Reliving Rome: The Desire for Control
/“A functioning police state needs no police.”
- William S. Burroughs, from his novel Naked Lunch (1959)
Since the horrific events of September 11th, our lives have never been the same. The Patriot Act, The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) are two prime examples of what can happen with fear as a instigator. Fear can manipulate people into war, death and discrimination without much mind paid to the victims nor to the ramifications.
We have all heard of the horrors of the Patriot Act, the secret watch lists (No Fly Lists, wiretapping, etc.) by our own United States government or perhaps the detention and undue processing of potential terrorists (citizens or foreigners alike). Since the implementation and continuation of the Patriot Act and now the NDAA, the concerns of American citizens have been raised numerous times due to the speculative verbiage or generalized authorization these pieces of legislation have been granted.
The Patriot Act, one of the more publicly intrusive pieces of legislation instituted under the United States government, is pending expiration June 1, 2015. Basically the NDAA, usually an unassuming piece of legislation, took what the Patriot Act yielded under the guise of safety and added further authorizations to silence the civil liberties groups/organizations and gather more control for their agenda.
Figure 1: Carlson, Stuart. "Editorial Cartoon." GoComics. June 7, 2013.
Taking a walk through history, I will try to break it down in brief as to how we have arrived at our current destination.
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) had been a commonly used bill prior by the presidency and administration for simple defense spending measures, nothing out of context. However, the NDAA we see today was a collaboration of legislation, sections of executive orders acts and even outdated authorizations...neatly tidied into the hybrid we view today.
However, The NDAA arose from subtle yet suspicious times in the United States. The Cold War.
The first relic from our legislative journey is the National Security Act of 1947, signed by former President Harry Truman. With the air of Cold War fear briskly sweeping the country, the legislation was willingly accepted as necessity for protect American interests. “The National Security Act of 1947 mandated a major reorganization of the foreign policy and military establishments of the U.S. Government. The act created many of the institutions that Presidents found useful when formulating and implementing foreign policy, including the National Security Council (NSC).”
In 1950, The Internal Security Act "(Also known as the McCarran Act or the Subversive Activities Control Act)...strengthened laws against espionage, allowed investigation and deportation of immigrants who were suspected of subversive activities or of promoting communism or fascism, and allowed the limitation of free speech for national security reasons" . Congress passed this legislation despite the veto of President Harry Truman. President Truman opposed this legislation due to its infringement on the Bill of Rights. Later in 1996, portions of the Internal Security Act were ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
Now fast forward a bit and we find ourselves in 1981, under the Presidency of Ronald Reagan.
{photograph} Doug Mills, The New York Times, October 26, 2001.
On December 4, 1981 Ronald Reagan signed into existence Executive Order 12333 (EO 12333). This bill was the official introduction of the United States spying apparatus, it’s reach-immeasurable and the consequences unimaginable. “It established broad new surveillance authorities for the intelligence community, outside the scope of public law.”
Let’s break down the metamorphosis of Executive Order 12333 and the amendments, additions that followed.
December 4, 1981- Ronald Reagan signs EO 12333.
Executive Order 12333: United States Intelligence Activities, “…the executive order authorizes collection of the content of communications, not just metadata, even for U.S. persons. Such persons cannot be individually targeted under 12333 without a court order. However, if the contents of a U.S. person’s communications are “incidentally” collected (an NSA term of art) in the course of a lawful overseas foreign intelligence investigation, then Section 2.3(c) of the executive order explicitly authorizes their retention. It does not require that the affected U.S. persons be suspected of wrongdoing and places no limits on the volume of communications by U.S. persons that may be collected and retained.”
January 23, 2003- EO 12333 is amended via Executive Order 13284 by former President George H.W. Bush.
“…in Part 3.4(f) by:
(a) striking ``and'' at the end of subpart 3.4(f)(6);
(b) striking the period and inserting ``; and'' at the end of subpart 3.4(f)(7); and
(c) adding a new subpart 3.4(f)(8) to read as follows: ``(8) Those elements of the Department of Homeland Security that are supervised by the Department's Under Secretary for Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection through the Department's Assistant Secretary for Information Analysis, with the exception of those functions that involve no analysis of foreign intelligence information.''
