Portland’s easily agitated are in full letter-writing mode over two Homeland Security Department exercises coming to town, dubbed “Top Off” and “Noble Resolve.”
In letters to Mayor Tom Potter, U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio, other elected officials, and us, the (very) concerned citizens link the disaster drills to a recent presidential directive that would give the executive new powers during a “catastrophic emergency,” as defined by the Commander Guy.
One Indymedia poster called it “the equivalent of Hitler’s Article 48,” and said Noble Resolve “is too dangerous to allow in Oregon.”
“It’s looking more and more like a perfect storm of terror, treason and totalitarianism,” the open letter went on. “Drills like these have a history of going live.”
Really? I’ll bet anyone 50 American dollars that martial law won’t “go live” in Portland during this year’s drills.
Don’t get me wrong: Bush’s rule-by-decree style is deeply troubling. The Homeland Security exercises aren’t. At least, they’re not the end of the world—just a practice run for it.
Paranoia is the new black.
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I find your comments to be very contradictory as if you know things are getting bad, that a tyranny is being set up, but somehow you want to comfort yourself and encourage others to be passive observers of the destruction of our free society.
You admit that "Bush
I’d have to agree with Paul.
As long as we will dutifully follow along with mandates from the "Decider" and his crew,all will be well…
I’m not a Ron Paul promoter,but there is an article posted at his website that is so appopriate,that it is scary.To whit:
http://www.ronpaul.org/
The Fear Factor
July 30, 2007
"While fear itself is not always the product of irrationality, once experienced it tends to lead away from reason, especially if the experience is extreme in duration or intensity. When people are fearful they tend to be willing to irrationally surrender their rights.
Thus, fear is a threat to rational liberty. The psychology of fear is an essential component of those who would have us believe we must increasingly rely on the elite who manage the apparatus of the central government.
The statement
Since neither the corporately aloof nor the deliberately glib media in Portland can be troubled to research it, we, the "(very) concerned citizens" are left to do it ourselves. So, what’s new?
If only the story were sexy enough to make it Pulitzer bait, that might not be the case. At any rate, what we’ve learned is this:
NOBLE RESOLVE is primarily a set of computer simulations designed to test the software used in the identification and allocation of resources in times of massive public emergency. The proposed simulated emergencies for Portland may be an earthquake and/or an act of terrorism, possibly along the lines of a "loose" 10-k "suitcase" nuke.
The exercise is designed by US Joint Forces Command and is being run in Oregon principally in cooperation with the Oregon National Guard. On the face of it the exercise appears safe and useful.
Just now in particular, however, there is a confluence of substantive aspects which raise concern:
1. Vice President Cheney, Homeland Security Director Chertoff and noted pro-war, former-Senator Rick Santorum have all warned of a new 9/11 incident this summer.
2. The May 2007 Presidential Directive NSPD 51 / HSPD 20 (addressing continuity of government in the event of a massive emergency), includes secret "annexes" ‹ pertinent additional documents. US Congressional Committee on Homeland Security members have twice written to formally request permission to review these secret "annexes" and have twice been denied by the White House ‹ disturbing, especially at this time.
3. Terrorism exercises like NOBLE RESOLVE have a history of unusual (often lethal) events surrounding them. Yes, REALLY — see links below to 9/11 & 7/7.
4. This particular exercise, NOBLE RESOLVE, may include one scenario involving an unaccounted for, "loose," ten kiloton nuclear weapon, exactly as Vice President Cheney has warned.
5. The failed agenda of the War Party and its Washington regime has triggered comments from its members and analyses of its current political strategy that points to a new 911 as an asset to the War Party’s political salvation. Moreover, it appears that patsy legends (back stories) are being built to support just such an event.
REFERENCES:
NOBLE RESOLVE
- http://www.jfcom.mil/index.htm
- http://www.jfcom.mil/newslink/storyarchive/2007/pa053107.html
1. New 911 warnings
- http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/face_041507.pdf (page
- http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/07/11/al.qaeda.report/index.html
- http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=6279
2. NSPD 51
- http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/05/20070509-12.html
- http://www.oregonlive.com/oregonian/stories/index.ssf?/base/news/118559492719310.xml&coll=7
3. Suspicious history
- http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=20050808&articleId=821
4. Ten kiloton nuke
- http://www.jfcom.mil/about/experiments/nobleresolve.html
5. War Party wishes
- http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/191942/print/ (3rd paragraph from end)
- http://baltimorechronicle.com/2007/072007Roberts.shtml
- Legends (back stories) – http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/07/27/eveningnews/main1843048.shtml
The wager of "50 American dollars" is fitting, especially as it’s so widely understood that the entire Global War Of Terror has been orchestrated primarily to prop up the collapsing perto/arms/drugs-dollar.
