1033 Program: Putting Battlefield-Grade Weaponry in the Hands of Cops

If you have any doubt as to whether "our" government views its citizenry as its greatest enemy, or that the U.S. is/will become a “combat zone”, consider - in addition to all the recently created legislation and executive orders designed to target American citizens - the 1033 program. What is that? Well, it  "permits the Secretary of Defense to transfer, without charge, excess U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) personal property (supplies and equipment) to state and local law enforcement agencies (LEAs)." In 2011 alone, the Pentagon gave over $500 million of military gear to LEAs.

Thanks to it, cops in Cobb County, Ga. - one of the wealthiest and most educated counties in the U.S. - now have an amphibious tank. The sheriff of Richland County, S.C., proudly acquired a machine-gun-equipped armored personnel carrier that he nicknamed "The Peacemaker."

This comes on top of grants from the Department of Homeland Security that enable police departments to buy vehicles such as "BearCats" - 16,000-pound bulletproof trucks equipped with battering rams, gun ports, tear-gas dispensers and radiation detectors. To date, more than 500 of these tanklike vehicles have been sold by Lenco, its Massachusetts-based manufacturer, according to a report in the Orlando Sentinel.

So, it's not enough that we have the liberty-crushing Patriot Act, the grandma-and-child-molesting TSA, the gestapo DHS, and bill after bill that practically encourages military action within the borders of our own nation; we also have the Pentagon transforming our "protect and serve" police into intimidating Rambo-like soldiers.