August 27, 2004- EO I2333 is amended via Executive Order 13355 by former President George H.W. Bush.
Amended to "Strengthened Management of the Intelligence Community", this amendment "...reflected the fact that the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) now existed as the head of the intelligence community, rather than the CIA which had previously served as the titular head of the IC. EO 13555 partially supplemented and superseded EO 12333."
July 30, 2008- EO 12333 is amended via Executive Order 13470 by former President George H.W. Bush.
Amended to supplement and supersede "...EO 12333 to strengthen the role of the Director of National Intelligence.” And also issued the United States government, intelligence and security unprecedented power over foreign and biasedly focused-domestic surveillance. Working hand in hand with executive orders, the U.S. Patriot Act and National Security...it was just the beginning.
With the strengthening of the surveillance apparatus, there was hardly a need for the "U.S. Patriot Act". No warrants required, not even the illusion of such. However, with the collaboration of the previous legislative processes, the birth of the new found NDAA took these orders into a new horizon.
In 2012, the NDAA took an aggressive and more elaborate turn thus gaining the glaring attention of civil rights organizations and groups.
The wording of these additions matches closely to that of the Patriot Act, formal Cold War legislations and the tailored executive orders of the past. NDAA will not only continue but will be updated accordingly to silence any of the potential government deemed undesirables, protesters, or domestic terrorists out there.
Examples from the NDAA are below:
“Brings Indefinite Detention to the U.S. Itself: The bill now says that detainees may be brought to the United States for "detention pursuant to the Authorization for Use of Military Force" (AUMF). In plain English, that means the policy of indefinite detention by the military, without charge or trial, could be carried out here at home. Right now, the number of people in the U.S. in military indefinite detention is zero. If the bill is enacted, that number could immediately jump to 100 or more.
Bolsters Claims of NDAA and AUMF Indefinite Detention Authority: The AUMF is the basis for the indefinite detention authority included in the NDAA that Congress passed nearly three years ago. Indefinite detention is wrong today and certainly cannot be sustained past the end of U.S. combat in the Afghan war. But passing a new Senate NDAA that relies on detention authority based on the AUMF, just as the U.S. combat role in the war is winding down, could be used by the government to bolster its claim that indefinite detention can just keep on going. Even when any actual U.S. combat is over.
Requires Report on Even More NDAA and AUMF Indefinite Detention Authority: As if the government didn't already have enough claims of indefinite detention authority, the Senate NDAA asks the administration to let Congress know what more indefinite detention authority it wants.
Tries to Strip Federal Courts of Ability to Decide Challenges to Harmful Conditions: In a stunning provision, the Senate NDAA tries to strip federal courts of their ability to "hear or consider" any challenge related to harmful treatment or conditions by detainees brought to the United States. This provision tries to gut our system of checks and balances by cutting out the courts.
Violates Supreme Court Decision by Stripping Habeas Rights from Detainees Left at Guantánamo: In a classic example of why it is never a good idea for a committee to legislate behind closed doors, the Senate NDAA includes language inadvertently stripping habeas rights from any Guantánamo detainee who is not moved to the United States. Habeas is the very fundamental protection of being able to have a judge decide whether it is legal or illegal to hold someone in prison. While this is almost certainly the product of sloppy drafting, the result squarely contradicts the Supreme Court's decision in Boumediene v. Bush, in which the Court said Guantanamo detainees have a constitutional right to habeas.
Blocks Most Cleared Detainees from Going Home: The Senate NDAA would block the transfer home of the vast majority of cleared detainees by imposing a blanket ban on transfers to Yemen, instead of continuing to allow the secretary of defense to make decisions on an individual basis. That would mean dozens of detainees cleared for transfer would remain trapped in limbo.”[1]
Figure 2: Anderson, Nick. "Nick Anderson's Editorial Cartoons." The Domestic Espionage Comics and Cartoons. May 14, 2006. Accessed April 17, 2015. http://www.cartoonistgroup.com/subject/The-Domestic Espionage-Comics-and-Cartoons.php
As we begin this journey into what a police state is and how is it that our beautiful country has fallen to the quickening of a plagued nation of fear, we will understand ourselves and that of our own future. It will upset people, it may even anger people. Often I hear the callous words of ill-informed people, cloaked in optimistic ignorance or perhaps it’s more of an embraced ignorance of living in fantasy.
