Barr Condemns Government Plans for Domestic Troop Deployment

Former Georgia Congressman Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party's 2008 presidential nominee, says government plans to deploy 20,000 uniformed soldiers inside the United States "ignores all the tragic lessons we have learned from using the U.S. military in domestic crises."

"The government's plan to deploy initially 20,000 uniformed military personnel inside the United States goes against everything we have learned about using soldiers as police officers. Not only do these plans appear to be a violation of the Posse Comitatus Act—which forbids the use of the military in law enforcement on non-federal property—but it also opens up the American public to dangerous Constitutional violations."

Barr says his concerns are greatly heightened by the conclusion reached by the current Bush Administration in a classified 2001 Department of Justice memo. The memo stated that the Fourth Amendment, which protects citizens against unreasonable searches and seizures, does not apply to the U.S. military when it engages in “domestic” operations.

"When the military operates in the United States, as the federal government now intends it to do, it does so without respect or deference to the Constitution," says Barr. "The federal government plans to render every American citizen defenseless against government abuse during any crisis situation—be it a flood, hurricane, or other natural disaster—where U.S. military personnel will be used to supplement local law enforcement."

"I fought against this type of gross expansion of government authority while I was in Congress," says Barr. "I called for a full investigation of the Waco Siege when it became clear that government used excessive force in their raid, which cost the lives of many innocent Americans. The 'culture of militarism' in the federal government turned Waco into an American tragedy. Should this trend of militarism be allowed to continue, it will only be a matter of time before we have another avoidable tragedy on our hands."

Libertarian Party National Chairman William Redpath released a similar statement on Tuesday of this week, saying the government's plans represented "evidence of a disturbing trend of militarism in today's society."