the digest: MICRO EVENT: First, Mr-foreign-policy- let's-eliminate-Iraq-Biden, announces a world crisis, then General- fabricator-Iraq WMDs--Powell further defined ('what we don't even know about right now') Biden's promise of a 'generated international crisis less than 6 months after Obama's election, by pinning down the VP's forecast that ('we can't even know about right now) "there's going to be a crisis which will come along on the 21st, 22nd of January that we don't even know about right now."
Colin Powell Echoes Biden Obama will be tested ".... on the 21st, 22nd of January that we don't even know about right now."
Steve Watson
Oct 21, 2008
Colin Powell made bizarre comments that echo the declaration by Democratic VP candidate Joe Biden that there will be an "international crisis" early into Barack Obama's presidency that will test the new president by forcing him to make unpopular decisions... Obama's running mate made the comments at a fundraising event in Seattle two days ago, on the same day Powell also spoke of a coming crisis. Speaking on meet the press two days ago, Powell officially endorsed Obama and also made the following statement: "The problems will always be there and there's going to be a crisis which will come along on the 21st, 22nd of January that we don't even know about right now.... the former Secretary of State seemingly has a knack for predicting events before they take place. Previous to the beginning of the Iraq war in February 2003, an audio tape containing a voice described as that of Osama Bin Laden was touted as proof positive of Al Qaeda links with Saddam Hussein. Hours before the tape was discovered and aired by TV channel Al Jazeera, Powell announced in the US Senate that a “Bin Laden tape is coming proving Iraq’s links with Al-Qaeda.”... how does Colin Powell know what Al Jazeera are going to broadcast before they do? In an amazing coincidence, the tape came barely a week after Powell's attempts to link Al Qaeda and Saddam in his botched presentation of lies and exaggerations before the UN Security Council.
Unity Through Autonomy in Iraq
By JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR. and LESLIE H. GELB
Published: May 1, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/01/opinion/01biden.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
The idea, as in Bosnia, is to maintain a united Iraq by decentralizing it, giving each ethno-religious group — Kurd, Sunni Arab and Shiite Arab — room to run its own affairs, while leaving the central government in charge of common interests. We could drive this in place with irresistible sweeteners for the Sunnis to join in, a plan designed by the military for withdrawing and redeploying American forces, and a regional nonaggression pact.[...]
Joseph R. Biden Jr., Democrat of Delaware, is the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Leslie H. Gelb is the president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations.
U.S. Considers Dividing Iraq Into Three Separate States After Saddam Is Gone
FORECASTS & TRENDS, Oct 1, 2002 http://www.profutures.comarticle.php/91/%20
Stratfor.com http://www.stratfor.com/ reports that one of the leading long-term strategies being considered by US war planners is to divide Iraq into three separate regions.
Under this plan Iraq would cease to exist. [...]
the digest: MACRO CONTEXT: Dangerous times demand desperate measures. The deepening crisis centered in U.S. finance capital --- where state's shifting trillions of debt onto the people, plus more capital infusions into banks ---- cannot begin to 'fix' the crisis threatening u.s. capitalist supremacy in the face of capitalist rivals and global resistance. Deep structural crises can only 'fixed', at least temporarily, by expanding a losing imperialist world war in order to restructure global capital and geography under U.S. hegemony. Obama has promised on behalf of his imperialist masters to be their man: intensify the bogus 'war on terror' foremost in Afghanistan, pledged absolute loyalty to u.s. state terror proxy and partner israel, promised to stand up to Russia, Iran, N. Korea --- but we're told 'the world will test his mettle'!
“‘I suspect what we're seeing in freezing up of lending markets is strategic behavior... of big financial players who stand to benefit from the bailout"
David K. Levine, economist at Washington University, St. Louis, studies liquidity constraints and game theory. in Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis, http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/
'There would be martial law in America if we voted no.'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaG9d_4zij8
Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif., 27th District) says Congress threatened with Martial Law if bill is not passed
digest: was uncle tom #1 written out of this pre-and-post predictions script knowing he'd rise to the occasion?
As astounding as these bizarre events is this silence of all major capitalist u.s. media about the meaning and basis of the remarks themselves -- great grist it would seem for genuinely sensational news compared to the campaign drivel--- if they had their independent druthers and weren't the state's propaganda arm. What better tactic to delegitimize the issue than make it just sour grape attacks by the barbie-g.i.joe losers. Obama played along, not explaining the basis for teams' predictions, or disowning them, he too attacked the losers response to them and let his 'advisers' interpret:
Obama Says Both Candidates Would Face a 'Crisis'... pushed back against Republican claims that he lacks the experience to face an unexpected international crisis.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/23/us/politics/23campaign.html?8au&emc=au
All the 'news' fit to print about Biden's & Powell's world-shaking predictions:
Palin Again Seizes on Biden’s ‘Tests’ Remark
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/21/palin-again-seizes-on-bide...
