Those scary soldiers in camo with M-16s n Penn Station...

[Bonobo]

Who are they? Is that legal and why? What about Posse Comitatus?

What would opening up with an M-16 do in Penn Station anyway?

Does this bother no one else?

[tk2kewl]

1. National Guard

Doesn't bother me. I wish all of the guard were state-side. That is what they're supposed to be for.

[redwitch]

2. Penn AND Grand Central

I can never figure out if I am reassured or horrified by their presence. Possibly both at the same time

[HockeyMom]

22. LIRR Ronkonkoma Station

My daughter took the RR into Penn yesterday. She said they are all over the Ronkonkoma Station, guns and all.

I've never seen them out here before.

[Incitatus]

3. Conditioning the public for martial law?

[madeline_con]

10. Right, like FL after the hurricanes....

that was the "secret" agenda. :eyes:

[Incitatus]

17. I doubt their presence

in circumstances like that is as unsettling. Personally, I'd rather not see the military doing what the police can do.

[madeline_con]

18. That was my point.

There weren't enough police to deal with the fact that all the traffic lights were out, there was no drinking water, no grocery stores were open and people were homeless because of storm damage.

I don't find military personnel in airports unsettling, but I travelled all through Europe and parts of the Middle East as a teen, and accepted it as just how things were done.

[Gogi]

4. Visited Manhattan for the first time and noted armed soldiers

in Grand Central Station, too. Reaction to 9-11.

[KeepItReal]

5. Just a show of force. Armed Natl. Guardsmen put in airports after 9/11

...whenever they wanted to bump up the security visibility level.

[RobertSeattle]

6. It bothers me for exactly the wrong reason

A skilled person could probably easily steal the weapon and ammo away from soldier at an unguarded moment - they INSTANTLY have access to a automatic weapon and whatever ammo the guys has. (There's an outside this is all for show and the soldiers don't even have ammo)

Sorry to give you the creeps...

[madeline_con]

11. Or they could bring their own....

no need to try to steal one.

[RobertSeattle]

14. Walking down the street with an M-16 or an AK-47?

I recall after 911 where reputable security gurus thought having armed soldiers on the streets is a very bad idea for the reasons I've mentioned - arm them with a club or a batton would be better - but not with automatic weapons unless well trained and well led.

[madeline_con]

19. "... unless well trained ..."

Doesn't that go without saying?

[RobertSeattle]

21. Depends

What units are these National Guard troops from? For all we know they could be from a transportation unit or quartermaster - not infantry or military police. I just personally thinl a lot of the posting of soldiers when we go on these alerts is eyewash and could even be more dangerous that whatever protection is provides.

[madeline_con]

23. If they're really unarmed....

as rumor has it, and the "masterminds" behind the bombs are all in Iraq, what's the problem, right?

Maybe it's for show. I doubt any terrorist wih half a brain would try to shoot his way into an irport to hijack a plane, even given how stoopid and inbred some of them look.

[SouthernDem2004]

7. Same people that were in your Airports after 9/11 and respond to

disasters. Perfectly legal to use the National Guard.

The M16 is a very precise.

[madeline_con]

12. "The M16 is a very precise."

People who are afraid of firearms seem to assume that everyone who picks one up is a moron who loses muscle control and just blasts away into the crowd at any given moment. :crazy:

[madeline_con]

8. " ...scary soldiers ..."

They're really just run of the mill soldiers, right?

>>"Who are they?<<"

Security personnel.

>>"Is that legal and why?"<<

Yes, it is. Why shouldn't it be?

>>"What would opening up with an M-16 do in Penn Station anyway?"<<

I'm going to go way out on a limb here and say to kill someone. I think that's the idea.

>>"Does this bother no one else?"<<

It's this kind of thiking that has airport security searching little old ladies instead of young male Muslim men for chrissake. People need to grow up an get a grip on the real world for a minute.

[Bonobo]

24. Thanks for the insults.

>"Who are they?<<"

>>>Security personnel.

Exactly the kind of uninquisitive response that is allowing this country to morph into a quasi-fascistic imitation of itself. "Oh, they're security!" Thanks for the deep answer.

>"Does this bother no one else?"<<

>>>It's this kind of thiking that has airport security searching little >>>old ladies instead of young male Muslim men for chrissake. People >>>need to grow up an get a grip on the real world for a minute.

Posse Comitatus. Please look it up and consider how it would be if Bush's military (yes, he is commander in-chief) were in charge of domestic law enforcemement.

[Ready4Change]

9. Is this a permament situation?

Or is it new over the last couple of days?

Could be reaction to new info, if it's new. Don't know what to say if its long term.

[cdsilv]

16. ...the guns aren't loaded....

...or aren't supposed to be. When the Nat'l Guard deploys after hurricanes here in FL, they have the guns but no ammo (gets around
posse' comitatus I guess).

When they deployed after hurricane Andrew to the Miami area, one of the guards made the mistake of telling some gang-bangers that their
M-16's were unloaded and ended up with a pistol in his face. He had to surrender his weapon, and this went on until one of them 'happened' to load his M-16 and wasted a gang-banger.

I live in an apartment complex which is heavily populated with Navy personnel (I live near NAS Pensacola). You should hear some of the 'sea stories' that get told at Friday evening BBQ's.

They're not too fond of Bush or his war.

[madeline_con]

20. "... load his M-16 and wasted a gang-banger."

Thank you for an absolutely heart warming story. :)


How did they shoot looters if their weapons weren't loaded?

[izzybeans]

13. They were there after 911, they'll leave when they want us to forget

London.

[wli]

15. so much for Posse Comitatus

Bushler's creeping martial law atop the creeping fascism.