“Well, if you aren't guilty you have nothing to worry about!”
“You’re just paranoid!”
These bills have allowed our government to override our constitutional rights, no trial and the assumption of guilt without need for any hearing. You can be incarnated without any due process, and you can be cut off from the world without any rights what so ever. And guess what, John Doe?
You don’t have to be a Middle Eastern evil do-er! You can be an American citizen, you can be an immigrant…you can be anyone and there would be nothing your lawyer could do for you.
There is so much disinformation out there on the internet, but a few years back I ran across a FEMA training video. Without much follow up as to the actual source I considered it alarming at the time but variable as to its legitimate source.
However recently more and more information has been leaked out through the media validating this footage (taken in 2001) but for now the evil is of course being used in the attacking of President Obama, this is an oversight and a political game. This bull has been going on slowly and progressively and it is not necessarily completely tied to ONE administration. In the above linked video, the comment of interest is regarding our founding fathers, in which the trainer empathizes that our founding fathers would be considered and are considered domestic terrorists. That comment really chills the blood. Never mind their ambitions, or why…they are a threat.
Now focusing on the training manual that continually is brought up in the media today:
{Illustration} Royalty free image
“A Department of Defense training manual obtained by a conservative watchdog group pointed to the original American colonists as examples of an extremist movement, comments that have sparked fear of a broader crackdown on dissent in America. The training manual provides information that describes, among other things, ‘common themes in extremist ideologies.’
The first paragraph of the section entitled ‘Extremist Ideologies’ opens with a statement that has drawn heated criticism: “In US history, there are many examples of extremist ideologies and movements. The colonists who sought to free themselves from British rule and the Confederate states who sought to secede from the Northern states are just two examples.”[2]
With their definition of what a domestic terrorist is, it displays a truthful view on how patriots are portrayed in a manual. Those who resist government tyranny are the threat, and this was well before the events of September 11th.
Numerous whistle blowers have attempted to warn the American people of the abuse in power and of the exploitation of American civil liberties, all of which has fallen on deaf or manipulated ears. Snowden was simply the most criticized voice, there were many before him all of which have paid dearly for their sacrifices.
Imagine this: You could simply say something out of context online or over the phone and automatically you could be seen as a domestic terrorist. Calls tapped, internet monitored and flights delayed if not cancelled. The definition of such has been blurred by the media, the government and the state of tyrannical fear we allow ourselves to nourish on.
It’s time to wake up, study and listen to one another. Few will listen, but at the very least it can be objectively discussed and researched by those willing and open enough to hear the voices of our past and present.
Reflecting back to the quote from Mr. William S. Burroughs, fore mentioned at the beginning of this article. “A functioning police state needs no police.” What does he mean? The disturbing truth is, with fear and forms of societal manipulation, there is no need for the police because the citizens begin to police one another. This is what a police states’ goal is, a society with no need for legitimate threats just the propaganda of fear and the formulated fuel of hatred. I am not the only person who has taken notice, just as recently Author Stephen King reflected, “Our world is starting to look like Orwell’s 1984”.
The audience remained unsettled, yet the band played on…
Recomended Viewing Material, Regarding The National Security Agency
[1] "Blog of Rights: NDAA." American Civil Liberties Union. 2012. Accessed April 11, 2015. https://www.aclu.org/blog/tag/ndaa.
[2] Bridge, Robert. "DoD Training Manual Suggests Founding Fathers Followed 'extremist Ideology'" RT USA. August 25, 2013. Accessed April 10, 2015. http://rt.com/usa/us-military-extremism-terrorism-right-963/.