Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

Northcom, Africom and Other Threats

Chioma Oruh | 02.11.2008 22:04 | Analysis | Anti-militarism | World

The U.S. military constantly expands in size, budget and mission. Two new U.S. military "commands" have recently been activated or augmented, with ominous implications for global peace and domestic civil liberties. Africom now casts a shadow over the last continent for which the U.S. had no designated "command" structure, and Northcom, with responsibilities over the domestic U.S., is a nightmare for those who fear repressive "martial law" in America.




Editorial note:

The U.S. military constantly expands in size, budget and mission. Two new U.S. military "commands" have recently been activated or augmented, with ominous implications for global peace and domestic civil liberties. Africom now casts a shadow over the last continent for which the U.S. had no designated "command" structure, and Northcom, with responsibilities over the domestic U.S., is a nightmare for those who fear repressive "martial law" in America.


Northcom, Africom and Other Threats


"Many Americans are subject to becoming future victims of this new military mission."

Why remember May 4, 1970 in October 2008? It is the day that a clear message was sent with military might that Americans are not immune from attacks felt around the world. On May 4, 1970, also known as the May 4th Massacre, four students were killed and many more injured at Kent State University by the National Guard. These students non-violently protested the US attack on Cambodia and were made example of to show that militarism trumps civil rights. Now, in 2008, an era marked by increased military sophistication and unprecedented presence all over the globe, the US military boasts over 700 bases worldwide, and on October 1, 2008 established the Africa Command, or Africom - for the last standing continent that did not have a US military command. The real purpose and function of Africom [1] remain unclear but what is no mystery is that whatever Africom is up to, the mission has begun and the governmental and civilian voices of dissent in Africa and the US have been unable to stop it.

October 1, 2008 not only marks history for US-Africa relations but also on that same day, the US also made history by deploying troop trained for combat in Iraq to the Ft. Jackson base in Georgia on a mission as unarticulated as Africom. According to the Army Times, the 3rd Infantry's 1st Brigade Combat Team (BCT) will serve under Northern Command, or Northcom, as an "on-call federal response force for natural or manmade emergencies and disasters, including terrorist attacks." Prior to the establishment of Africom, Northcom was the newest brand of US military expansionism. Established on October 1, 2002 under the leadership of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Northcom was created to support civilian authorities like the police and fire departments in natural and human disasters. It debuted in that capacity in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina where US troops along with Blackwater military contractor mercenaries patrolled the streets of New Orleans. Yet, 2008 marked history for Northcom as this is the first time that it has a unit solely under its command. In the words of Northcom's commander General Gene Renuart on northcom.mil, "On the first of October, we'll have an organized force, a trained force, an equipped force, a force that has an adequate command and control and is on quick response - 48 hours - to head off to a large-scale nuclear, chemical, biological event that might require Department of Defense support."

"Will dissenters be branded terrorists?"

The idea of this quick response brigade trained for war should set off alarms in anyone that recalls incidences such as the May 4th Massacre. With vague definitions of who and what constitutes a terrorist and terrorist activities or even emergencies and disasters, many Americans are subject to becoming future victims of this new military mission. With economic instability caused by the housing crisis and the plummeting stock market, civil unrest is sure to rise. Will dissenters be branded terrorists? Additionally, what about the already active and increasing boldness of civil dissenters who demonstrate against the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, environmental injustices and human rights violations experienced by immigrants? What is their fate under this Northcom mission?

On the website of Northcom [2], they attempt to ease accusations of its potential to violate the Posse Comitatus Act - which prohibits military forces from becoming directly involved in law enforcement. However, Posse Comitatus does not prohibit military training or the distribution of weaponry to police departments. So in a bad situation, police departments that serve as first response can do so with sophisticated weaponry and war training and whatever they cannot accomplish will be followed by this second (and quick) response.

So, it appears that May 4, 1970 was not an exception in the state response to civil disobedience but it was a prelude to a rule that has firmed up its mission as of October 1, 2008. For all those who were in Washington, DC to protest Africom on October 27th; for all those that are still healing from the police attacks at the Democratic and Republican national conventions; for all who bear witness to these vulgar violations of democracy and the establishment of the military state, you are advised to ponder the words of Marcus Garvey and "keep cool." Although Garvey's wise counsel was of a different era, it still serves as food for the scared and brave:

Let no trouble worry you;

Keep cool, keep cool!

just be brave and ever true;

Keep cool, keep cool!

If they'd put you in a flame,

Though you should not bear the blame,

Do not start to raising cane,

Keep cool, keep cool.

"Keep Cool" by Marcus Garvey (1927)



* Chioma Oruh is a graduate student at Howard University in the African Studies department, and can be contacted at  chioma@journeywomanchi.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . Oruh is author of "Militarizing Africa: A Guidebook," which can be downloaded by clicking the URL link below:

 http://www.congoweek.org/pdf/militarism_africa.pdf

---------------------------

NOTES:

[1]  http://www.africom.mil/

[2]  http://www.northcom.mil/

Chioma Oruh
- Homepage: http://www.blackagendareport.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=864&Itemid=1

Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech