Where do you stand?

[lizbud]

The reason that the National Guard is the force in question rather than the regular army is Posse Comitatus. This law prevents federal military forces from being used in a law enforcement role within the borders of the United States.

National Guard units are controlled at the State level by each
Governor.



If anyone had any true intestinal fortitude (and this includes everyone on Capitol Hill, not just republicans or just democrats) they would revise Posse Comitatus and allow Federal Forces to be used on the border areas to protect the border. The excesses from the post-Civil War era are long since over, and like many other statutes that have gathered dust over the years need to be revised.

Oh yeah that would help..... I would hate to see GB have that
level of power to loose the the Armed Forces in Main St.,USA.Much too
much responsibilty to grant to someone who has never shown much good
sense during his term of office.

[lbaker]

As long as a "can of worms" has been opened... let's go fishin' and just get along for a bit and take some deep breaths. This is a very volatile subject, on that we DO agree. OK?

[lizbud]

As long as a "can of worms" has been opened... let's go fishin' and just get along for a bit and take some deep breaths. This is a very volatile subject, on that we DO agree. OK?

Good idea.

[Lady's Human]

Liz,
You misread my post. I specifically mentioned border areas, as in (for example) use of US Federal forces would be approved in a 20 mile wide zone north of the Mexican border and south of the Canadian border. (Yes, there are terrorist groups based in Canada, we got briefs on them constantly while I was in FT Drum, and there is also illegal immigration coming from the northern border as well as the southern border)

I also did not mention a time limit, I believe this should be a permanent change. The US Military USED to patrol the borders of the country, which is why you can follow our westward expansion in part by town names. (Most, not all, towns which have "fort" in their names were actually forts when they were on the western edge of expansion)

We need to go back to letting the military do its job, which is protecting the borders of the US. We are probably the only country in the world with laws that specifically ban the military from doing so.