The Shock Doctrine Coming to a Theatre Near You?

Anyone who's read The Shock Doctrine (Naomi Klein) will need no further introduction to this piece of information:

"A new report by the U.S. Army War College talks about the possibility of Pentagon resources and troops being used should the economic crisis lead to civil unrest, such as protests against businesses and government or runs on beleaguered banks.

"'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,' said the War College report.

"The study says economic collapse, terrorism and loss of legal order are among possible domestic shocks that might require military action within the U.S.

"International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn warned Wednesday of economy-related riots and unrest in various global markets if the financial crisis is not addressed and lower-income households are hurt by credit constraints and rising unemployment.

"U.S. Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., and U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., both said U.S. 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 noted." [Emphasis added.]

This article isn't reassuring, either, to those of us who have watched as, step by step over the last eight years, the Bush administration has laid the groundwork for precisely this eventuality--from sinister and anti-constitutional changes to our surveillance laws, to construction of concentration camps on domestic soil, to suspension of the regulatory apparatus that was supposed to prevent the kinds of fraud that have wiped out our investment banking and home mortgage industries. When all of these developments manifest at the hands of one regime, what's a smart person to think?