-> SNETNEWS Mailing List http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_exnews/19990216_xex_bush_says_ma.shtml ARMED AND DANGEROUS Bush says maneuvers not his business It's a matter between Army, local officials, governor says ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- By David M. Bresnahan ) 1999 WorldNetDaily.com Gov. George W. Bush, R-Texas, says it is not his job to get involved in the concerns over Army Night Stalkers using live ammunition in a civilian area of his state. The Army Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, has confirmed Operation Last Dance began in Kingsville Feb. 8 and has been continuing in other small towns near Corpus Christi. Little warning was given to civilians in Kingsville prior to the event that has prompted some to seek crisis intervention counseling. Angry citizens are now calling for the dismissal of the police chief and his assistant. The exercise involved the elite forces of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment -- the Night Stalkers. A specially trained helicopter regiment stationed in both Fort Campbell, Kentucky and Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia. Night Stalkers got their name because of their special training to fly just over tree tops at high speeds in the dark. They were on just such a training mission in Kingsville last week. Eight black helicopters roared into town, with one nearly crashing as it hit the top of a telephone pole and started a fire near a residence. The soldiers on board staged a mock raid on two empty buildings, using real explosives and live ammunition in machine guns. The two-hour gun battle has residents and some officials furious -- and some scared to death by what they heard and saw. Police Chief Felipe Garza and Mayor Phil Esquivel were the only city officials in Kingsville involved in approving the military training exercise. At least one other Texas Mayor turned the military away for a similar request and accused them of offering a bribe. Both Garza and Esquivel have refused to provide details, insisting that they were sworn to secrecy by the Army. Numerous attempts were made to find out the reaction of Bush. When WorldNetDaily contacted his office, aides were not aware of Operation Last Dance. On Monday an aide acknowledged that calls had been coming in about the event, but no statement had been issued by Bush. Late on Monday a public relations spokeswoman called with a response. "Apparently you need to contact Fort Bragg if you need more information about this," she said. "Apparently in these types of exercises the Army goes through local law enforcement and local officials and not through the state. "So this really isn't an issue that would be dealt with by the governor's office. We're going to look into it further, but at this point all I can tell you is that you need to contact Fort Bragg for more information. According to the Army, they have notified local law enforcement in all the communities that they are doing these exercises in," she told WorldNetDaily. Kingsville is not the only place to experience Operation Last Dance. Other Texas communities are also witnessing similar events.Tomas Sanchez, emergency management coordinator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency is not pleased about what happened in his town. Yesterday he met with county commissioners in a special session to brief them on his own investigation. Sanchez was not notified of the exercise in advance. The police claim they were engaged in a hazardous materials training drill with the Army; however the fire department and Sanchez were not included in that training. Sanchez does not believe the police department claims and told WorldNetDaily that there is a group asking for the removal of Garza and his assistant. Sanchez is a highly decorated Vietnam veteran with 30 years service in Navy intelligence work. He has worked with Special Operations and knows how they operate. He was asked by WorldNetDaily to describe the nature of the training mission. "I can tell you specifically. In my humble opinion, based on my background, the scenario if I were creating this ops plan," he described. He gave his belief as to the scenario the Night Stalkers were working under. "Martial law has been declared through presidential powers and war powers act, and some citizens have refused to give up their weapons. They have taken over two of the buildings in Kingsville. The police cannot handle it. So you call these guys in. They show up and they zap everybody, take all the weapons, and let the local P.D. clean it up," he said. "In urban warfare, the militarization of the police, this thing got out of order. The citizens did not comply with executive order so and so. They refused to give up their weapons," he re-emphasized. Sanchez and other military experts questioned by WorldNetDaily all pointed to Presidential Decision Directive 25 as the document being used to authorize the military to participate in domestic police action. PDD 25 is classified as Top Secret, and even Sen. Orrin Hatch was unable to obtain a copy as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Only a brief summary is available to the public. Sanchez and others believe the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act has been eliminated by PDD 25. The posse comitatus act forbids the use of the military as a domestic police force. "That was a big issue a few years ago, because when they set this thing up back a few years ago, the legal folks, the jack folks were saying, 'Hey, that may have applied one time, but no more. It doesn't apply anymore.' So that's the reason," explained Sanchez. "They kind of give them the carte blanche where they can do what they want to do. They are guaranteed they will not be tried under the uniform code of military justice. They're exempt. There's no way to nail these guys. Even if we got them to court they would get presidential pardons," said Sanchez. "It's a done deal. I think there's some U.N. folks involved in this thing too," he added. Sanchez, 56, is now a lieutenant colonel in the Texas State Guard. He says that he takes the oath he raised his hand to very seriously. "You know, we took an oath when we got sworn in to defend the country against foreign and domestic enemies. It doesn't say what kind of domestic enemies. It could include guys in black uniforms in the assassination squads and so on," he declared. Sanchez was cleared for top secret clearance and was what he calls a "spook" for Naval Intelligence. One of the most decorated veterans of Vietnam, he was disabled and wounded in action. He survived two plane crashes and other close brushes with death. In the Navy he was assigned the responsibility to find bad officers and bad military police. He says he is just continuing to do what he once did for the Navy. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- David M. Bresnahan, a contributing editor for WorldNetDaily.com, is the author of "Cover Up: The Art and Science of Political Deception," and offers a monthly newsletter "Talk USA Investigative Reports." He may be reached through email and also maintains a website. -> Send "subscribe snetnews " to [EMAIL PROTECTED] -> Posted by: "Roger Voss" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
