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September 07, 2009
Swine Flu: Path to Martial Law? ( Obama's dream of control)
Swine Flu: Path to Martial Law?
Could a form of martial law be imminent? Obama appears ready to cross the Rubicon, and all he needs is a killer virus.
Let’s connect some dots.
Remember President Obama’s Executive Order basing 80,000 active troops at home for the first time in the history of the peacetime military establishment to “help with civil unrest and crowd control or to deal with potentially horrific scenarios such as massive poisoning and chaos in response to a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive, or CBRNE, attack….”
Now connect that information to the recent announcement that the military has established regional deployment locations all across the United States to “assist civilian authorities in the event of a significant outbreak of the H1N1 virus this fall, according to Defense Department officials.”
Civil unrest and crowd control? Significant outbreak of the H1N1 virus this fall? What do they know that we don’t?
Swine flu has been made into a crisis in the minds of the public, even though swine flu, or H1N1, is the most non-lethal “killer” virus ever uncovered. As a cataclysmic event demanding military assistance, it ranks near zero. It is doubtful whether swine flu could even be classified as an “epidemic,” much less a “pandemic.”
Regular influenza, the common flu, kills 36,000 people every year. The 1918 flu pandemic killed an estimated 50-100 million people worldwide over a period of two years, approximately one-third the population of Europe at that time. Global swine flu deaths topped just 1,000 this year.
But President Obama is predicting death tolls of 90,000 and possible infection of up to half the US population.
While every life matters, in statistical terms swine flu is a comparatively minor problem, which makes the hype by those in government and the military all the more suspicious.
The National Guard is even practicing mock takeovers of public schools in the event of an “H1N1 riot,” a description that elicits mixed responses. What kind of riot could arise out of a flu that has only killed 1,000 worldwide? Washington certainly seems to be looking for some rationale for enhanced domestic military involvement, whether credible or not.
Martial law has essentially been on the table since President Obama took office, thanks to the Bush Administration’s dramatic revisions of the Posse Comitatus Act —which limited deployment of the US military at home—in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. With impeccable timing, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has gone before Congress asking for the unprecedented authority to base 400,000 soldiers in communities all across the United States.
A recent US Army War College Report even outlined the conditions under which martial law could be introduced, listing:
…unforeseen economic collapse, loss of functioning political and legal order, purposeful domestic resistance or insurgency, pervasive public health emergencies, and catastrophic natural and human disasters are all paths to disruptive domestic shock.
The CDC is finalizing quarantine regulations formulated during the Bush years that provide for quarantining “a large group of persons” suspected of having swine flu or other illnesses listed in an executive order. This means that President Obama can quarantine anyone as long as they have an illness he determines to be dangerous. These new regulations even permit "provisional" quarantine of persons not actually carrying any virus. In one section, the regulations empower the president to quarantine anyone that does not agree to be vaccinated, an ominous condition since recent investigations have revealed that swine flu vaccines can cause serious medical complications.
Thousands of doctors have voiced strong opposition to the proposed swine flu vaccine, due to its association with neurological disorders. No matter, a bill before the Massachusetts State Senate would permit authorities to enter homes and detain without warrant citizens who do not agree to be forcibly vaccinated. Iowa just released a new Orwellian quarantine policy directive that states in the event of a swine flu outbreak, “your home and other less restrictive alternatives are not acceptable.” These moves appear to be the result of federal incentives advancing mandatory vaccination.
The Army hasn’t missed a step, putting out ads for “Internment/Resettlement Specialists.” And, though most of the wild claims about “FEMA camps” have been appropriately and properly discredited, the fact remains that the Homeland Security Department has signed a $385 million contract with Halliburton subsidiary KBR Construction to build such facilities on an “as-needed” basis.
If you’re not already feeling nervous, revisit President Obama’s spine-chilling campaign pledge:
We cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives we've set. We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded.
With the Serve America Act, this alarming proposition has become reality. The broad authority given to this force is staggering. Section 1505 gives the newly created National Civilian Community Corps the power to address national “needs” related to “natural and other disasters,” “infrastructure improvement,” “environmental stewardship and conservation,” “energy conservation,” and “urban and rural development.” The legislation reiterates that the corps will “combine the best practices of civilian service with the best aspects of military service.”
