Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

February 27, 2009

Until forced to change its plans because of public outcry, a National Guard unit from Carroll, Iowa planned to hold a four-day training exercise in civilian disarmament in the nearby town of Arcadia.

The drill involved a staged search for, and apprehension of, a figure called an ?arms dealer.? The operation was designed to train troops to carry out door-to-door searches and vehicle inspections, as well as methods of crowd and traffic control.

While these tactics are associated with long-term military occupations abroad, they also resemble the methods used with ever-greater frequency by our increasingly militarized domestic law enforcement. Chicago, for instance, has a new anti-gang unit -- commanded by a Marine veteran of the Iraq war -- employing the same tactics used by troops patrolling Fallujah.

The abortive training exercise in Iowa suggests that outright military occupation of US cities is a real and troubling possibility.

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.