DEPENDING who you ask in Texas, the second American Civil War is playing out.
Special forces troops are flooding in to occupy Texas towns and the local national guard has been mobilised. The sound of gunfire is echoing in the distance.
It’s all for a military training exercise called Jade Helm. But in that uniquely American way, conspiracy theorists believe the worst: That their towns are being invaded by the Obama administration, under the guise of Defence training.
Indeed, many of the local residents of frontline Texas town of Bastrop appear to actually be having fun.
But ever since the Jade Helm 2015 military exercise was announced last year, United States conspiracy theorists have had their imaginations in overdrive.
The army exercise is a front, they say: President Barack Obama is secretly mobilising 1200 Special Operations Command and foreign troops to seize control of Texas, New Mexico and parts of California.
You’d better watch out: Dissenters are to be rounded up and held in tunnels under WalMart shopping centres being converted into detention centres. They want your guns. They want your freedom.
But could their worst fears really be coming true? Not quite.
The feds and foreigners have moved in. They’re just inconveniently sticking to their previously clearly defined training grounds. Not a single WalMart has been turned into a detention centre, as doomsdayers predicted.
Front line of civil war ... Main Street downtown Bastrop, Texas, on the first day of the Operation Jade Helm 15. Source: AP Source: AP
Exercise Jade Helm, which began last week, was always intended to give US special forces and a few representatives of its allies the chance to practise and test new techniques relating to controlling hostile territory.
It’s something the US has been doing a lot of lately: Just look at Afghanistan and Iraq.
Be prepared ... A convoy of National Guard troops moves towards Camp Swift, which is also hosting the Operation Jade Helm 15 military exercise, in Bastrop, Texas. Source: AP Source: AP
But the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, wasn’t so sure.
To be on the safe side, he mobilised his National Guard to keep a wary eye over the federal and foreign troops. Just in case.
The National Guard will guarantee, he said, that “safety, constitutional rights, private property rights and civil liberties will not be infringed.” Only if we are ordered to take over by the President.
And don’t forget, the Federal troops will be practising on private land surrounding World War II vintage army Camp Swift — now belonging to the Texas National Guard.
As for the residents of the areas supposedly under Martial Law?
Heightened alert ... Military vehicles are seen at Texas Army National Guard Camp Swift near Bastrop, Texas. Source: AP Source: AP
They’re having a good laugh.
Some are walking about wearing aluminium foil caps to protect themselves from mind-altering rays. Most are happy to sit and listen to the gunfire in the distance. There’s not much at all to see.
Freedom fighters ... A sign at a public hearing about the Jade Helm 15 military training exercise in Bastrop, Texas. Source: AP Source: AP
“I just think it’s a bunch of hooey. All it takes is one person to get on the internet and say something,” retiree Bud Sinclair told the Texas Tribune.
But one brave tweeter has begun to document life under military rule — tongue-in cheek.
“Boss: I’ve been redacted by Jade Helm agents, and can’t make it in to work. Don’t send help. I’ll fight for my freedom.” Devin Pike tweeted. “These guys are serious. One of my captors is about to spill the whole plan. #OMGJadeHelm”
Others remain wary: Stocking up on emergency supplies and ammo — just in case. After all, it could still happen: The exercise is scheduled to run from July 15 through to September 15.
Local watchdog groups are also keeping track on military movements and activities, keeping a bald-eagle eye open for any hint of things turning real.
One such group is Operation Counter Jade Helm — a group of volunteers operating together like a “Neighbourhood Watch” scheme.
Director Eric Johnston told the Dallas Sun Times: “All of the areas that have been chosen for Operation Jade Helm are public areas, and that has led to some concern … We are the minutemen who will step up to the line and say ‘I don’t think so we want to see what you are doing’ “.
Other Bastrop residents scoff at the idea that Obama is attempting to seize control. It’s the UN.
“I’m anti-Obama, but I don’t think they are coming to take our guns away,” one Bastrop resident said. “I’m a whole lot more worried about the UN coming in and taking over the Alamo than I am about the federal government coming in and taking my guns away.”
Defender of the faith ... Bob Welch holds a sign at a public hearing about the Jade Helm 15 military training exercise in Bastrop, Texas. Source: AP Source: AP
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