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by John W. Whitehead
9/1/2005
“For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.”— Hosea
8:7 [1]
As those ravaged by hurricane Katrina begin
the slow and painstaking process of repairing their lives, it is time to
assess how the federal government prepares for and deals with such
emergencies. This is especially so in light of the fact that in June of
this year the Bush Administration reduced funding for the New Orleans
District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers by a record $71.2 million—an
epic reduction for one fiscal year. As the Dolan Media news wire reported
at the time, “The cuts mean major hurricane and flood protection projects
will not be awarded to local engineering firms. Also, a study to determine
ways to protect the region from a Category 5 hurricane has now been
shelved.”
Several things are readily apparent. First, Americans have lost control of
their government. Besides the perfunctory act of voting—and only about
half even do that—Americans have absolutely no voice in how their
government operates. Second, those who wield governmental power often do
not have our best interests at heart. This is no more clearly illustrated
than by the shadow government known as FEMA and its black-op funding.
In 1979, President Carter signed an executive order that transferred many
of the disaster relief agencies into one large agency known as the Federal
Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA. After the events of 9/11, FEMA
became one of the four major branches of the new Department of Homeland
Security. Currently, FEMA has 2,500 full-time employees and approximately
5,000 disaster-ready reservists.
FEMA is generally associated with natural disasters. However, the agency’s
actual purpose is much broader and includes any national emergency related
to terrorism or civil unrest. Its professed purpose is to assure the
survivability of the United States government.
Because disasters have the potential to create chaos, FEMA has expanded
powers which are not given to any other government entity. It has the
power to develop plans to take control of the mechanisms of production,
distribution, energy sources, wages, salaries and the flow of money during
a national emergency. FEMA is also empowered to take over modes of
transportation, take control of the media as well as food resources,
assume control at airports and seize and direct citizens. Congress is even
prevented from reviewing these actions until six months after a state of
national emergency has been declared. Thus, FEMA essentially has the power
to put the Constitution on hold while trying to restore order in the wake
of a perceived disaster—thus turning the country into a military state.
There is no doubt that FEMA needs the ability to obtain whatever resources
are available when aiding in disaster relief. The problem is that all the
power given to FEMA has come through presidential executive orders, rather
than the legislative process, and has scuttled the representative process.
As such, FEMA, which is run by unelected officials, will become the most
powerful governmental authority figure during a time of national
emergency.
Very few people, however, have ever heard of this powerful entity. On a
rare occasion, FEMA will receive a few headlines when the agency organizes
disaster relief for an earthquake or hurricane—such as with hurricane
Katrina.
The one time FEMA did receive major media attention was during the relief
effort following hurricane Andrew in the early 1990s. After the hurricane,
FEMA was called in to head up the relief efforts, but it lacked the
resources to provide the proper level of assistance necessary. Because of
FEMA’s inadequate resources for such disasters, the agency fell under some
scrutiny and secrets about the agency began to surface. What came out of
the critical look was that FEMA was spending many times more for “black
operations” (or black ops) than for disaster relief. Indeed, during the
hurricane Andrew fiasco, it was discovered that FEMA had focused so much
of its efforts on creating bunkers and preparing to protect the “chosen
few” in case of a national emergency that it had only focused about six
percent of its funding on what it was created for in the first
place—actual preparation for a natural disaster. Even more disconcerting
is that only a limited number of Congress members with top security
clearance had any idea that FEMA was spending $1.3 billion-plus of
taxpayer money on secret, non-natural, black op projects.
While this money was being spent, the U.S. government was dramatically
reducing its emphasis on war preparedness for the ordinary citizen,
spending less than 50 cents per citizen by 1991.
Many critics believe that FEMA is a “shadow government” that will take
over at any time. Because it is given very little media attention and
essentially has no congressional accountability, there is very little we
know about the official workings of FEMA. One thing is sure, FEMA does
more than just provide relief after a natural disaster. Two separate but
not necessarily mutually exclusive situations surrounding FEMA provide a
better understanding of their power and the threat they may pose to civil
liberties during a national emergency.
The first situation deals with the circumstances surrounding a little
known exercise called Rex-84. After President Carter created FEMA, little
was actually done to beef it up until Ronald Reagan took office. During
Reagan’s first year in office, he signed a number of directives on civil
defense policy and emergency mobilization preparedness to do just that.
During this time, Reagan also appointed Louis O. Giuffrida, a former
national guard general, to head up FEMA. During Giuffrida’s time as head
of FEMA, he focused most of his attention on preventing domestic civil
unrest and put concern for natural disaster and nuclear war relief to the
side. By 1982, this emphasis on civil unrest had led to the creation of a
joint FEMA-Pentagon paper known as “The Civil/Military Alliance in
Emergency Management,” which ignored portions of the Posse Comitatus Act
in advocating for the use of the military in civil law enforcement. This
new civil alliance gave the military and FEMA more emergency powers to
acquire resources in an attempt to prevent domestic civil disturbances.
