Jade Helm: The Pretend Invasion of Texas That's Driving the Web Crazy

From July 15th to September 15th, over a thousand armed American soldiers will maneuver through the Southwest United States as part of a vast operation with a single motto: “Master the Human Domain.” Internet conspiracy theorists wait their whole lives for a moment this rich.

“JADE HELM 15″ is a real military exercise cooked up by the United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC). It's also, if you ask a certain cohort of internet dweller who thinks each day will be the one when Barack Obama personally carries away his guns, the first phase of martial law in America. When I was first forwarded this slideshow—apparently a preliminary briefing on Jade Helm marked marked “For Official Use Only”—the conspiracy theorists were the only ones talking about the exercise.