Summary: The Pentagon adopted, just a month and a half ago, (September 2024–ed.) a new directive in the run-up to the 2024 presidential election that authorizes military-intelligence agents to use lethal force against the American people in connection with political unrest that, in many instances, would be protected First Amendment activity.
Mainstream media and progressive media defending the Biden-Harris Administration have tried to waive away concerns about this new directive, which puts American civil liberties at grave risk (especially of the conservative/populist variety). The new directive does revise an older directive but, as explained below, the changes reduce protections for liberty and for activity designed to lead to political or policy change.
Additionally, drones can be used to exercise such force, as can secret contractors and security personnel, who may not even be aware they are acting under the direction of military authorities. Cover plans and obscured contracts can be used to augment military-intelligence assets.
Congressional oversight, stricter media scrutiny to bring these important matters to the attention of the American people, and Executive Branch reform depending on the outcome of the 2024 election are all justified here. Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.
For the full article, including how the 2016 Directive has been altered for 2024, and footnotes, see https://americarenewing.com/issues/directive-5240-01-a-threat-to-american-liberty/ published by the Center for Renewing America.
EXCERPT BELOW:
PART I. WHAT THE 2024 DIRECTIVE DOES
Before looking at what The 2024 Directive does, it is important to establish the baseline of what DOD Manual 5240.01 did (hereafter “The 2016 Manual Procedures”). Chronologically, it should be noted that both versions (the 2016 and the 2024 versions) of the relevant policies were established during Democrat Administrations.
The 2016 Manual Procedures
The first thing to note about this document is that its title does not reference domestic law enforcement. Consistent with this, the very first page of The 2016 Manual Procedures explains that the purpose of these procedures is to guide “foreign intelligence and counterintelligence (CI) activities,” with deviations from that being the exception rather than the rule. In other words, The 2016 Manual Procedures are roughly consistent with Jay’s externally focused theory of intelligence gathering.
Next, The 2016 Manual Procedures establish as a principal purpose “[e]stablish[ing] procedures to enable DoD to conduct authorized intelligence activities in a manner that protects the constitutional and legal rights and the privacy and civil liberties of U.S. persons. DoD authorized intelligence activities are foreign intelligence and counterintelligence (CI) activities unless otherwise specified in this instance” (emphasis added). Relatedly, The 2016 Manual Procedures “[a]uthorize[] the Defense Intelligence Components to collect, retain, and disseminate information concerning U.S. persons in compliance with applicable laws, Executive orders, policies, and regulations.”
These two key points are gone in The 2024 Directive. What replaced them is this set of three bulleted objectives. The new directive:
• Implements Executive Orders (E.O.s) 12333 and 13388, and Title 50, United States Code (U.S.C.).
• Establishes policy and provides direction for DoD intelligence and intelligence-related activities.
• Assigns responsibilities and provides guidelines for Defense Intelligence Component intelligence assistance to law enforcement agencies and other civil authorities.
At this point alone, American citizens should be concerned that: (1) protections of U.S. law for its citizens under the Constitution, statutes, regulations, and the like are now being deemphasized; and (2) the focus on intelligence gathering is shifting from foreign actors to domestic actors. This puts liberty in the crosshairs…One can only conclude that the guts of the liberty and privacy protections in The 2016 Manual Procedures have been torn out. And what is the new Section 3 in The 2024 Directive? Answer: “Defense Intelligence Component Assistance to Law Enforcement Activities and Other Civil Authorities.” In other words, liberty protections have been removed and new powers impinging on American citizens have been granted.