Vigilant Shield 2008

Vigilant Shield 2008

US Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) has just announced plans for an anti-terrorism exercise called Vigilant Shield 2008. The series of exercises is mandated by the US government to prepare, prevent and respond to any number of national crises that would call for the use of the military inside the United States.

Terrorism, Air Defences, and the Deployment of the U.S. Military in American Streets

Vigilant Shield 2008 builds a scenario of a domestic disaster in the US (terrorist attack or natural disaster). It posits the domestic use of the US military including a special role for the US Air Force.

Hypothetically, a terrorist event could trigger the massive deployment of the US military as part of a national emergency. If a terrorist incident were to occur and Iran were to be blamed for the attacks, the military could also be used to shunt anti-war opposition within the US.

A precedent for the domestic use of the US military within US cities was established in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.

Vigilant Shield 2008 is said to be designed to deal with a terrorist or natural disaster scenario in the United States. Yet, the deployment of the US forces in the upcoming US military-security exercise, organised by Homeland Security and the Pentagon, resembles a war-time air scenario over North America and the Pacific rather than an anti-terrorist drill. Canadian territory is also involved through NORAD and so is Guam in the Pacific Ocean.

The Iran Link: Air War Scenario?

The involvement of a Pacific front suggests a scenario of confrontation with Russia or China. The Pacific Ocean, along with an arctic route across Canada are the most likely routes for hypothetical Chinese and Russian aerial attacks in response to a broader global war resulting from attacks on Iran. These assumptions were actually built into last year’s Vigilant Shield exercise (Vigilant Shield ’07).