The truth is non-partisan

Beginning Oct. 1 for 12 months, the 1st BCT (Brigade Combat Team) will
be under the day-to-day control of U.S. Army North, the Army service
component of Northern Command, as an on-call federal response force
for natural or manmade emergencies and disasters, including terrorist
attacks.

According to US Army Times, helping 'people at home' may become a
permanent role for the active Army.

Although units were called up during Hurricane Katrina, this will be
the first time an active-duty army unit will serve full time in the
United States.

Based at Ft. Stewart, Georgia, the brigade is training for a variety
of Homeland Security tasks. "They may be called upon to help with
civil unrest and crowd control or to deal with potentially horrific
scenarios such as massive poisoning and chaos in response to a
chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive,
or CBRNE," states the US Army Times.

This action contravenes the 'Posse Comitatus Act' (PCA), but is
allowed by a 2006 Act which lets the President use the military in
major public emergencies.

"The 'Posse Comitatus Act' (PCA), Title 18 of the U.S. Code (USC),
Section 1385, states:

"'Whoever, except in cases and under circumstances expressly
authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress, willfully uses any
part of the Army or Air Force as a posse comitatus or otherwise to
execute the laws shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not
more than two years, or both."

Sourcewatch describes the potential abuses of the Act which has made
the permanent posting of active-duty soldiers possible.

The John W. Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2006 (PL 109-364),
"named for the longtime Armed Services Committee chairman from
Virginia," was signed October 17, 2006, by President George W. Bush.
The Act "has a provocative provision called 'Use of the Armed Forces
in Major Public Emergencies'," the thrust of which "seems to be about
giving the federal government a far stronger hand in coordinating
responses to [Hurricane] Katrina-like disasters," Jeff Stein, CQ
National Security Editor wrote December 1, 2006.

"But on closer inspection, its language also alters the
two-centuries-old Insurrection Act, which Congress passed in 1807 to
limit the president's power to deploy troops within the United States
... 'to suppress, in a State, any insurrection, domestic violence,
unlawful combination, or conspiracy'," Stein wrote.

"But the amended law takes the cuffs off" and "critics say it's a
formula for executive branch mischief," Stein wrote, as "the new
language adds 'natural disaster, epidemic, or other serious public
health emergency, terrorist attack or incident' to the list of
conditions permitting the President to take over local authority -
particularly 'if domestic violence has occurred to such an extent that
the constituted authorities of the State or possession are incapable
of maintaining public order.'"

"One of the few to complain, Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., warned that
the measure virtually invites the White House to declare federal
martial law. ... It 'subverts solid, longstanding posse comitatus
statutes that limit the military's involvement in law enforcement,
thereby making it easier for the President to declare martial law,' he
said in remarks submitted to the Congressional Record on Sept. 29,
2006."

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/09/army_homeland_090708w/
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Establishing_martial_law_in_the_United_States
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Posse_Comitatus_Act
http://public.cq.com/public/20061201_homeland.html