Right here in our backyard

from the Patriot Post:

Regarding Mark Alexander's essay, "[URL="http://patriotpost.us/alexander/2010/04/29/army-preps-for-tea-party-terrorists/"][COLOR=#0000ff]Army Preps for Tea Party Terrorists[/COLOR][/URL]," the update on this story issued yesterday was [I]not[/I] a correction or retraction, but additional information about the security scenario circulated at Ft. Knox.
In response to our initial inquiries regarding this scenario, security staff at Ft. Knox responded, predictably, "We are not authorized to discuss this exercise."
Before publishing this story, we established that there was, indeed, a security exercise at Ft. Knox this week, and that the security scenario Mr. Alexander described was, in fact, circulated among officers, security personnel and civilians involved in that exercise.
Mr. Alexander's description of this scenario quoted the actual scenario that was circulated at Ft. Knox.
After publishing yesterday, Mr. Alexander was contacted by Command Staff at Ft. Knox who confirmed that there was a security exercise, but that the scenario circulated among officers, security personnel and civilians, had been altered to include "Tea Party" and "anti health care" protesters "in order to make it more realistic."
In his essay, Mr. Alexander wrote, "It's not likely that Ft. Knox Commanding General James Milano or Deputy Commander Col. David Teeples, or even the regimental and brigade commanders for the 16th Cav and 194th AB, actually read the exercise scenario..."
Indeed, Command personnel informed Mr. Alexander that they had neither read the scenario nor authorized it.
Further, Mr. Alexander was informed that the officer who authored the scenario had been identified and would be brought in for "appropriate counsel" to ensure no such highly politicized scenario finds its way into official channels again.
Mr. Alexander says he accepts the explanation provided by Command staff with the caveat that it is not clear why objections to this scenario were not raised within the command by those who received it, thus requiring objections to be raised by The Patriot Post.
The fact that any officer would associate Tea Party folks with "white supremacists" armed with "military grade weapons" and "bomb making components," and believe that association would make this scenario "more realistic," is troubling, at best.
In regard to the verbatim scenario documentation we posted, even though those documents were not classified, Command staff asked that we remove them for specified security reasons.
As our mission is not only to uphold our Constitution by holding those in positions of authority accountable to their oaths, but also to support our uniformed Patriots, Mr. Alexander agreed to remove the documents from our Web site.
In conclusion, Mr. Alexander says, "It is important to note that the vast majority of uniformed officers and enlisted personnel serving our country are right-thinking Patriots who are serving their country with honor and integrity, who are true to their oaths. For sure, one Army officer will think twice about politicizing a security exercise scenario in the future, if he or she still has a future."