Bush could Seize Absolute Control
of U.S. Government
by Doug Thompson
http://www.opednews.com, Januaury
13, 2006
President George W. Bush has signed executive
orders giving him sole authority to impose martial law, suspend
habeas corpus and ignore the Posse Comitatus Act that prohibits
deployment of U.S. troops on American streets. This would give
him absolute dictatorial power over the government with no checks
and balances.
Bush discussed imposing martial law on
American streets in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks
by activating "national security initiatives" put in
place by Ronald Reagan during the 1980s.
These "national security initiatives,"
hatched in 1982 by controversial Marine Colonel Oliver North,
later one of the key players in the Iran-Contra Scandal, charged
the Federal Emergency Management Agency with administering executive
orders that allowed suspension of the Constitution, implementation
of martial law, establishment of internment camps, and the turning
the government over to the President.
John Brinkerhoff, deputy director of FEMA,
developed the martial law implementation plan, following a template
originally developed by former FEMA director Louis Guiffrida to
battle a "national uprising of black militants." Gifuffrida's
implementation of martial law called for jailing at least 21 million
African Americans in "relocation camps." Brinkerhoff
later admitted in an interview with the Miami Herald that President
Reagan signed off on the initiatives and they remained in place,
dormant, until George W. Bush took office.
Brinkerhoff moved on the Anser Institute
for Homeland Security and, following the 9/11 terrorist attacks,
provided the Bush White House and the Pentagon with talking points
supporting revised "national security initiatives" that
would could allow imposition of martial law and suspension of
the Posse Comitatus Act of 1978, the law that is supposed to forbid
use of troops for domestic law enforcement.
Brinkerhoff wrote that intentions of Posse
Comitatus are "misunderstood and misapplied" and that
the U.S. has in times of national emergency the "full and
absolute authority" to send troops into American streets
to "enforce order and maintain the peace."
Bush used parts of the plan to send troops
into the streets of New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. In
addition, FEMA hired former special forces personnel from the
mercenary firm Blackwater USA to "enforce security."
Blackwater USA, in its promotional materials,
describes itself as "the most comprehensive professional
military, law enforcement, security, peacekeeping, and stability
operations company in the world," adding that "we have
established a global presence and provide training and operational
solutions for the 21st century in support of security and peace,
and freedom and democracy everywhere."
Blackwater is also a major U.S. contractor
in Iraq and has a contract with the Bush White House to provide
additional security work "on an as-needed basis."
The Department of Homeland Security established
the "Northern Command for National Defense," a wide-ranging
program that includes FEMA, the Pentagon, the FBI and the National
Security Agency. Executive orders already signed by Bush allow
the Northern Command to send troops into American streets, seize
control of radio and television stations and networks and impose
martial law "in times of national emergency."
The authority to declare what is or is
not a national emergency rests entirely with Bush who does not
have to either consult or seek the approval of Congress for permission
to assume absolute control over the government of the United States.
The White House press office would neither
confirm nor deny existence of Bush's executive orders or the existence
of the Northern Command for National Defense. Neither would the
Department of Homeland Security.
But my sources within the White House
and DHS tell me the plans are in place, ready for implementation
when the command comes from the man who keeps telling the American
public that he is a "war time president" who will "do
anything in my power" to impose his will on the people of
the United States.
And he has made sure that power will be
absolute when he chooses to use it.
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