The National Guard.Know your enemy.

[mattd]

Send in the National Guard
Few people realize that the National Guard was a late 19th
century device invented to "deal with" so called civil
disturbances, also known as labor movements. The Guard was
created to solve a problem: local cops could not reliably be
counted on to brutalize strikers.
The railroad strike of 1877 which created vast protests
nationwide highlighted the need for an internal, federal
anti-labor army.
Membership in the Guard was originally WASP only (Irish,
Italians and Poles were not to be trusted) and staffing came
from the "upper crust" of society. You'll note that most
armories from the founding era of the National Guard are
located "uptown" in affluent neighborhoods. Elite members
saw the armories as their last refuge in case of a class war
which in the late 19th century was threatening to boil over
at any minute.
The question "would an American shoot a fellow American?" is
not a recent one and it was determined over 100 years ago
that yes, he would - and should if ordered.
"Speaking at the annual convention of the Wisconsin National
Guard in 1884, Colonel Charles King advised his fellow
officers in a riot. 'Do not shoot until you have to, but
when you shoot, shoot to kill"; he also spoke of the
Milwaukee mobs, 'on whom it might be a municipal blessing to
fire.'"
A member of 19th Regiment of Pennsylvania summed up his
understanding of his responsibilities this way:
"It'll be a hard thing for me to shoot into a crowd of men
who are bound to me by all the ties of human interest and
friendship, but when I have my uniform on and the command of
'Fire' is given, I will shoot."
These quotes come from "America's Armories" a book by Robert
M. Fogelson, Professor of Urban Studies at MIT in a book
published by Harvard University Press.
Tyrants have a real problem when it comes to the challenge
of getting otherwise decent people, men sworn to uphold the
law, to commit atrocities against their own people. It's a
problem, but not an insurmountable one. The solution, I'm
afraid, is simple: deliberately put the law enforcers in
harm's way (or create the illusion that they are in harm's
way) and let nature take its course.
A heavily armed force, strained, disoriented, and then
threatened will "defend" itself with force and once the
bullets start flying it's impossible to take them back and
hard to cool things down.
Take Kent State. It is a little known fact that the troops
sent to Kent State to put down what amounted to little more
than college hijinks at the demand of a paranoid and
politically connected university president, were transferred
to the campus straight from the burning streets of Detroit
where they had regularly come under real gun fire in one of
the most destructive riots in US history. The real problem in Kent State 
was not an anti-war protest, by the way, but a
riot that occurred the previous weekend that had more to do
with heavy drinking and spring fever than politics. It was
*after* the shootings that the Guard then became an
occupation force on the campus, imposing the equivalent of
martial law.
Take Tiananmen Square. When local forces would not act
against the pro-democracy forces and in fact showed outright
support of them, *rural* troops, many of whom had never seen
a big city, were brought in. Carefully controlled as to the
information they received, the imported troops were told
that the protestors were led by dangerous foreigners who
wanted to enslave the country. As a finishing touch, they
were warned that the square was filled with all sorts of
contagious disease and were advised to wear surgical masks
and given "inoculations" right before the assault. The
inoculations contained amphetamines which added to the
country-raised soldiers terror as they were propelled into
what they were told was a square of assassins and violent
saboteurs.
Take Chile. The most stable and democratic country in South
America, suddenly the scene of a anti-civilian blood bath.
Why? A carefully orchestrated psychological warfare
campaign, that included assassinations of uncooperative
military leaders, convinced the military that if they did
not eliminate "the Left," the Left in Chile was actively
making plans to eliminate them violently and replace them with a people's 
militia. A fable, but it was believed and
acted upon.
Even in a small riot in a US city, in order to get large
numbers of police to behave viciously, the information given
to them must be carefully controlled and they must be put in
a situation where they are convinced that *they* are in
danger and is kill or be killed.
That's how it will happen here. Currently, National Guard
members are being conditioned to project authority over
average citizens in every day activities, in airports, in
train stations, in bus stations. They are also, no doubt,
being told that *everyone* is suspect and that anyone, at
any time can suddenly 'snap' in the service of Osama bin
Laden. Guys with funny shoes. Patriotic, good hearted kids
in air planes. I expect soon we'll see a grandma join in.
That's why I find the following story about the Iowa
National Guard's ambitious training campaign so interesting.
Some quotes:
"... officers will be making their presence known around
town as part of their terrorist training.
"... the exercises are meant to serve as a reminder to
Iowans. That attacks could happen here and we all need to be
better prepared".
I agree. We all need to be better prepared.
http://www.rense.com/general19/gulag.htm