indiana from June 4th thru the 17th. While state officials and media are doing their best to assure the public that this military takeover of civilian property is somehow a good thing, ignoring the Posse Comitatus Act which fundamentally prohibits these types of exercises. These two weeks of training are also a contradiction of military tradition against deployments among the civilian population dating back to the end of the Civil War. Why then are the citizens of Indianapolis and six other Indiana towns being made to take part in two weeks of patrols and ambushes? …”

What are the chances of follow-on posts when this whole exercise is over, Karlis? Posts which describe what really happened during them. Ones that show them working around uninhabited buildings, not harrassing the populace. Ones describing activities in squads just walking down the street interacting peacefully with the populace (with no live ammo). I doubt we'll see any followup. There won't be any real involvement with non-participating civilians, which would destroy the notion of practicing a city takeover.

Urban "warfare" involves far more than just inner city fire fights...at least in Iraq.

When does this exercise take place? I'm looking forward to all the post event horror stories of human tragedy and terrorizing of children. (edit...through June 19th...waiting for the city survivors to start telling their horror stories any day now...)

Why do conspiracy theorists always use such random combinations of italics, underlining and CAPS TO EMPHASISE random sections of TEXT?

it's like those 17th century pamphlets which used a SIMILAR typographical style.

I live near Indy.

The closest we've even come CLOSE to a "mock battlefield" is when Danica Patrick marched down pit row towards Ryan Briscoe's crew.

And if that isn't funny enough, two of my closest friends are reservists and we all drank a few beers on a lakeside last night. I'm PRETTY sure they'd have been involved if there was something going on....................

Oh, one more thing.

Just talked with one of my friends and was told that they ARE on alert, but they're on alert for SANDBAGGING for flood problems that have been prevalent throughout the midwest.

I'm pretty sure that's a far cry from conducting "martial law" exercises in Indianapolis.............

Well, everybody knows that filling sandbags is the first step to martial law!

You fool! They're acting like mindless ants, performing their menial tasks only because of the chemical-trails raining down upon them, in the government's sadistic plans to enslave the civilian population! Seek out youtube atrocities to lead you from such devious machinations!

Oops, I'm better now. I put my aluminum-foil helmet on, once again. Sorry 'bout that, Chief!

And oh.......I shouldn't have missed this.

The link to the "article" you posted went to a conspiracy site.........then in turn the article on THAT site posted a link to the "Indy Star".....(at least they're not stupid and didn't name it the Indianapolis Star)......which didn't lead to the "Indianapolis Star" at all, but instead led to yet another conspiracy website.

If there was such an article in the Idianapolis Star then I want to see it.

Post it.

You think there's sand in those sandbags? it's the same stuff they use to make chemtrails, don't you know? And when they give the word, it'll all be released; a great cloud of, um, whatever it is, will drift across the land ... and enslave the population!!! ...

From 40,000 feet!