Military surplus equipment: Good deal or 'shadow armies' in the making?

[merrily]

1. "No longer needed on the battlefield?" Why? Seems as though we are always

"keeping the peace" somewhere or other. Seriously, first aid kits not needed? Wrenches?

Is that really because we got peaceful all of a sudden, or because we order too much and don't want to stop ordering too much?

But, let's assume fo the moment that the military does not need them. Why do local and state police need them?

Supposedly, it's that 911 made us realize suddenly that local police were not equipped to fight terrorists. Tell, me, how could local police have stopped terrorists on 911? Hell, the federal government, military and all, couldn't stop them from hitting the Pentagon.

I think, on 911, the federal government got the bright idea that "national security," esp. "Homeland Security," and "terra" were magic words. That we were so shocked and so frightened by 911, that we would sit still for just about anything we dreamed thought was going to keep "us" safe.

Yeah, I don't think this is about local police fighting terrorists. I think this is about making sure that any uprising by Americans can be quashed before it threatens the rich and/or powerful.