Nowhere have these two spheres ever been combined that tyranny has not resulted.
If these recent events were mere coincidence, Americans could peacefully go about their business. But Obama is no ordinary President. This is the man who began his political career in the home of terrorists Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn, former members of the notorious Weather Underground that plotted the deaths of 25 million Americans in "re-education camps."
Even so, it sounds crazy, doesn’t it? Mass internment and quarantine of Americans? Martial law used illegally to quell opposition to government policies? After all, this is America, not some banana republic.
But this is not the America of even 10 years ago. This is President Obama’s brave new America. Differences of opinion are criminalized, violating freedom of conscience in the deepest sense. Freedom of the press is assaulted with newspaper “bailouts” and diversity requirements imposed on local radio stations. Children face the possibility of weeklong, year-round education, effectively circumventing parents and making children wards of the state. Czars govern in the place of elected officials. Key private sector companies are now under the direct control of the President.
The President has even proven willing to use healthcare reform to target the elderly, recasting human life in terms of the collective good. The White House has even urged fellow citizens to inform on opponents of Obama’s healthcare bill. In this environment, the prospect of martial law doesn’t sound that far-fetched.
But isn’t this unconstitutional? No matter. The Constitution means nothing to President Obama, who has repeatedly implied the need to “break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution….”
Thomas Jefferson had a different view:
Confidence is everywhere the parent of despotism...In questions of power, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.
But when the President considers the Constitution to be nothing more than an archaic suggestion, no travesty is unthinkable. And the unthinkable is only a manufactured flu pandemic away. I desperately hope I am wrong in connecting these dots, but in light of the President’s stated agenda, and his known track record on ethical issues, the possibility of abuses must be considered. After all, stranger things have happened.
Swine Flu's Worst Case Scenario: Paranoia or Preparedness?
An uncontrollable, deadly virus ravages America, shutting down civilian institutions and triggering martial law. Vaccinations are compulsory, and there are mass quarantines throughout the country.
It's the stuff of Hollywood — but rumors that it could be real are spreading like the flu in the blogosphere, where some people are loudly expressing their fears that the federal government is seriously considering such measures as it maps out a worst-case-scenario response to the swine flu pandemic.
During the bird flu scare of 2005, the Bush administration added novel forms of influenza — including the swine flu — to the official list of "quarantinable communicable diseases," clearing the way for the forced detention of people who exhibit symptoms of the disease.
Now a proposal awaiting Defense Secretary Robert Gates' approval would allow the military to set up regional teams to assist civilian authorities in dealing with the impact of the swine flu pandemic. And some observers see this level of government preparedness as little more than a pretext for tyranny.
"The implications are far reaching," Michel Chossudovsky wrote on the Global Research Web site, which averages 18,000 visitors daily. "The decision points toward the establishment of a police state," he said.
"It would be extremely troubling and raise serious constitutional questions," Chris Calabre, ACLU counsel for technology and liberty, told FOXNews.com when asked how the civil liberties group would react to mandatory quarantines. "We opposed this in 2005 and will do so again because it gives the government blanket authority to hold anyone and has no due process."
Foreign governments, too, are thought to be drawing up worst-case emergency plans that rely heavily on armed forces.
"In addition to planning mass graves and crematoriums operating around the clock, governments are planning to implement martial law in response to a pandemic," Kurt Nimmo wrote on Infowars.com, which has been tracking disturbing developments in swine flu preparedness.
But — even if such severe measures were in the planning stage — would they amount to hysteria? Or would they be prudent precautions? Many point to the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918, which killed between 20 million and 50 million people worldwide. Extrapolating those numbers to today's population suggests a comparable death toll of 360 million people, according to Michael Osterholm of the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy.
"Expect nothing to happen and prepare for the worst, " says Dr. Peter Katona, an infectious disease expert at UCLA. "We will need ample supply of vaccine and a distribution system that prioritizes who gets it and when." But, he added, "we won't need the military unless it becomes really bad, and the National Guard will be called in first."
Defense Department spokeswoman Almarah Belk acknowledged the rumors, saying, "There is a camp of people out there concerned about civil liberties and the use of force."
