fyi igor Anonymous <nobody@REPLAY.COM> wrote: * Defense Chief Says U.S. Freedom May Have To Be Curtailed * ___________________________________________________________ * Their inward part is destruction itself. Their throat is an * open grave; they flatter with their tongue. * Psalms 5:9 * ___________________________________________________________ * * Defense secretary calls for even more preventive measures. * * Terrorism is escalating to the point that Americans soon may have to choose * between civil liberties and more intrusive means of protection. Defense * Secretary William S. Cohen says. * * The nation's defense chief told the Army Times he once considered the * chilling specter of armored vehicles surrounding civilian hotels or * government buildings to block out terrorists as strictly an overseas * phenomenon. But no longer. * * It could happen here, Cohen said he concluded after eight months of studying * threats under the Pentagon microscope. * * Free-lance terrorists with access to deadly chemical and biological bombs * are "going to change the way in which the American people view security in * our own country, he predicted in a Sept. 10 interview. * * Cohen is calling for the government to step up its efforts to penetrate * wildcard terrorist organizations. * * "It's going to require greater intelligence on our part - much greater * emphasis on intelligence gathering capability, more human intelligence, and * it's going to take more technical intelligence," he said. * * But using the U.S. military in a domestic law enforcement role would require * revisions to laws in force for more than a century, cautions Shreveport * attorney John Odom Jr. "You can't do it from the the Defense Department side * unless Congress dramatically revises the Posse Comitatus laws," said Odom, a * colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve and a reserve judge advocate. * * The 1878 law specifically prohibits the use of the military in domestic law * enforce- ment unless authorized by Congress or the Constitution and does not * allow for military intervention through action by the secretary of defense * or even an executive order from the president, Odom said. * * "We're trained from the first day of judge advocate school to think of Posse * Comitatus !! Odom said. "If Secretary Cohen is suggesting that the * Department of Defense be involved, it may be part of a legislative package. * But it will not happen unilaterally without a lot of folks thinking long and * hard about it." * * Cohen said terrorism would be a top priority in five new areas he plans to * focus on now that he has wrapped up his first defense budget, the * quadrennial review of the military and a new, four-year defense strategy. * * Other goals include modernizing the military, improving troops housing and * other benefits, streamlining the defense bureaucracy and shaping new * military relationships and contacts across the globe. * * * >From Staff and Wire Reports * The Times of the Ark-La-Tex * 15 September 1997 * (Submitted by Danny Cox) * * -- - Igor. The average American spends a total of six (6) months in prison.