Bush with Homeland Security
Secretary Michael Chertoff inside U.S. Northern Command at Peterson Air
Force Base. White House photo President
George W. Bush receives a briefing with personnel from all branches of
the military on Hurricanes Katrina and Rita inside NORAD's United
States Northern Command in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Saturday, Sept.
24, 2005. White House photo by Eric Draper
Headed by Navy Admiral Timothy Keating, US NorthCom is slated to play a central role in emergency operations.
A Joint
Task Force Rita has been created under the jurisdiction of
NorthCom. Operating out of Austin, Texas, the "standing joint
force heaquarters" in Texas is under the command of Army Lt. Gen.
Robert Clark, who is in permanent liason with Admiral Keating at
NorthCom headquarters.
Created in 2002, NorthCom oversees the land, sea and
air defense not only of the US but of the entire North American
continent, including Mexico and Canada.
In the wake of 9/11, its mandate directly responds
and relates to the "threat of terrorist attacks": its stated objective
is to "defend the Homeland".
The presence of the President and Commander in Chief
at US Northern Command Headquarters is of crucial significance. The
federal emergency procedures are being coordinated out of a military
base, rather than from the White House, in liaison with the various
departments and agencies of the (civilian) federal government in
Washington, D.C.
The purpose of the Commander in
Chief's visit to US NorthCom was not revealed. At a press
conference prior to his departure for Colorado Springs, Bush told
reporters that there was no particular reason for his trip to the
Peterson Air Force Base:
THE PRESIDENT : ....Then I'm going to go out to our NORTHCOM
headquarters to watch the interface between our United States military,
and again the state and local authorities. Our job is to assist --
prepare for and assist the state and local people to save lives and to
help these people get back on their feet.
Again, I want to thank the people here in Washington who are working
with the folks in the -- out in the field to do everything they
possibly can to prepare for this second big storm that's coming into
the Gulf of Mexico.
Thank you all.
Q Sir, what good can you do going down to the hurricane zone? Might you get in the way, Mr. President?
THE PRESIDENT: One thing I won't do is get in the way.
Q But I mean, how -- what good can you actually do? I mean, isn't there a risk of you and your entourage getting in the way?
THE PRESIDENT: No, there will be no risk of me getting in the way, I
promise you. We're going to make sure that we're not in the way of the
operations. What I am going to do is observe the relationship between
the state and local government, particularly out in Colorado Springs.
That's what I want to see.
See, NORTHCOM is the main entity that interfaces, that uses federal
assets, federal troops to interface with local and state government. I
want to watch that relationship. It's an important relationship, and I
need to understand how it works better.
Q But critics might say this is overcompensation for the response to Katrina.
THE PRESIDENT: We will make sure that my entourage does not get in
the way of people doing their job, which will be search and rescue
immediately. And rest assured, I understand that we must not and will
not interfere with the important work that will be going forward.
Media reports, quoting official statements, have failed to
address the implications of President Bush's presence at US
NorthCom, where high level meetings are being held: "Bush 'will monitor
the storm and initial response Friday night and Saturday morning from
the military's Northern Command headquarters in Colorado. He suggested
much of the indecisiveness that impeded the Katrina response at all
levels of government have been addressed.'" (Frontrunner, 23 Sept 2005)
"A spokesman says his Colorado Springs visit will 'give him a better grasp of federal preparations for the storm'".
"This will give him a first-hand look at the
Northern Command and how the military is assisting in federal
government response efforts to Hurricane Rita,"
The Militarisation of Disaster Relief
The response to the national disaster is not being
coordinated by the civilian government out of Texas, but from a remote
location and in accordance with military criteria. US Northern
Command Headquarters will directly control the movement of
military personnel and hardware in the Gulf of Mexico. As in the case
of Katrina, it will override the actions of civilian bodies. Yet in
this case, the entire operation is under the jurisdiction of the
military rather than under that of FEMA.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had ordered
NorthCom and "the myriad forces" under its jurisdiction "to assist the
Federal Emergency Management Agency and homeland security". On
the 21st of September, a major deployment of military personnel and
hardware was ordered in anticipation of the disaster. Troops have been
deployed on the eastern Texas coastline:
"Amphibious vessels carrying 1000 Marines and
equipment were taking up position in the Gulf of Mexico, ready to move
in the moment the storm has passed through. More than 5000 Texas
National Guardsmen were also on emergency standby."
Until the 24th of September, there was no
indication, from official and/or media sources
of Secretary Rumsfeld's participation in the NorthCom
meetings. According to the DoD, Secretary of Defense
Rumsfeld and Acting Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon
England "have no public or media events on their schedules" from
the 22nd to the 24th of September.
