US military exercise sparks fears of martial law

The conspiracy theories grew wilder as the massive military exercise grew closer: food riots and martial law were coming to the United States, some said. Dissidents would be assassinated, Wal-Marts turned into prison camps, foreign troops brought in to help. Then the governor of Texas lent credence to the paranoia by ordering the state's National Guard to monitor a weekslong special operations training exercise called Jade Helm 15 involving 1,200 troops and seven states. Some people reportedly buried their guns so government troops couldn't take them away. Others stockpiled ammunition and supplies. A group called "Counter Jade Helm" helped organize quasi-militias to keep track of troop movements. Jade Helm began last week not with a bang, but a whimper. Bastrop, Texas -- the scene of a rowdy public meeting where people held up signs declaring "no Gestapo in Bastropo" and wore t-shirts with the words "come and take it" under a drawing of an automatic rifle -- was...