All this buildup led to the Rex-84 exercise, which was conducted in the
spring of 1984. Rex-84 was essentially a secret training operation jointly
run by FEMA and the Department of Defense to train 34 federal agencies on
how to deal with domestic civil unrest. Some of the more notable agencies
that were a part of Rex-84 included the CIA and the Secret Service. The
training program anticipated civil disturbances, demonstrations and
strikes that would hinder continuity of the government. To counter these
disturbances, the military would be authorized to move groups of people,
arrest segments of the population and impose martial law to regain
continuity of government. The exercise envisioned at least 100,000 U.S.
citizens, identified as national security threats, being rounded up and
thrown into “containment” (or concentration) camps for unspecified
periods. After the exercise was completed, then-U.S. Attorney General
William Smith raised serious concerns about its legality.
[2]
The current Bush administration has ties with personnel from FEMA and
Rex-84 during the Reagan administration. John Brinkerhoff, who played a
major role in the martial law planning during Giuffrida’s time as head of
FEMA, is now with the influential Anser Institute for Homeland Security.
He has recently published a paper arguing for the legality of using
military personnel on American streets. And the recent admission by the
Bush administration about the existence of containment camps in the U.S.
also raises concerns because these same training camps were part of the
Rex-84 training.
Another aspect of FEMA is Mount Weather near Bluemont, Va., an underground
bunker the size of a small city. This facility is one of a number
sprinkled around the country which would allegedly be used in the case of
a national emergency as a protective facility for high level government
officials.
The Mount Weather bunker, which is built into the side of a mountain,
contains a hospital, crematorium, dining and recreation areas, sleeping
quarters, reservoirs of drinking and cooling water, an emergency power
plant and a radio/television studio which is part of the Emergency
Broadcasting System. Thus, in case of an emergency, the chosen elite will
have a safe haven, while we taxpayers who foot the bill for such secret
facilities are left on our own.
FEMA’s role at the facility is allegedly to establish a “back up
government” in case of a national disaster. Supposedly there is also an
Office of the Presidency at Mount Weather, which is appointed by FEMA and
regularly receives top secret national security information from all
Federal departments and agencies.
The facility, for the most part, was a secret to everyone, including
Congress, until a Senate Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights hearing in
1975. During this hearing, some minimal information about the various
facilities surfaced, but the specifics of these facilities are still a
secret.
Senators were rebuffed in their quest for information about Mount Weather.
For example, testifying before the Senate Subcommittee, Air Force General
Leslie W. Bray said, “I am not at liberty to describe precisely what is
the role and the mission and the capability that we have at Mount Weather,
or at any other precise location.” Douglas Lea, subcommittee staff
director, made these comments: “I don’t understand what they are trying to
hide out there. Mount Weather is just closed up to us. I don’t believe
there’s been any effective Congressional control over the system.” To this
day, Congress still has no oversight, budgetary or otherwise, on the Mount
Weather facility.
We are left with a host of questions. Is FEMA’s broad security power
really for national disasters? What is the real purpose of the massive
underground bunkers? Why is FEMA unaccountable to our elected
representatives? And do we really have a shadow government that answers to
no one?
Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and
president of The Rutherford Institute and author of the award-winning
Grasping for the Wind. He can be contacted at
johnw@rutherford.org.
_______________
American-Buddha Librarian's Comment:
[1]
"For they have sown the wind, and they
shall reap the whirlwind," by Tara Carreon
[2] This is proof that
these presidents, and ANYONE who would support them, are fascist pigs,
that they would terrorize and threaten The People that if we go against
their rule they will put us in prison. It is OBVIOUS PROOF that these
people ought to be kicked ruthlessly into the garbage can of history for
the tyrants that they would become if only they were given the chance, if
only they could get away with it. If we had a Congress who cared one shit
about their job and the people, they would root out -- AND FUCK THE
FASCISTS' SECRECY CLAIMS TO HIGH HEAVEN -- all of these civilian camps,
and if not burn them to the ground, then transform they into daycare
centers. That they would allow these symbols to remain as threats to our
free speech, including the underground bunkers for the chosen, is a
terrible indictment of our entire government. WHAT THE HELL DO THEY DO?
THEY SIT AROUND WITH THEIR THUMBS UP THEIR ASS WHEN THEY SHOULD BE DOING
THEIR FUCKING JOB OF PROTECTING OUR DEMOCRACY. OF MAKING SURE POOR PEOPLE
IN DISASTERS GET RELIEF! Where is the elected or appointed representative
WHO IS NOT A TRAITOR? I would have them ALL rounded up and put in prison!
Fucking ship them all to Siberia!
WE MAY AS WELL LIVE IN RUSSIA! OR CHINA! OR
EL SALVADOR! OR ANY OTHER PLACE WITH A COMMUNIST, FASCIST DICTATORSHIP!
THIS IS TERRORISM AGAINST THE PEOPLE! THIS IS PROOF OF A CONSPIRACY!
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