6. What is posse comitatus?
* Posse comitatus is a concept in common law which states that law enforcement officials may conscript able-bodied individuals, classically limited to men, for the purpose of specific law enforcement tasks. It is also known as the Posse Comitatus Act of the United States, which explicitly forbids the use of American military forces for law enforcement activities, with the exception of the Coast Guard that was viewed as a highly specialized task, which required unique training. Sheriffs could muster up able-bodied men to keep the peace during periods of civil unrest, to seek out criminals, and to provide additional security as needed. The posse comitatus concept was sometimes invoked by opposing sides, as seen during the English Civil War, in which both sides had the ability to conscript civilians. (http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-posse-comitatus.htm)
* How do these executive orders impact Posse Comitatus?
- The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 – which Executive Order 13528 clearly subverts bars the use of the military for civilian law enforcement. For years Bush tried to accomplish the same thing, especially after his administration’s criminal inactions during the 2005 Hurricane Katrina disaster.
- As noted by The Intel Daily, given the serious implications such proposals would have for a functioning democracy, the media’s deafening silence on Obama’s Executive Order is hardly surprising. As the cheerleaders in the illegal occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, and now Pakistan with Iran and Yemen coming soon, the censorship by the media says a lot about the state of affairs in ‘new normal’ America. As with his predecessors, Mr. hope and change will try to illegally forge ahead and invest the permanent National Security bureaucracy with unprecedented power.
(http://www.billslinksandmore.com/Billsblog/2010/01/22/obama-executive-order-13528-subverts-posse-comitatus-act-of-1878/)
7. What is NSPD 51?
NSPD 51 is The National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive (National Security Presidential Directive NSPD 51/Homeland Security Presidential Directive HSPD-20, sometimes called simply "Executive Directive 51" for short), created and signed by United States President George W. Bush on May 4, 2007, is a Presidential Directive which claims power to execute