Cheney, Bush Officials, Considered Using The Military To Arrest Terror Suspects In U.S.

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration in 2002 considered sending U.S. troops into a Buffalo, N.Y., suburb to arrest a group of terror suspects in what would have been a nearly unprecedented use of military power, The New York Times reported.

Vice President Dick Cheney and several other Bush advisers at the time strongly urged that the military be used to apprehend men who were suspected of plotting with al Qaida, who later became known as the Lackawanna Six, the Times reported on its Web site Friday night. It cited former administration officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The proposal advanced to at least one-high level administration meeting, before President George W. Bush decided against it.

Dispatching troops into the streets is virtually unheard of. The Constitution and various laws restrict the military from being used to conduct domestic raids and seize property.

According to the Times, Cheney and other Bush aides said an Oct. 23, 2001, Justice Department memo gave broad presidential authority that allowed Bush to use the domestic use of the military against al-Qaida if it was justified on the grounds of national security, rather than law enforcement.

Among those arguing for the military use besides Cheney were his legal adviser David S. Addington and some senior Defense Department officials, the Times reported.

Opposing the idea were Condoleezza Rice, then the national security adviser; John B. Bellinger III, the top lawyer at the National Security Council; FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III; and Michael Chertoff, then the head of the Justice Department's criminal division.

Bush ultimately nixed the proposal and ordered the FBI to make the arrests in Lackawanna. The men were subsequently arrested and pleaded guilty to terrorism-related charges.

Scott L. Silliman, a Duke University law professor specializing in national security law, told the Times that a U.S. president had not deployed the active-duty military on domestic soil in a law enforcement capacity, without specific statutory authority, since the Civil War.

Comments

[ExxonMcBushCo]

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[HoracePManure]

He sent Terrell Owens instead.

[skepticalindenver]

That this was even considered is scary as hell. I do believe that if they could have shredded the entire Constitution they would have. The more I hear of what went on, the more I support criminal prosecutions for what happened under Bush's watch.

[HLL]

This is the second decision George W. Bush made that I heartily approve of and both were against what Cheney wanted: (1.) To send US troops into Buffalo and (2.) not pardoning LIbby. Great going, Mr. President. You had more backbone than I thought.

[skymuffin]

Draft Cheney to go to Afghanistan. He loves w a r. Now's your chance. Enough tough talk. Go.

[KickerBoard]

Exactly. Amazing how war-like these draft dodgers are! As long as it's other people's kids...

[dessertsfirst]

Would love to send troops to ar.rest Cheney!!

[SharpDressedMan]

Not surprising. He gave the order to the military to shoot down any commercial jet headed for Washington DC that wouldn't change course when warned.

[LynnW49]

"The Bush administration in 2002 considered sending U.S. troops into a Buffalo, N.Y., suburb to arrest a group of terror suspects in what would have been a nearly unprecedented use of military power."

While those of us who live in Cheney's neighborhood in the West are considering sending wild Buffalo (bison, actually) to terrorize Cheney (to gore him, in fact) in an unprecedented use of people power.

[zukervati]

LoL.

[breathestolive]

This confirms what a lot of us thought was going on at the time, that the Bush administration wanted to institute martial law.

And the righties said I was paranoid. Hunh.

[ProfessorDuh]

Fasclsts always say that, right up to the moment when they swing the hammer at your head.

[KriTiKiT]

well door to door, they can knock, and they will have a whole other problem... me ducking the hammer and taking it away from them!

[texasrodeoqueen]

you mean the "reichies"

[zukervati]

I hadn't put it in that perspective, but that's on the money - martial law in the USA, wow. I can plead ignorance, but what the Feck were they paying Addington for? Who would've thunk that Rice was the reasonable one in the bunch!

[headstrong]

And why wouldn't you?

[breathestolive]

Only because it's illegal as hell.

[kmich718]

Illegal search and seize? Is that what kind of country you want? If so, you are really in the wrong place!!!

[talkingdog]

Didn't they consider invading Canada?

[ThankGodhesgone]

Why would the Buch/Cheeney admin need military troops to arrest these people? Isn't that the FBI's job?

[Grim Truth]

"Bush ultimately nixed the proposal and ordered the FBI to make the arrests..."

The article is a waste of space. Cheney had an idea. There was a meeting. It was nixed for obvious reasons. The end.

[Buddy McCue]

Cheney considered crossing the Rubicon.

That IS a big deal.

[ProfessorDuh]

No. Cheney knew very well the FBI could make the arrests. He wanted to march the U.S. military into an American city to establish precedent.

[Bloggerrogr]

Two words, cret1n: Posse Comitatus. Look it up

[CeeCee]

It shows the workings of the mind of cheney. And that needs to be known.

[KickerBoard]

Cheney had a FASCIST idea, seriously proposed. That is a very big deal.

[gakabani]

It looks like 1936 in some country in Europe we cannot mention here due to censorship.

[ProfessorDuh]

Yes. It involved that political party that we can't mention here that the Republicans have become.

[kmich718]

Exactly. The concept of a certain mustached d i c ta t o r in the 1930's is alive and well in the Republican Party.

Wow...ok... where is their bunker???

[JessWonderin]

Would that have been an unmentionable group that used a "domestic terrorist" attack to assume total control - and later decided to cleanse the gene pool of those the unmentionable party found unsuitable to breath??? That one????

[dessertsfirst]

Yeah. That is the one... kinda takes your breath away, doesn't it?

[lazercat2008]

What is Nutzi Hermany?

[johndtuttle]

"Yup, burn the Constitution we will not be constrained in our crusade against the BOX CUTTER wielding Islamic Radicals...they just might take down the most powerful Nation of Earth that can barely bring itself to cancel building more F22s (we already have 187) that cost $361 million dollars each...

[Subterfuge]

We dodged a major bullet there.

[ebanks84]

I would think cheney is the one who dodge a bullett.

[JessWonderin]

dang . . . .

[victor the crab]

Cheney's the one who likes to fire the bullets. Or buckshots in his case.