Page
9, AMERICAN
FREE PRESS * August 31, 2009 * Issue 35
ON THE HOT SEAT WITH MARK
ANDERSON
Swine
Flu Shots to Be Mandatory for Some?
by Mark Anderson
.
 |
 EVEN
AS THE CDC’S WEBSITE calls the planned, large-scale
federal vaccination plan “voluntary”—
which also is how the IRS officially describes the income
tax—two other federal sources also denied it involves
forcing those who refuse to take the shots.
 Asked
about a recent Fox News report and AFP research that implied
the military might help force the populace to take the shots,
Michael Kucharek, in the public affairs department of the
U.S. Northern Command (Northcom) in Colorado, told AFP that
the military’s involvement in anticipated H1N1 outbreaks
would not involve martial law. He called such claims not
just overblown but “erroneous.”
Reports
on television and online include speculation that those
who refuse the shots may be arrested and perhaps placed
in federal detention
centers, which may include abandoned or under-utilized military
bases or new facilities (AFP July 27, 2009).
The
Army’s Third Infantry Division/First Brigade Combat
Team, based at Fort Stewart, Ga., is under the command of
Northcom to handle domestic duties, but requiring Americans
to take the H1N1 shots by gunpoint or some other “incentive”
is not one of those duties, Kucharek claimed, when pressed
by AFP.
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"If medical people,
government workers,
law enforcement and
military personnel will
be required to take the
shots, why not the
general populace?"
|
“That
is not what we signed up for . . . constitutionally,”
he added, stressing that H1N1 vaccination efforts, as he
understands it, will start at the local level—“and
if we can help in any way with the primary [federal]
agency, we will, but that will not include forced vaccinations,”
he insisted.
“We
would be very much into protecting our armed forces,”
he also told AFP on Aug. 11, meaning that the soldiers—while
Northcom is designated to work with lead federal agencies
to assist in natural and manmade disasters—would not
get too deeply involved in the H1N1 effort to the point
of risking the soldiers’ health.
That
would deplete their ability to defend the nation from attack
or deploy overseas, Kucharek added. His Army brigade spent
considerable time in Iraq and was assigned under Northcom
for domestic duties as of Oct. 1, 2008 for a one-year stint,
and a more permanent domestic military unit is expected
to take over later, according to the Army Times.
Kucharek
acknowledged the established regional joint task forces
linking Northcom with bureaucracies much as the Federal
Emergency Management Agency; he said this involves Northcom
providing logistical support, such as distributing shipments
of the drug Tamiflu and various planning operations.
A
DHS spokesman who preferred anonymity claimed: “It
can’t be mandatory; it would have to be a voluntary
thing. It will be recommended, and those recommendations
will come down.”
However,
a Michigan nurse told AFP that hospital workers where she
works will be required to take the shots. And, we can all
remember getting inoculations in grade school that were
required for attendance. Several shots are still required
for attendance. Will H1N1 be any different? A Michigan state
trooper told AFP Aug. 17 that he and his colleagues will
be strongly recommended to take the shots. But perhaps not
literally forced. There is a thin line between “required”
and “strongly recommended.”
Job
sanctions could be levied against “refusniks.”
Welcome to today’s America.
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. .
..Mark Anderson is a longtime
newsman now working as a corresponding editor
for American Free Press. Together he
and his wife Angie provide many photographs of
the events they cover for AFP. Mark welcomes your
comments and inputs as well as story leads. Email
him at at truthhound2@yahoo.com. |
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(Issue #35, August 31, 2009, AMERICAN
FREE PRESS)
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August
31
at
the Battle of Cowpens, S. Carolina, 1781