With the state of increasingly hostile rhetoric against large swaths of the American population and a history of preparation to match, this is a threat that cannot be ignored.

The possibility of lethal strikes against those designated as "terrorists" within America's borders is apparently a potential scenario the military is willing to undertake. This is according to testimony given before the Senate Armed Services Committee last week by General Gregory Guillot of U.S. Northern Command.

During the hearing, when asked by Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I) if he would be willing to carry out orders to attack so-called designated terrorist organizations within US borders, General Guillot responded by saying:

"If I had questions, I would elevate that to the chairman and the secretary. … And if I had no concerns and I was confident in the lawful order, I would definitely execute that order."

The brazen openness of Gen. Guillot, who receives his orders directly from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, to affirm such a willingness to carry out unprecedented military action up to and including against U.S. citizens on American soil should be cause for alarm.

And while some may look at the qualifier in his statement — "if I had no concerns and I was confident in the lawful order" — as some kind of buffer against abuse, it bears reminding the frequency with which this administration has shown a blatant disregard for the rule of law while simultaneously advancing openly hostile rhetoric towards huge swaths of the American public, referring to millions of average Americans as "the enemy within" for expressing dissent against the administration.

Furthermore, general Guillot is the authority who has personally overseen the illegal deployment of U.S. military forces to occupy American cities which have expressed opposition to the president's agendas throughout the year, particularly those opposed to the rampant lawlessness of immigration officials as they behave with brutal impunity on American streets. When scrutinized by constitutional attorneys and other legal experts such deployments have consistently been found to be unconstitutional.

It should also be considered that these statements come on the backdrop of a spate of extrajudicial executions at sea, during which the US Southern Command under the direction of the Department of War have blatantly and unconstitutionally murdered over 90 individuals accused of being "narco terrorists" without any proof or due process. Actions which amount to some of the most blatant violations of international law in recent years.