It might be a good time to get out of town for the weekend. Perhaps somewhere upwind. With Bush, Harper and Calderon also meeting this week, an attack on US soil would give Bush the threat he needs to declare martial law and create the North American Union. The Fourth Reich?
Condescension is the new black.
Or maybe it’s just a side-effect of prozac?
Anyhow, it’s sad to see that, once again, commentators can’t seem to find their ass with both hands. They can’t put together that 9/11 happened on a day when there were multiple military hijacking drills happening. (google: Northern Vigilance and Vigilant Guardian), or that 7/7 in London miraculously coincided w/ drills simulating the exact same attack. (google: 7/7 Visor Consulting)
Instead, they rely on those oh-so reliable sources that lied us into the Afghan and Iraq wars, graphics that mock and the uber-condescending tone. It calls to mind the recent article about Michael Moore’s movie, Sicko, wherein the WWeek found they couldn’t discuss alternatives to our for-profit healthcare system without publishing *two* pictures of guerrilla doctor Che Guevara alongside.
It is true that Bush’s "style" (is Dictatorship a "style", now? I’m so out of date) is deeply troubling. Why, just look at what easily agitated SourceWatch and Patrick Leahy have to say:
Establishing martial law in the United States
From SourceWatch
The John W. Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2006 (PL 109-364), "named for the longtime Armed Services Committee chairman from Virginia," was signed October 17, 2006, by President George W. Bush. The Act "has a provocative provision called ‘Use of the Armed Forces in Major Public Emergencies’," the thrust of which "seems to be about giving the federal government a far stronger hand in coordinating responses to [Hurricane] Katrina-like disasters," Jeff Stein, CQ National Security Editor wrote December 1, 2006.
"But on closer inspection, its language also alters the two-centuries-old Insurrection Act, which Congress passed in 1807 to limit the president�s power to deploy troops within the United States … ‘to suppress, in a State, any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy’," Stein wrote.
"But the amended law takes the cuffs off" and "critics say it�s a formula for executive branch mischief," Stein wrote, as "the new language adds ‘natural disaster, epidemic, or other serious public health emergency, terrorist attack or incident’ to the list of conditions permitting the President to take over local authority � particularly ‘if domestic violence has occurred to such an extent that the constituted authorities of the State or possession are incapable of maintaining public order.’"
"One of the few to complain, Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., warned that the measure virtually invites the White House to declare federal martial law. … It ’subverts solid, longstanding posse comitatus statutes that limit the military�s involvement in law enforcement, thereby making it easier for the President to declare martial law,’ he said in remarks submitted to the Congressional Record on Sept. 29."
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Establishing_martial_law_in_the_United_States
Nor should we worry about recent neocon public comments by such notables as Rick "foamy mixture" Santorum, Michael Chertoff, or Dicky Cheney either stating a desire for a new 9/11, nor a feeling that it’s "inevitable". Especially untroubling is necon commentator Stu Bykofsy’s recent column entitled, "To Save America, We Need Another 9/11", – http://www.philly.com/dailynews/columnists/stu_bykofsky/20070809_Stu_Bykofsky___To_save_America__we_need_another_9_11.html
wherein he says:
"America’s fabric is pulling apart like a cheap sweater.
What would sew us back together?
Another 9/11 attack."
Wake up, Portland. We are in the crosshairs.
This glib and mocking tone is irritating as hell. Worse, though, is WW’s failure to do any actually journalism around this situation. Because there are a heckuva lot more perfectly reasonable people talking about this around town. Would it kill you to do your job and actually look into this and at least attempt to separate rumor from reality? Nah, why bother, when you can just snark. It’s so much easier.
What’s Really Happening at Noble Resolve
For a view of what Noble Resolve 07-2 is really about, check out this live blog by Robert Pursell from U.S . Joint Forces Command Public Affairs. He’s posting directly the experiment floor.
http://www.jfcom.mil/newslink/storyarchive/2007/pa082207.htm
SPC. Andrew Orillion
USJFCOM Public Affairs Office