But she said the planning at the Pentagon is in response to a request from the Department of Homeland Security, and it primarily involves logistics like airlift capabilities for patient transport or delivery of medical supplies.
Except in special circumstances, the military is forbidden from enforcing civilian law under the Posse Comitatus Act, a Civil War-era law that ended the use of federal troops to oversee elections in former Confederate states.
"There are checks and balances in place that prevent the use of the military to restrict people's movement or go house to house," said attorney Robert L. Shannon, Jr., an expert on legal restraints covering the military in civilian affairs.
"But it's important to remember that the president has the option and authority to use federal troops in a national emergency," he added. " I think if we do have a doomsday scenario with swine flu, the American people are going to want their government to respond."
Shannon, who is vice commander of the Georgia Air National Guard, has firsthand experience from deployments during Hurricane Katrina.
"If we learned anything from that experience," he said, "it's that thorough advance planning for worst-case scenarios is essential, especially when you've got to coordinate so many different state and federal agencies."
Forced quarantines were common in the era before vaccines, but health experts doubt their effectiveness and practicality in fighting swine flu.
"This doesn't appear to be an especially deadly strain," said Deborah Lehman, Director of Pediatric Infectious Disease at Cedars Sinai hospital in Los Angeles. "At this point it looks like the seasonal flu will be responsible for more deaths than swine flu.
Many experts privately worry not about an overwhelming government response — but about an inadequate one. "There's simply not going to be enough vaccination doses to go around," said one pharmaceutical industry executive who declined to be named.
"You're more likely to see the military protecting health facilities and hospitals instead of forcing people to get medication," the executive said.
So rewrite the script: An uncontrollable, deadly virus ravages the population, triggering martial law to protect a handful of survivors lucky enough to get a vaccination.
Wild Thing's comment.......
I have no idea if this Martial law would happen. But we need to know what our government has up it's sleeve more then ever since we have a dictator in charge that loves fear mongering and scare tactics. Obama is the danger I worry about and what he would do in situations like the swine flu.
Remember Y2K, total panic. It was the discussion every day in the news. This so called crisis is being pushed like the article said. by Obama and his Homeland Security Janet Reno's look alike, and we all know what a fan of her that we are..... not.
I don't trust Obama and he has surrounded himself with the same kind of people that mirror him in his thinking.
Heck I trust the swine flu more then I trust Obama.
......Thank you RAC so much for sending this to me.
RAC has a website that is awesome. 336th Assault Helicopter Company
13th Combat Aviation Battalion - 1st Aviation Brigade - Soc Trang, Republic of Vietnam
Posted by Wild Thing at September 7, 2009 04:50 AM
Comments
I often wonder if this was made into more than it appears. He wants to quarantine us, keep us in our homes. He even wants to have "internment camps" to send those with swine flu to. No one I know has the swine flu. No one at our kids school has the swine flu. It's all a control thing with Obamanation. He just has to have all the control over everything.
Posted by: Lynn at September 7, 2009 06:56 AM
That doctor that is on FOX on Sunday mornings (yes, I know he's a TV doc, but I like his take on things) pretty much confirmed what I think about it. He said it's a mild flu, take the normal flu shot only unless you are in the H1N1 high risk group. Being suspicious of all things Obama promotes thoughts of martial law, so I don't think researching it is out of line with how many of the people in this country are now viewing this administration.
Likely scenario: it isn't a crisis, just a normal flu season, and they will take credit for it not being a crisis.
Posted by: Eden at September 7, 2009 07:11 AM
Obama went to Mexico and came back with the flu. He didn't have it of course but thats when it started. Now suddenly it's a pandemic ? And everyone is to be vaccinated ? With a vaccine made from squaline which has caused problems in the past.
This hype about this virus is phony. But the reasons pointed out in the article make sense.
I've been wondering for a while why all the hype over a really low level threat type viurs.
I think his goal is to break the American People's spirit so that we go willing into his pre programmed utopia without a whimper.
Posted by: Mark at September 7, 2009 07:34 AM
Not only will the obama bunch "not waste a crisis", they will invent one to not waste.
The big crisis is Iran developing a nuclear weapon. The Dems ARE letting this crisis go to waste for now. The overspending government is another real crisis.
Posted by: TomR at September 7, 2009 01:05 PM
