As Commandos Raid Tampa, US State Dept Demands Power To Declare War?

Clinton Goes Commando, Sells Diplomats as Shadow Warriors ... Clinton, wearing pearls and a silver and black blouse, climbed the stage and began to speak. And soon it all made more sense. She had an idea to sell — and to defend ... She described a vision in which shadowy U.S. and allied Special Operations Forces, working hand in hand with America's embassies and foreign governments, together play a key role in preventing low-intensity conflicts. And where prevention fails, the same commando-diplomat team goes on the attack ... – Wired (5/24/12)

It happened again at the recent Tampa-based conference, "Building the Global SOF Partnership" ...

The US military staged a mock drill in violation of 130+ years of the Posse Comitatus Act that bars domestic forces from active use on US soil.

It wasn't just the US, either. Some 90 nations supposedly participated in the drill, which aimed to "rescue" Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, supposedly kidnapped by terrorists. There were helicopters overhead and a tactical assault showed up by water. Then special ops teams invaded a "terrorist village" near the Convention Center and rescued the mayor, who said he was grateful.

The ongoing militarization of all phases of US society via Homeland Security searches and military training exercises surely should be of concern to those who are searching for a less warlike and aggressive United States.

But the pendulum apparently continues to swing in the other direction. While the mock drill received a lot of attention in the alternative media, statements of the guest of honor, Hillary Clinton, are worthy of equivalent concern.

The Secretary of State seemed to inform the conference that the State Department now had the unilateral authority to declare a limited state of war via an expanding liaison with US Special Operations Forces. Here are some direct quotes:

... We created a new Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations that is working to put into practice lessons learned over the past decade and institutionalize a civilian surge capacity to deal with crises and hotspots.

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