Obama stealth executive order creating firestorm

January 20,2009Law Enforcement ExaminerJim Kouri

While the mainstream media covers most legislation being debated on the floors of both houses of the US Congress, it is the presidential executive orders that are implemented with enormous impact on the lives of American citizens that should be exposed.

For example, last week, President Barack Obama signed an Executive Order thereby creating a Council of Governors to create a working relationship between the Federal Government and State Governments to protect the United States against all types of hazards.

According to the White House press office, when appointed, the Council will be reviewing such matters as involving the National Guard units of the various States; homeland defense; civil support; synchronization and integration of State and Federal military activities in the United States; and other matters of mutual interest pertaining to National Guard, homeland defense, and civil support activities.

The Council is being touted as a bipartisan endeavor that will be comprised of 10 governors from various states who will be selected by the President to serve two year terms. In selecting the governors to the Council, the White House will solicit input from governors and Governors’ associations. Once chosen, the Council will have no more than five members from the same party and represent the nation as a whole.

"While selected governors will be either Democrats or Republicans, there are no provisions to make certain conservatives and progressives are evenly represented," said political strategist Mike Baker.

The federal government members of the Council includes the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, the Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Americas’ Security Affairs, the U.S. Northern Command (NORCOM) Commander, the Commandant of the Coast Guard, and the Chief of the National Guard Bureau within the US Defense Department. The Secretary of Defense will designate an Executive Director for the Council.

The rationale for creating the Council of Governors is that it will provide a Senior Administration forum for exchanging views with State and local officials on strengthening our National resilience and the homeland defense and civil support challenges facing our Nation today and in the future, according to the Defense Department presses office.

The formation of the Council of Governors was required by Section 1822 of the Fiscal Year 2008 National Defense Authorization Act which states, “The President shall establish a bipartisan Council of Governors to advise the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the White House Homeland Security Council on matters related to the National Guard and civil support missions.”

"What troubles many Americans -- at least those aware of this latest Obama power grab, is that last year an agreement with Canada -- defined as a Civil Assistance Plan -- that was not submitted to Congress for debate and approval, nor did Congress pass any law or treaty specifically authorizing this military agreement to combine the operations of the armed forces of the United States and Canada in the event of domestic civil disturbances ranging from violent storms, to health epidemics, to civil riots or terrorist attacks," explains Baker.

In Canada the agreement paving the way for the militaries of the US and Canada to cross each other's borders to fight domestic emergencies was not announced either by Prime Minister Harper's administration or the Canadian military. The agreement met with protests and demonstrations by Canadians opposed to such treaties with the US.

"This is a military plan that's designed to bypass the Posse Comitatus Act that traditionally prohibited the US military from operating within the borders of the United States. Not only will American soldiers be deployed at the discretion of whoever is sitting in the Oval Office, but foreign soldiers will also be deployed in American cities," warns Lt. Steven Rodgers, commander of the Nutley, NJ Police Department's detective bureau.

In a report released to the US Congress recently, analysts assessed what they termed "preparedness tests" between the US military and government agencies at the federal, state and local levels.

U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) exercises to test preparedness to perform its homeland defense and civil support missions. The Government Accountability Office was asked to assess the extent to which NORTHCOM is consistent with Department of Defense guidelines for training and exercise requirement involving interagency partners and states in its exercises.

NORTHCOM’s exercise program is generally consistent with the requirements of DOD’s Joint Training System, but its exercise reporting is inconsistent. Since the command was established in 2002, NORTHCOM has conducted 13 large-scale exercises and generally completed exercise summary reports within the required time frame.

However, those reports did not consistently include certain information, such as areas needing improvement, because NORTHCOM lacks guidance that specifies exercise reports’ content and format, potentially impacting its ability to meet internal standards for planning and execution of joint exercises, and to compare and share exercise results over time with interagency partners and states.

"While the rationale for using the US military domestically had been debated for years, President Barack Obama appears intent on using our military at least until he can create his promised 'Civilian Security Force' which he said would be as big and powerful as the military," said political strategist Mike Baker.

"The fact that the military -- in this instance NORTHCOM -- is being trained to operate within our borders should be setting off alarms throughout this nation. But it's being ignored even by those who profess to be conservatives," he said.

Full story HERE