Link to US Army Document Outlining establishment of Civilian Detention Camps
And now straight from the horse's mouth:
The following is an excerpt from a story titled Bush's Mysterious 'New Programs'By Nat
Parry, Consortium News posted on Alternet.org http://www.alternet.org/story/32647/
In a very chilling statement during recent congressional testimony Sen. Lindsey Graham
suggested to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales a new target for the administration's
domestic operations could be Fifth Columnists, supposedly disloyal Americans who sympathize
and collaborate with the enemy.
"The administration has not only the right, but the duty, in my opinion, to pursue Fifth
Column movements," Graham, R-S.C., told Gonzales during Senate Judiciary Committeehearings on Feb. 6.
"I stand by this president's ability, inherent to being commander in chief, to find out
about Fifth Column movements, and I don't think you need a warrant to do that," Graham
added, volunteering to work with the administration to draft guidelines for how best to neutralize this alleged threat.
This occurs against the backdrop of a January award by the Army Corps of Engineers giving
Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root a $385 million contract to construct detention
centers somewhere in the United States, to deal with "an emergency influx of immigrants into
the U.S., or to support the rapid development of new programs," KBR said.
Later, the New York Times reported that "KBR would build the centers for the Homeland
Security Department for an unexpected influx of immigrants, to house people in the event of
a natural disaster or for new programs that require additional detention space."
Like most news stories on the KBR contract, the Times focused on concerns about
Halliburton's reputation for bilking U.S. taxpayers by overcharging for sub-par services.
Less attention centered on the phrase "rapid development of new programs" and what kind of
programs would require a major expansion of detention centers, each capable of holding 5,000
people. Jamie Zuieback, a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, declined to
elaborate on what these "new programs" might be.
Only a few independent journalists, such as Peter Dale Scott and Maureen Farrell, have
pursued what the Bush administration might actually be thinking. Scott speculated that the "detention centers could be used to detain American citizens if the Bush administration were to declare martial law." He recalled that during the Reagan administration, National Security Council aide Oliver North organized Rex-84 "readiness exercise," which contemplated the Federal Emergency Management Agency rounding up and detaining 400,000 "refugees," in the event of "uncontrolled population movements" over the Mexican border into the United States.
Farrell pointed out that because "another terror attack is all but certain, it seems far
more likely that the centers would be used for post-911-type detentions of immigrants rather
than a sudden deluge" of immigrants flooding across the border.
KBR contract's contemplation of "rapid development of new programs" hasraised eyebrows about why this sudden need for urgency. These developments also are drawing more attention now because of earlier Bush administration policies to involve the Pentagon in "counter-terrorism" operations inside the United States.
Despite the Posse Comitatus Act's prohibitions against U.S. militarypersonnel engaging in domestic law enforcement, the Pentagon has expanded its operations beyond previous boundaries, such as its role in domestic surveillance activities.
The Washington Post has reported that since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror
attacks, the Defense Department has been creating new agencies that gather and analyze
intelligence within the United States.
The White House also is moving to expand the power of the Pentagon's Counterintelligence Field Activity (CIFA), created three years ago to consolidate counterintelligence operations. The White House proposal would transform CIFA into an office that has authority to investigate crimes such as treason, terrorist sabotage or economic espionage.
