Posted: 10/15/2002 9:37:34 AM EDT
| It's up to Rummy to decide today! |
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Was watching Fox News at lunch. They were talking about the Pentagon using Predator Drones to help catch the shooter. They were also talking about how exceptions to Posse Commitas should be allowed in situations like this and other "emergency" situations. I really did NOT like the direction the conversations were going in. [url]www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,65711,00.html[/url] WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Pentagon may soon be getting involved in the search for the Beltway Sniper. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is considering lending surveillance equipment to investigators to be used in the search for the marksman who has been terrorizing the Washington area for two weeks. The Beltway Sniper has killed nine people and wounded two others in a series of apparently random killings since Oct. 2. The surveillance equipment in question would include Predator drones, the unmanned surveillance aircraft that have been used in Afghanistan for reconnaissance and, in some cases, combat missions. Also, it would include sensitive audio equipment for reconnaissance and, officials say, the possible use of a C-130 transport plane, although it wasn’t known how the massive aircraft would be used. Military helicopters such as the renowned Black Hawk would be also be flown, with infrared equipment Because laws are very strict about the military getting involved in domestic police work, no U.S. soldiers would be active in the search. The soldiers might be used to operate the equipment, but officials are clear that whatever is decided upon would not violate the law that prohibits the military from engaging in law enforcement. It’s not clear yet whether surveillance from a Predator drone could be used in court, should the sniper be caught. Also [url]www.cnn.com/2002/US/South/10/15/sniper.pentagon/index.html[/url] I dont know about you guys but this is the kind of stuff that really starts to worry me. |
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Kiowas. And some Blackhawks too probably. It probably will be the Air elements of the states and DC National Guard. The DoD is just agreeing to pay for it instead of the states having to foot the tab. Now this also makes you wonder, where are all the Predators now that none are available for use here, hmmm? |
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Quoted: Kiowas. And some Blackhawks too probably. It probably will be the Air elements of the states and DC National Guard. The DoD is just agreeing to pay for it instead of the states having to foot the tab. Some military analyst on Fox was touching on that. Saying that in light of Posse commitas, to just train and use the NG (on the Predators and such), since they can be used on CONUS. Thus circumventing Posse Commitas in a way. |
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I am getting a little fed up with Posse Comitatus rulings. Where was it when Eisenhower sent the 101st Airborne in to Little Rock in 1958? Where was it when McArthur attacked the Bonus Marchers in DC in 1932? Where was it when the Army was used to break the 1920 coal miners strike in West Virginia? Or the Pullman workers strike in the 1880's? All it has ever been used for is as a excuse to permit the Klan and Confederate veterans to attack blacks and Union veterans across the South. And more recently as a excuse to not fortify our southern borders and coasts from smugglers and illegal migrants swarming across the borders. There needs to be limits on the use of the military within the borders of the US but the current 1878 law is irreparably broken and needs replaced BADLY. |
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if they can use this stuff for the belteway sniper, it certainly seems they could use it for border security. i'll be very curious to see how they justify it. and where do you draw the line? is ten or so deaths the requirement to be eligible for the predator? or two weeks or fruitless searching.... i want predators for my manhunt, too!!! |
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Quoted: So this would be the Guinness Book of Records' most expensive manhunt ever? I'd bet you're right. Also the least logical, most resembling a witchhunt. With the greatest number of unqualified "profilers" who, having no real facts to use (not having seen ALL of the evidence), manage to nail it down anyway. Looking for white trucks, white vans, odd friends, quiet friends, mad friends, discharged military snipers, form4473 .223 rifle buyers, licensed hunters, anything else we can think of. . . Why would we be surprised the fed.gov would be involved? |
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I can understand why the authors of the Posse Comitatus act wanted to keep the Army from being used against American Citizens within the borders of the United States. But I cant see where they have gotten this idea that it also keeps the Army and Navy from stopping [i]foreign nationals[/i] from crossing our [i]international[/i] borders and seacoasts. Or even how it stops them from seizing American Citizens who commit crimes using foreign countries-where US law enforcement cannot reach them-as a sheild. Isn't guarding the borders of this country a basic function of the military period? |
