THE biggest priority facing this country right now is preventing Bush from starting another war with Iran or anywhere else, but especially with Iran. We don’t know for sure how many horrible things would follow from it, but I’m positive we don’t want to find out, either.

Our economy teeters on the brink of destruction, and it’s going down. A new Middle East war will, at a minimum, seize the flow of oil and drive prices through the roof. Businesses will be going under left and right. That will finish off the economy and take many struggling families down in a matter of days. Everybody’s standard of living will experience a pronounced downgrade. Even for those lucky enough to keep their jobs, the cost of driving will be prohibitive. Travel soccer for little Jenny? Vacations planned for the summer? Flying across country to see the new grandchild? You can forget it all if Bush goes through with this insanity. I believe this would be the best case scenario, by the way. Certainly, many people have predicted much greater horrors including a collapsing food supply. All I can tell you is that having read alternative news for years, I have seen all sorts of gloomy predictions come true and have no reason to doubt them now.

So play that through in your mind for a minute, and imagine Americans freaking out on a wide scale. Now imagine George Bush, the decider, declaring martial law to restore order. This might not immediately strike you as a horrible thing. Many good, law abiding patriotic Americans revere our military and come to a complete stop at stop signs and will no doubt desperately want somebody to come in and take charge and put everything right again. Just like they did in New Orleans. But that’s a very romanticized conception of martial law. The reality would be quite different.

“Martial law” is a euphemism for military dictatorship. When foreign democracies are overthrown and a junta establishes martial law, Americans usually recognize that a fundamental change has occurred. Perhaps some conservatives believe that the only change when martial law is declared is that people are no longer read their Miranda rights before they are locked away. “Martial law” means: Obey soldiers’ commands or be shot. The abuses of military rule in Southern states during Reconstruction were legendary, but they have been swept under the historical rug.

If you think our own soldiers wouldn’t shoot American citizens and therefore martial law is still nothing to worry about, I’m sorry to disabuse you of that notion. I wrote about this a few months back, though the original source link has been removed (maybe they came under pressure for giving out too much information).

U.S. troops are being trained to conduct round-ups, confiscate guns and shoot American citizens, including their own friends and family members, as part of a long-standing program to prepare for the declaration of martial law, according to a soldier who recently returned from Iraq.

…Scott writes that his company hired a soldier who had recently returned from Iraq, who told him that U.S. troops were being quizzed on whether or not they would be prepared to shoot their own friends and family members during a national state of emergency in America.

Who knows how many soldiers might be affected. I think in general most soldiers are kept in the dark while a handful (Marines and special forces types) do the real dirty work under certain commanders. That specialization works great because many people can be deployed, come back and say (honestly) that they didn’t have to do anything horrible. This casts doubt on other stories, like this one above and on the Winter Soldier hearings. It feeds into the ‘bad apple’ belief — always a convenient excuse — though the compartmentalization may be completely deliberate and managed from the command structure. So, in addition to however many soldiers they can convince to shoot Americans, don’t forget those wannabeahero InfraGard mercenary types with their ’shoot to kill’ orders.

One business owner in the United States tells me that InfraGard members are being advised on how to prepare for a martial law situation—and what their role might be. He showed me his InfraGard card, with his name and e-mail address on the front, along with the InfraGard logo and its slogan, “Partnership for Protection.” On the back of the card were the emergency numbers that Schneck mentioned.

This business owner says he attended a small InfraGard meeting where agents of the FBI and Homeland Security discussed in astonishing detail what InfraGard members may be called upon to do.

“The meeting started off innocuously enough, with the speakers talking about corporate espionage,” he says. “From there, it just progressed. All of a sudden we were knee deep in what was expected of us when martial law is declared. We were expected to share all our resources, but in return we’d be given specific benefits.” These included, he says, the ability to travel in restricted areas and to get people out.

But that’s not all.

“Then they said when—not if—martial law is declared, it was our responsibility to protect our portion of the infrastructure, and if we had to use deadly force to protect it, we couldn’t be prosecuted,” he says.

Chilling. If you’ve never read this story, get thee over to that last link right away. And by all means, read this entire above referenced piece about martial law. I cannot emphasize enough how urgently people need to understand the stakes involved right this very minute. I have heard people talk about a strike on Iran as another ho hum event. No, no, no. I understand that people have been lulled into that sort of thinking, but you must look at these events in complete context. Our economy lies on its very deathbed. Iran represents the ultimate prize in the neocons’ PNAC document. Bush and Cheney have only months remaining in their term. Meanwhile, people are catching onto Israel’s real role in wrecking havoc and totally interfering with, or more accurately running US foreign policy.

It is high noon at the OK Corral. These people don’t have much time left, and they know it. Do not expect them to slink off quietly. They have shown time and time again utter disregard and contempt for anyone outside their circle of power. That means you, Proud American Citizen! They’ve outright murdered over a million people and caused the ruin of many millions more, both at home and abroad. Do not think for one split second that they operate in any moral paradigm that you might be familiar with. They simply do not.

If Americans are to have any future worth having, we must prevent a war with Iran.