War at Home? US Militarizes Its Police

Although the issue is not new, it has a different face now if we look to the circumstances in which the United States is experiencing an economic crisis, accompanied by a protest movement that, though its results are still unpredictable, has brought cause to worry for those in power.

When the artificial class divide in this country begins to fade and the contradictions are exposed, the result is a 1997 decision, which was justified then by the “war on drugs and terrorism.” It will now apply to the numerous billionaires and those considered potential targets of the protest movement that in the imperial territory is called Occupy Wall Street.

Under the 1033 Program, the Pentagon has funded military equipment worth over $500 million for the U.S police force in 2011, transforming local units into militarized bodies for massive repression; not exactly necessary for simply combating crime.

Through Program 1033, the Secretary of Defense may provide equipment from the Department of Defense to state and local forces and other agencies tasked with maintaining order. This includes military vehicles, ground, air, and sea weapons, computer equipment, armor, night vision, fingerprint sensors, and photographic, radio, and television equipment, among others.

It is already customary in the streets of the United States to use armored vehicles for police equipped with machine guns, amphibious tanks, bullet-proof trucks, equipped with cannons, tear gas launchers and radiation detectors, along with remote-controlled inspection robots, and police armed with assault rifles and M-16 infrared visor helmets, among other innovations.

Despite what they say are their concerns, those in charge have the potential and the capacity to participate in a war for domestic purposes, and for this reason the American city is also seen by authorities as the “enemy.”

The methods employed against the “occupiers” demonstrate that this is not a part of science fiction or future strategy, but rather an imminent danger. It is consistent domestically with the foreign policy of constant intervention in other countries, a repeated tactic White House strategy, whether the tenant is a Democrat or a Republican and despite the color of his skin. They are simply ready to defend the class they represent in a war where the missiles are fired by the armed wing of the powerful.

Indeed, the Department of Defense will not miss a chance to provide arms to their local counterparts in this para-militarization of the U.S police force, one step further that the Obama Administration has taken to reinforce the fascist laws of George. W. Bush following the terrifying and opportune demolition of the Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001.

Everything is clear; the one percent that holds the wealth will “protect” itself against the 99 percent that produces it but does not enjoy it, though these occupants of parks and streets have decided to use the effective civil disobedience of Mahatma Gandhi. Or perhaps the United States — beyond all human logic — is like Iraq or Afghanistan, where the new fascism will advance on this battlefield of their home to maintain “peace.”