Civil Disobedience and Cross Border Repression/Depression

Its been awhile since I've had time to add a post to this blog, and even longer since I've had time to add words of my own. I've received a lot of comments recently for posting, I appreciate your support and solidarity.

I want to make some comments about the recent bilateral Civil Assistance Plan, agreed to by Canada and the United States. I would also like to pose some questions as to the use of such a plan. This plan allows the armed forces of one country to enter the other and aid in the event of a 'civil emergency'.

U.S. Air Force Gen. Gene Renuart, commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command said from San Antonio, Texas that "This document is a unique, bilateral military plan to align our respective national military plans to respond quickly to the other nation's requests for military support of civil authorities", and "Unity of effort during bilateral support for civil support operations such as floods, forest fires, hurricanes, earthquakes and effects of a terrorist attack, in order to save lives, prevent human suffering and mitigate damage to property, is of the highest importance, and we need to be able to have forces that are flexible and adaptive to support rapid decision-making in a collaborative environment.”

Canadian Air Force Lt.-Gen. Marc Dumais, commander of Canada Command said “The signing of this plan is an important symbol of the already strong working relationship between Canada Command and U.S. Northern Command,” and “Our commands were created by our respective governments to respond to the defense and security challenges of the twenty-first century, and we both realize that these and other challenges are best met through cooperation between friends.”

First off, I think that we already cooperate quite a bit, I mean, the US Navy patrols Canadian waters, the US Army already has legal authority to enter Canadian soil without our consent and the US Air Force already patrols Canadian skies and has authority to launch missiles that travel through Canadian Air space endangering Canadian civilians. Really what more do they need? Well I'll tell you what they need, they are seeking the right to repress civil disobedience in both countries in the event of a 'terrorist attack' (aka civil unrest), and the right to use Canadian soldiers in replacement of there National Guard which they sent to Iraq.

Lets tackle point number one first. We've already seen the definition the US government has for "terrorism", its completely open ended, and has no real definition under the law, allowing them to make it up as they go. Add to this the fact that 'terrorists' are held without charges, in secret prisons and tortured on a daily basis. They are not granted the right to a lawyer, family members, or even the evidence held against them. Thats pretty scary when you consider the implications of allowing the US some kind of jurisdiction on Canadian soil. Given the vague definition of terrorism, we must ask, under what circumstances will this new plan be used. Does domestic civil disobedience count as terrorism? Does protesting (violent or non-violent) in the face of government repression count as terrorism? Does opposing an illegal war and exercising our right to assemble, protest, and demand government action on issues count as terrorism?

The second point I made, was that the US National Guard is in Iraq, and there ability to quash domestic disturbance is severely weakened. We've seen this in the addition and use of weapons designed for the Afghanistan and Iraq war (such as sound weapons) being used by local police and the increase in the use of tazers to control civil unrest. Given the unstable situation in the Middle East and the commitments made by US presidential hopefuls on all sides, it will not come as a surprise to me when troops do not come home, and are in fact just moved to other parts of the Middle East or replaced by new recruits.

I think its safe to say that the security situation in the US will remain questionable, and there ability to respond to domestic disturbances will also remain questionable. The ratcheting up of domestic spying can attest to this, why would you need to spy on citizens if you weren't worried about there actions at home? The answer is, they are worried, because there ability to handle them is ever fading away, as more and more soldiers are needed in the Middle East and the US economy comes to a grinding halt. In the face of economic ruin, endless war, legalized torture and continental integration its not a surprise that they seek the ability to put down domestic disturbance in both countries with cooperative support, they need it to keep the strangle hold they have on the power structures in North America.

One final thing I'd like to add is that, because Canada is under the umbrella of NORTHCOM, we also come under the jurisdiction of the Federal Emergency Management Authority. In the event of a 'terror attack' or a 'Code Red Alert' in the US, Martial Law can be imposed. Under martial law, many functions of civil society would be transfered to the military, similar to what we've seen recently in Pakistan. Under our new agreements Martial Law could be applied in Canada, and would conform to the US version, exposing Canadians to all that comes along with the US definition of terrorism and procedures to control civil unrest. In fact, such a military training exercise has already taken place (TOPOFF 2), which included Canadian Participants.

Here in Canada, we should be opposing this military Civil Assistance Plan and any and all Military Integration with everything we have. Mark my words, this will become a serious issue in the near future, not if, but WHEN the next 'terror attack' takes place on US soil and/or the US economy hits a recession worse then the Great Depression of the 1930's.