Bush could seize absolute control

Bush could seize absolute control of U.S. government
By DOUG THOMPSON
Publisher, Capitol Hill Blue
Jan 13, 2006, 07:42
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_7986.shtml

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.