A new report by the US Army War College's Strategic Institute warns of massive domestic unrest in the wake of converging crises that it terms a "strategic shock," and discusses the possibility of Pentagon resources and troops being used at home. "Widespread civil violence inside the United States would force the defense establishment to reorient priorities in extremis to defend basic domestic order and human security," reads the Nov. 8 report, "Known Unknowns: Unconventional 'Strategic Shocks' in Defense Strategy Development" by Nathan P. Freier of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

"Deliberate employment of weapons of mass destruction or other catastrophic capabilities, unforeseen economic collapse, loss of functioning political and legal order, purposeful domestic resistance or insurgency, pervasive public health emergencies, and catastrophic natural and human disasters are all paths to disruptive domestic shock," the report continues.

The report raises the prospect of imminent widespread civil unrest, such as protests against corporations and government or runs on beleaguered banks. The report was picked up by the fringe conspiracy website Prison Planet Dec. 16. Of the mainstream media, only Phoenix Business Journal appears to have covered it. Its Dec. 15 article notes that a 1994 US Defense Department Directive (DODD 3025) allows military commanders to take domestic actions in emergency situations. It also states that International Monetary Fund managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn warned last week of global riots and unrest in if the financial crisis is not addressed. The story also recalls that Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) and Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) both said Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson brought up a worst-case scenario as he pushed for the Wall Street bailout in September. Paulson, former Goldman Sachs CEO, said that might even require a declaration of martial law, the two claimed.

Perhaps a January Surprise?

See our last posts on the econocataclysm and the domestic police state.

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