It is now confirmed
that a top level meeting was held under NorthCom auspices, which
included the participation of President Bush, Defense Secretary Don
Rumsfeld (through video call), DHS secretary Michael Chertoff and
FEMA Director Vice Admiral Thad Allen (video
call).
This meeting had been planned well in
advance. US public opinion was not informed. It was not mentioned by
president Bush at his September 23 Press Conference.(see
above).
(Bloomberg News, 24 September, 2005, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aILvKBBSP6mU&refer=top_world_news )
The
emergency procedures will be closely coordinated by US Northern Command
out of the Peterson Air Force Base, together with Homeland Security,
which oversees FEMA.
What is unfolding is a national rather
than a regional emergency scenario, under the control of Northern
Command. Moreover, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, a total of
42 states and Washington, D.C. have enacted emergency procedures, even
though most of them were not directly affected.
Northern Command would, as part of its mandate in the case of a national emergency, oversee a number of civilian functions:
In addition to defending the
nation, U.S. Northern Command provides defense support of civil
authorities in accordance with U.S. laws and as directed by the
President or Secretary of Defense. Military assistance is always in
support of a lead federal agency, such as the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA).
Military civil support includes
domestic disaster relief operations that occur during fires,
hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes. Support also includes counter-drug
operations and consequence management assistance, such as would occur
after a terrorist event employing a weapon of mass destruction.
Generally, an emergency must
exceed the management capabilities of local, state and federal agencies
before U.S. Northern Command becomes involved. In providing civil
support, the command operates through subordinate Joint Task Forces.
(See US Northcom website at http://www.northcom.mil/index.cfm?fuseaction=s.who_civil ).
President Bush had stated barely a week
ago, that "the Government and the US military needed broader
authority to help handle major domestic crises such as hurricanes."
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff
subsequently classified Hurricane Rita as an "incident of national
significance," which justifies the activation of a so-called "National
Response Plan"(NRP).
The latter is characterized by a comprehensive
framework. The period of time during which the NRP would be in
operation would extend far beyond the emergency period in the disaster
area. In all likelihood, the NRP would modify the functions of civilian
government:
The National Response Plan (NRP) is effective upon
issuance with a phased implementation process during the first year.
During the first 120 days of this implementation process, the Initial
NRP (INRP), Federal Response Plan (FRP), U.S. Government Domestic
Terrorism Concept of Operations Plan (CONPLAN), and Federal
Radiological Emergency Response Plan (FRERP) remain in effect.
(For further details, consult the complete document at http://www.dhs.gov/interweb/assetlibrary/NRPbaseplan.pdf
Homeland Security
The entire Homeland Security construct is based on
the "Global War on Terrorism" (GWOT). The underlying procedures are not
intended to deal with natural disasters. In this context, the national
disaster could provide a justification for a greater role of the
Military in civilian affairs, exerted through Northern Command. This
role would extend beyond the implementation of relief efforts in the
Gulf of Mexico.
The NRP involves concrete provisions which describe
the role of the Military in the case of a national emergency. Under the
Defense Support of Civil Authorities (DSCA), the Military could
assist civilian bodies in law enforcement activities, thereby leading
to the derogation of the Posse Comitatus Act.
Although the preliminary reports are incomplete, the
civilian response capabilities seem to exhibit serious shortcomings, as
some 2 million people flee Southern Texas and Louisiana including the
Houston Metropolitan area, which has a population of some 4.7 million
people.
We are not, however, dealing with a situation of
political inertia, Quite the opposite. The military has taken
control of the emergency procedures.
The scale of military involvement is far greater than that observed in the case of hurricane Katrina.
"Northcom had six naval ships and twenty-six
helicopters on standby to assist the Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA) with damage assessment, search and rescue and medical
evacuation. Military communications teams were ready to assist with
satellite telephones and radios. Officials predicted that Hurricane
Rita would destroy almost 5,700 homes in Texas and cause $ 8.2
billion of damage." (London Times, 24 September 2005)
Northern Command, rather than the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) is already slated to play a central role in
overseeing the emergency operation, namely the military will intervene
directly in civilian affairs under procedures which have already been
carefully laid out in a number of official documents.
President Bush is the Commander in Chief and what is
unfolding at the Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs is the
planning behind closed doors of a major military operation on US soil.
Moreover, this operation is being launched on the same day as major antiwar demonstrations across America.
24
Sept 2005, 02.30 am EST, revised 9.45 am EST, updated 15.45 pm
EST, excerpt from Bush 23 Sept press conference added 25
Sept, 11.50am EST.
Michel Chossudovsky is
Professor of Economics at the University of Ottawa and Director of the
Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG), He is the author of a America's "War on Terrorism", Global Research, 2005.
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