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Quoted: oh, i'd love to be sitting in a treestand w/ a 7mm mag when one of these drones did a fly by. I hear you, cohiba. I feel frustrated about all this crap, too. I know you are probably joking, but we don't need to give the lefties or the feds any excuse to crack down on legal firearms owners, especially now. I'd like to carry my AR-15 in public, too, but until the SHTF, I won't. |
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AP newstory... FAIRFAX, Va. (Oct. 15) - An FBI analyst who studied terror threats is the latest victim of the Washington-area sniper, and investigators said Tuesday they were confident that detailed witness accounts from the scene will lead them to the person who has now killed nine people. A senior law enforcement source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there were no indications the sniper targeted Linda Franklin because of her job. Sources said she worked for the FBI's National Infrastructure Protection Center which assesses threats against major structures and cyber networks. Franklin, 47, of Arlington was shot in the head Monday night as she and her husband loaded packages into their car outside a Home Depot at the Seven Corners Shopping Center. Fairfax County Police Chief Tom Manger suggested that witnesses gave investigators more details than on any of the other shootings. For the first time, witnesses were able to give information about license plates on vehicles seen leaving the scene, he said. ''There was some additional information that we were able to get from last night's case, and I am confident that that information is going to lead us to an arrest in the case,'' Manger said at a morning briefing. [red]Manger declined to discuss which state the license plates were from or answer questions about whether police had a description of the shooter. He said only that several people contacted police after the shooting and investigators were still interviewing them.[/red] [blue]JUST HOW BAD DO THEY WANT TO CATCH THIS ASSHOLE? THEY MAKE IT SOUND LIKE THEY HAVE REAL INFO THIS TIME, BUT IT DOESNT LOOK LIKE THEY ARE ACTING VERY FAST[/blue] ''We have been receiving quite a bit of information from witnesses,'' Manger said. ''Information is always the key in solving cases like this.'' Police closed highways around Falls Church, about 10 miles west of the nation's capital, after the shooting and Manger said police were on the lookout for a light-colored Chevrolet Astro van with a burned-out left rear tail light and a chrome ladder rack on its roof. The highways were reopened in time for morning rush hour and no arrests were reported. ''There are a fair number of ways to leave the area,'' Manger said. ''We made a number of traffic stops. I am unaware of any pursuits.'' Authorities released composite pictures of an Astro van and of a similar Ford van called the Econoline, saying those pictures were based on witness statements from last Friday's shooting in Fredericksburg. A senior defense official said Tuesday that Pentagon officials were in discussion with Justice Department officials on ways in which the military could assist in the investigation. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, declined to give details. It was unclear whether the help might be limited to an exchange of information or could include the use of equipment, aircraft or troops. By law the military is prohibited from engaging in law enforcement. Outside the Home Depot on Tuesday, a line of officers on their hands and knees scoured the covered parking deck for evidence, and a tow truck hauled away the victim's car - a small red convertible with a black cloth top. Franklin was felled by a single shot to the head about 9:15 p.m. as she stood in the parking lot of the blocks-long shopping center. All the other deaths in the sniper spree were also caused by one shot. The Washington Post, quoting an FBI chaplain at Franklin's home, reported on its Web site that Franklin and her husband were planning to move Friday to another home in the area and were at Home Depot to buy supplies. The center where Franklin worked, established in 1998, is the only FBI organization scheduled to transfer to the Department of Homeland Security under the Bush administration's proposal. The shooting spree that has terrorized residents in the Washington area began Oct. 2 in Montgomery County, Md. With Monday's shooting, the toll has grown to nine people killed and two seriously wounded in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. ''Ballistic evidence has conclusively linked this case to the other murders in the area,'' Manger said. Monday's killing happened near one of northern Virginia's busiest intersections, where major arteries come together to form seven corners. Virginia State Police said the van was last seen traveling east on Route 50. Interstates 66 and 495 are nearby. Clint Van Zandt, a former FBI profiler who lives in Fredericksburg, said the location sets the slaying apart. ''This is not bold, this is brazen,'' he said. ''It's a much more highly congested area.'' While giving few details of the manhunt, investigators have logged some consistencies: the killer favors suburban gas stations; takes down each victim with a single bullet; doesn't kill on weekends; and, judging from a fortunetelling tarot card left at one of the shootings, appears to enjoy taunting police. The card read: ''Dear Policeman, I am God.'' |
