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On some levels, the issues and speculation that have accompanied the preparation for the upcoming, massive Jade Helm (AKA "Jade Helm 15") military-training operation in a number of western states including Texas, are amusing ---- The supposed "takeover" of Texas (already a very Conservative, pro-corporate, pro-military state), mass-shootings, and the Chinese invasion angle, especially.
Alright, those parts, and other spinoff-ideas, are dumb.
Fair enough.
Over-the-top, paranoid web sites on Jade Helm are numerous and easy-to-find, and I won't link to any here.
For this particular issue, virtually all of the level-headed concern (and there is some), as well as the more publicized paranoia, wild theories and conspiracy-ideas, seem to be clustered on the Conservative side of the political spectrum.
To the Progressive side, Jade Helm is a non-issue, except for the opportunity to mock "those silly wingers on the other side".
But should it be a non-issue for Progressives and Liberals?
Is there more to this issue?
With Jade Helm, the tendency of Liberals to be suspicious and questioning
of the military, while Conservatives are as a rule more trusting
and deferential, has been reversed. Odd, that.
How did this happen?
Does it mean anything?
It is the major media who are energetically putting some of the wacky ideas front-and-center, and presenting them so prominently as to frame, and seemingly discredit the entire issue as rural Conservative paranoia.
This apparent "slant" in the reporting compelled me to wonder ---- why are the corporate-media so determined, right from the get-go, to frame concerns about Jade-Helm as, "wacky"?
It somehow has immediately become habit for Liberals and Progressives, led by media, to ridicule Conservative fears about
Jade Helm. And many have followed along, as I did for the first weeks
this story was out.
Then I decided to look deeper.
I admit to being a political Progressive who constantly questions Conservative or "establishment" ideas.
But now, after some re-thinking, I refuse to entirely write-off the "other side" on this issue anymore, even though some claims are unequivocally outlandish.
Let me explain why.
OK, so first ---- Let's look at what we do know about Jade Helm,
putting aside the wild, chuckle-inducing theories the media loves to
throw out there so easily.
There have long been military-training exercises all over America.
The big questions about this one are ---- Is Jade Helm different from the others? Why is so little known about it, and also, what is the purpose behind it? There's not a ton of info out there about Jade Helm, as much of it seems to be classified (except for official disclosures such as in the diagram/panels at top of page).
Jade Helm does not appear to be just another round of conventional "War Games" for combat troops.
It is described as a new type of "counterinsurgency"-training for ONLY elite commando-type units (like the team that got Bin Laden, and others), in all branches of the military, operating in different states, practicing local infiltration and reconaissance as well as having military materials necessary to the operation moved-around and made ready as they would be in an actual combat-defense situation.
There is more to it ofcourse, but little else is directly known, except that local law enforcement officers will be notified and prepared ahead-of-time for some public reaction to the exercises on a local level, as they occur (i.e. anticipated citizen reports of "people acting suspiciously" in their communities or surrounding areas).
So OK. It's large, it's new, it's innovative, it's to protect the country, etc etc etc.
But I still have some questions.
Sooo ... Who the heck are the "insurgents" these special military teams are being trained to counter, target and neutralize? Al Qaeda or ISIS "death squads" loose in the US? Clive Bundy-types? Rightwing neo-military survivalists? The next version of Occupy? Code Pink? Future Anti-war demonstrators?
And how can training in American towns and communities prepare special Ops for fighting "insurgents" in countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria or Pakistan? This part is extremely unclear.
One thing is for sure ---- Once the machinery, strategies and protocols are worked out and established, they can be used for other than the originally stated purposes.
As a Liberal, I naturally have a distrust of the Military Industrial Complex, with its huge political clout, and I share, along with increasing numbers of Americans, an uneasiness with the ever-growing vastne$$ of the US military, and its oversized budget, in general.
Emphatically, I suggest other Liberals who share those sentiments apply them in this case.
If you do, you may find yourself having a few creepy doubts about this operation yourself, even if the silly "flagship" parts of the story (takeover of Texas, mass-executions of Christians, "FEMA death-domes" etc), seem extremely stupid and are easily-mocked.
Think beyond the distracting "dumb stuff" up-front.
Have the crazy-sounding, "paranoid" ideas put out by the media, as shown in the statement and image seen below, been distracting people away from any real discussion about this issue?
Effective stereotyping of Conservative fears as silly paranoia encourages ridicule and shuts-down communication between left
and right:
Although liked and respected by Liberals, has Progressive-leaning TV comedian John Stewart's mockery of Conservative fears about Jade Helm helped close Liberals' minds to the full implications of this issue?
Even Liberal Cartoon Icon Doonesbury has joined in the dismissive guffawing at Jade Helm worries as some form of silly Texan extremism:
(By Gary Trudeau/June 14, 2015).
But are Liberals missing something on Jade Helm?
Are they being played on this issue?
Always publicizing and framing questioners of Jade Helm as pursuers of some extreme conspiracy, as in the dramatically sci-fi--themed panel just below, seems to encourage craziness, and keeps too many other people laughing at something they should perhaps think more deeply about:
OK, where's the cui bono?
You shouldn't have to be a raving conspiracy-theorist to see some potential sense of threat behind these rather mysterious, but BIG, military special-forces exercises, which involve some degree of what is described as "local infiltration" and surveillance.
