Weekly Update - A publication of the Michigan Militia Corps Volume 3 Issue 15 Jun 27 - Jul 4, 1996 ARMY'S URBAN TRAINING Nine Army helicopters swooped into Pittsburgh in the middle of the night this week and turned parts of the city into war zones complete with the sounds of explosions and gunfire that frightened residents and sent one pregnant woman into labor. Fifty of the 70 soldiers involved in the "urban training" exsrcises, all members of the Green Berets, dropped from the helicopters in four urban areas using a special rope they slid down as if they were a fire pole, an Army official said. One witness said he heard the choppers firing at an empty warehouse in a section of northeast Pittsburgh near a stretch of railroad tracks and produce yards. More than a hundred people called Pittsburgh Police Department 911 operators soon after the exercises began about 10 pm. Monday (June 3). Many more jammed the airwaves on local and national radio shows. The exercises, conducted by the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, based at Fort Bragg, NC were to have continued all week but were promptly canceled after the outcry. The spokesman for that unit, Lt. Col. Ken McGraw, said similar training has been conducted in other U.S. cities including Los Angeles, Dallas, Miami, and Detroit with few complaints. Col. McGraw explained, "The special operations force has to be able to deploy in any place in the world at a moment'e notice. The only way you can train for urban deployment is to train in that environment." But some organizations, including militia groups, have used sightings of "black helicopters" as proof that foreign troops are operating on U.S. soil, or that U.S. soldiers are being trained to attack Americans. Col. McGraw said the helicopters that flew over Pittsburgh were "dark olive green" not black. "We don't put out any broad, sweeping statement (announcing such exercises) that covers everybody." he said. "we don't want to unnecessarily alarm people for what might take place, we don't want to create a commotion by having a lot of people wanting to observe the training, which has the potential to create a worse public safety situation." And Col. McGraw defended the urban training, saying the training is crucial and no mishaps have occurred, "besides, if you train in the same area over and over again, it becomes routine. So we look for urban areas that offer realistic challenges and which are as safe as possible." The Washington Times By Joyce Price June 6, 1996 CAUSE FOR ALARM - FBI FILES Wonder what all the fuss over the clinton white House requisitioning FBI files on former Republican officials is about? As someone who has seen my own FBI file, I can tell you there's plenty of cause for alarm. FBI files contain not only private and sometimes embarrassing information, but also some things that are downright false! In 1983, president Reagan appointed me staff director of the U.S commission on civil rights, a post that required what's called a full-field investigation in preparation for Senate confirmation. Years later, when I obtained my file through a Freedom of Information request, I was surprised to learn the document contained not only an ocassional unflattering description but also outright misinformation about me and my family. The most outrageous matarial in my file, however, had nothing to do with me. Although the name itself was blacked out to protect the person's identity, one series of entries contained information that appeared from their context to be about my father. I nearly fainted when I read the entry which referred to an arrest for violent crime. Then noticed the date of arrest was after my father's death, and shock turned into anger. Information about someone who happened to share my father's name found its way into my FBI file. Clinton operatives procured and read at least 408 Republican appointees' files. How many of these files had egregious errors in them? How many more had malicious gossip? How many simply contained embarrassing private information that should remain private? And what did these Clinton appointees do with that information? President Clinton has dismissed this incredible invasion of privacy as a bureaucratic SNAFU and has declined to punish the known perpetrators. Such total arrogance of power should give America pause. USA Today by Linda Chavez June 26, 1996 FEDERAL TROOPS GUARDING YOUR CHURCH? President Clinton is close to announcing a "very significant deployment" of personnel to the south to help prevent -- not just investigate -- arson at black churches. The White House would start by sending in federal marshals and personnel from agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) to help community groups protect their local churches. If stronger measures are needed, however, Clinton may call on governors to activate National Guard units. "This is a change from investigating the fires to guarding against them." says one Clinton adviser. Newsweek July 1, 1996 ANOTHER DUST BOWL? Across the parched southwest, farmers are pitted against severe water shortages with no end in sight! From Los Angeles to Corpus Christi, from Brownsville to Nebraska, the drought pits state against state, city dweller against farmer and farmers against a global weather system that has turned suddenly hostile toward man. Severe to extreme drought conditions now prevail across the whole southwestern quadrant of the United states, a region that includes southern California, southern Nevada, all of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas and most of Utah, Colorado and Oklahoma. The drought has afflicted some parts of the region for up to five years and other areas for as little as 10 months. But whatever its duration, climatologists agree there is no end in sight. In Texas, Oklahoma, eastern Colorado, and western Kansas, the lack of rainfall fairly crushed the 1996 winter-wheat crop. It also lead to a significant shortfall in the supply of cattle feed, which forced many ranchers to cut back their herds. "The turmoil this industry (cattle) is going through is causing a liquidation of historic proportions," said Texas agriculture commissioner Rick Perry. What is saving the farmers from bankruptcy is irrigation -- irrigation on a scale so large it beggars the imagination. But farmers in Texas and New Mexico are once again wrangling over water rights. "We're basically going to be out of water in two months," says Tom Davis of the Carlsbad, NM Irrigation District. Newsweek July 1, 1996