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If the killer is an Islamic terrorist on his own little jihad, as I believe he is, then this fucker is not a citizen in my eyes. He may even be an alien resident. He's an enemy agent, just as much as those scumbags locked up in Gitmo. The Predator, then, isn't being used to surveil civilian populations for political reasons. It's being used to help defend the citizens of the United States, as part of the government's Constitutionally-mandated authority. |
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Quoted: [url]www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,65711,00.html[/url] Also, it would include sensitive audio equipment for reconnaissance and, officials say, the possible use of a C-130 transport plane, although it wasn’t known how the massive aircraft would be used. Anyone else think that FOX is being a little dramatic when they refer to the C-130 as a "massive aircraft"? |
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Quoted: Quoted: [url]www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,65711,00.html[/url] Also, it would include sensitive audio equipment for reconnaissance and, officials say, the possible use of a C-130 transport plane, although it wasn’t known how the massive aircraft would be used. Anyone else think that FOX is being a little dramatic when they refer to the C-130 as a "massive aircraft"? I hate to see what they think a C-17, or a C-5 is. |
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Quoted: Quoted: So this would be the Guinness Book of Records' most expensive manhunt ever? I'd bet you're right. Also the least logical, most resembling a witchhunt. With the greatest number of unqualified "profilers" who, having no real facts to use (not having seen ALL of the evidence), manage to nail it down anyway. Looking for white trucks, white vans, odd friends, quiet friends, mad friends, discharged military snipers, form4473 .223 rifle buyers, licensed hunters, anything else we can think of. . . Why would we be surprised the fed.gov would be involved? My Guitar CASE! I have a .223 Fender yup, I do |
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Quoted: Hover drones? Sounds like one big Orwellian nightmare. Anyone who supports the use of this type of survellance cannot also believe in privacy or liberty. "Your papers please." Now I know without a doubt this sniper is a . Relax Dude... You don't live here! Perhaps an Egyptian MummyFucker... But government agent provocateur? Take your meds. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: [url]www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,65711,00.html[/url] Also, it would include sensitive audio equipment for reconnaissance and, officials say, the possible use of a C-130 transport plane, although it wasn’t known how the massive aircraft would be used. Anyone else think that FOX is being a little dramatic when they refer to the C-130 as a "massive aircraft"? I hate to see what they think a C-17, or a C-5 is. OoooohOhhhhhhhhh Pick me, pick me! Alien Nation! |
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Quoted: Quoted: Hover drones? Sounds like one big Orwellian nightmare. Anyone who supports the use of this type of survellance cannot also believe in privacy or liberty. "Your papers please." Now I know without a doubt this sniper is a . Relax Dude... You don't live here! Perhaps an Egyptian MummyFucker... But government agent provocateur? Take your meds. Egyptian MummyFucker... Who needs the meds? |
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Quoted: Quoted: Hover drones? Sounds like one big Orwellian nightmare. Anyone who supports the use of this type of survellance cannot also believe in privacy or liberty. "Your papers please." Now I know without a doubt this sniper is a . Relax Dude... You don't live here! Perhaps an Egyptian MummyFucker... But government agent provocateur? Take your meds. Egyptian MummyFucker ,huh... Who needs the meds? |
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Quoted: Quoted: Hover drones? Sounds like one big Orwellian nightmare. Anyone who supports the use of this type of survellance cannot also believe in privacy or liberty. "Your papers please." Now I know without a doubt this sniper is a . Relax Dude... You don't live here! Perhaps an Egyptian MummyFucker... But government agent provocateur? Take your meds. Egyptian MummyFucker ,huh... Who needs the meds? |