President Barack Obama signed Executive Order 13528 on January 11. The Executive Order (EO) established a Council of Governors chosen by the President that will rubber-stamp long-sought-after Pentagon contingency plans to seize control of state National Guard forces in the event of a “national emergency.”
The ten member, bipartisan Council was created “to strengthen further the partnership between the Federal Government and State Governments to protect our Nation against all types of hazards.” The Council will be reviewing such matters as involving the National Guard 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.”
Clearly designed to weaken the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 which bars the use of the military for civilian law enforcement, EO 13528 is the latest in a series of maneuvers by Obama and previous administrations to wrest control of armed forces historically under the democratic control of elected state officials.
National Guard units would be to placed under the effective control of United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM), created in 2002.
When news first broke in the summer of 2009 of Obama’s proposal to expand the military’s authority to respond to domestic disasters it was opposed by the National Governors Association (NGA).
Title: Obama Executive Order Seeks to “Synchronize and Integrate” State and Federal Military Forces
Source: Dissident Voice, January 16th, 2010
Author: Tom Burghardt
Faculty Evaluator: Peter Phillips
Sonoma State University