Authorities will say it is for "National Security", public safety, blah blah blah, as would be expected. However, others believe the cui bono would be for the governmental/elite interest$ who would desire to have more
security-state measures and preparations put in place -- in anticipation of mass civil unrest, possibly in response to an economic collapse or controversial new war.
The current uncertain social-economic-political atmosphere in America, as the background for the exercises, would suggest this possibility, and the overall picture grows slightly more ominous when seen in light of the current trend in America towards the militarization of local police forces across the country, which has been well-documented, along with many examples of excessive violence used against citizens, coast-to-coast.
Additional context can be added by considering also the NSA's mass-collection of metadata on average Americans, as revealed by whistleblower Edward Snowden, who, by the way, would still be immediately imprisoned for decades were he ever to re-enter the
United States.
Also, Progressives would be foolish to forget the police-state-like suppression of the Occupy Movement just a few short years ago ---- A policing policy which was certainly a cui bono for financial and corporate elites made uneasy by Occupy's decidedly anti-elite message.
Here, Noam Chomsky talks about that suppression:
Remember?
NYC Police arrest Occupy Movement members:
Liberals and Progressives need to put Jade Helm in this context, away from the lunatic raving, and see this as a potential preparation for dealing with political resistance coming from the masses. Including the Left-leaning masses.
This is the frightening possible cui bono for The Authoritarian State that many fear is emerging in America.
Plenty of smart people on the Left, like Chris Hedges and others, have warned about the shift in our American system to a more militarized, potentially repressive state, in order to enforce the corporate-run order in a society of more and more purloined resources and wealth, taken away from the American People by ultra-wealthy elites. That isn't conspiracy theory. That's just the big picture, seen clearly.
So OK, maybe Jade Helm is just a standard training exercise, nothing to see here, etc.
But at least think it through before writing it all off right away just because it is presented as a "right-wing" fear-point with some outlandish spin-off ideas.
Military know-how and expertise, such as is being refined in Jade Helm, could be used just as easily against an anti-war movement (should one arise) or a new version of Occupy, just as easily as it could be used to
go after some hypothetical terrorist cell we're all supposed to be so
scared of.
I pose this question:
If you are a Liberal, and say, Jeb Bush were President and this operation was being planned as is, would you still feel the same way about it?
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Does Jade Helm violate The Posse Comitatus Law?
1st, a Reminder:
Posse Comitatus Act -- A United States federal law (passed, 1878) prohibiting members of the military from exercising powers that maintain "law and order" on non-federal property.
(Editor's note: presumably, the prohibition would include the actual arrest and detainment of citizens, or a law-enforcement assault of any kind. Apparently, the law does not prohibit practice or training, just actual enforcement.)
On Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posse_Comitatus_Act
Below (in the view of The Suspicionist Blog)
is a more balanced analysis, undistracted by inane sidelights, of the Jade Helm operation and its possible implications:
Excerpts from link to article on the Blog, "Who-What-Why" below:
"Jade Helm presenters have stated that troops will “infiltrate” towns and cities, and rove among the civilian population, both in uniform and in civilian clothes. Roy Boyd, chief deputy of the Victoria County Sheriff’s Office, told the Houston Chronicle: “They’re going to set up cells of people and test how well they’re able to move around without getting too noticed in the community… They’re testing their abilities basically [to] blend in with the local environment and not stand out and blow their cover.”
Elaborating further, Thomas Mead, a contractor hired by USASOC, said in a presentation to the Big Spring, Texas, City Council in March that special forces “operators,” as Special Ops soldiers are called, will enlist local roleplayers as informants. Mead told the City Council that operators will be looking for “someone who gives a little nugget of information for them to build an intelligence picture.”
It is these kinds of activities, resembling counter-insurgency, that set Jade Helm apart from the previous exercises that the Army cites as similar to Jade Helm. This argument hinges on what is meant by “similar.” The scripts in those previous exercises called for Special Ops “operators” to assist local insurgents or “freedom fighters” in resisting tyrannical authorities. In Jade Helm, the US operators will apparently be working to suppress an insurgency. This will involve activities more in keeping with law enforcement, such as information-gathering from locals, moving about undercover in communities, and assaults on selected “targets.” Residents have been told to expect “increased aircraft in the area at night.”
Critics of Jade Helm note that the military is not intended nor designed to function as a law enforcement body, and that soldiers are not trained to evaluate the legal nuances of probable cause or to safeguard the rights of civilian detainees."
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"The media have done a grave disservice by repeatedly mis-characterizing Texan citizens as hysterically complaining of a 'takeover' of Texas. In fact, the video record shows questions from the audience at the military’s city council presentations to be calm and reasonable. At no point does anyone accuse the Army of plotting to 'take over Texas,' a recurring catchphrase in the mockery of Jade Helm critics. At a Bastrup County meeting, one man expresses concern over 'increasing indications that the military is getting a little too involved in civilian law enforcement.' "
Link:
Does Jade Helm violate Posse Comitatus?
For added perspective ...
Link:
LA Times gives the Mainstream view of Jade Helm
Link:
Is Jade Helm a Psy-Op?
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The next link below is to a very strong-opinioned article on Jade Helm from a site called, beforeitsnews.com.
While The Suspicionist Blog does not necessarily endorse the opinions and views expressed on that site, it is included here because it gives significant added information, and helps to give a broader perspective on Jade Helm:
Link:
What Is Jade Helm 15?
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Beware ...
Relevant warnings from Chris Hedges
and Noam Chomsky:
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