....The comments Mr. Biden made on Sunday, however, appear to have generated even more problems for his ticket, eating up media time that could have instead gone to General Powell’s endorsement of Mr. Obama and forcing Democrats onto the defensive.
Senior officials in the Obama campaign, foreign policy experts like former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and fellow Democrats have issued statements disputing the Republican interpretation and offering their own explanation.“What Senator Biden was saying and what is obvious to the American people, and the reason why Colin Powell endorsed Barack Obama, is because American presidents are tested. That is a statement of fact,” Obama spokesman Bill Burton said on MSNBC.“Joe Biden is a plain-spoken guy,” Mr. Burton said. “And what he was saying was something that’s obvious. We have an economy that’s in crisis. We’re fighting two wars around the world.”...
Ms. Palin and other Republicans, including Rudy Giuliani, have focused on only a small part of Mr. Biden’s comments at the Sunday fund-raiser. His remarks were actually quite extensive, touching on both the economy and foreign policy, especially the danger that Osama bin Laden, the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region and a nuclear Pakistan present to American interests.“You literally can see what these kids are up against, our kids in that region,” Mr. Biden, referring to an incident in which his helicopter was forced down due to a snowstorm. “The place is crawling with al Qaeda. And it’s real.” “We do not have the military capacity, nor have we ever, quite frankly, in the last 20 years, to dictate outcomes,” he added. “It’s so much more important than that. It’s so much more complicated than that. And Barack gets it.” After speaking for 15 minutes or so, Mr. Biden noticed [OR GOT A MESSAGE VIA HIS EAR] the media presence in the back of the small ballroom. “I probably shouldn’t have said all this because it dawned on me that the press is here,” he joked.“All kidding aside, these guys have left us in a God-awful place,” he then said of the Bush regime, promptly wrapping up his remarks. ...
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Do you believe that first Biden's, then almost immediately after Powell's, explicit, detailed warnings were 'off-the-cuff', spontaneous comments and the media just didn't get their gravity'?
Or are things going according to national security agenda plan? Before the 'candidates' were selected by the 'electoral college' mid-december, had key geostrategic architects, with top sections of the bipartisan ruling class including military, decided the on the necessity of another major 911level crisis which required a popular new admin. for execution without major public upheavals? Some of the pretexts and preparations for another super crisis have dribbled out in non-sequitur fashion to manufacture public consensus for martial law when the personality cult can't hold:
'non-whites' have been criminalized, charges of racism diffused by Black faces, daily threats of increasing "terrorist" attacks, a permanent Northcom military permanently deployment in north amerika to suppress resistance and revolution in the 'slums', [see http://www.burbankdigest.com/node/131] the military and police effectively merged, and anything the state does already legalized by the state in the name of 'national security', with Halliburton---contracted concentration camps ready in the wings to 'stabilize' and restore imperialist order.
Why now? If the ruling class ever needed to lay the political groundwork for a 'preventive' strike' via an electoral con-game, it's now ------ before the campaign promises fade into a raging depression, the GWOT is escalated internationally and here in 'homeland'. Sucking Blacks and other most oppressed peoples back INTO the system via Obama & Powell was a necessary coup.
For information on U.S. political, legal and military preparations for expanding its global war --- targets subject to change --- and officializing martial law see earlier digests and these:
Top world military leaders meet in Lake Placid
Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and top military commanders from four nations — Britain, France, Germany and Italy — met in a Lake Placid resort to discuss mutual security issues, including Afghanistan.
http://www.pressrepublican.com/homepage/local_story_295092819.html
Brigade homeland tours starting Oct.1 to be an 'enduring mission'
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/09/army_homeland_090708w/
Sep 30, 2008
The 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team has spent 35 of the last 60 months in Iraq patrolling in full battle rattle, helping restore essential services and escorting supply convoys....Oct. 1 for 12 months, the 1st BCT will be under the day-to-day control of U.S. Army North, the Army service component of Northern Command, as an on-call federal response force for natural or manmade emergencies and disasters, including terrorist attacks.... They may be called upon 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 (Consequence Management Response Force, or CCMRF (pronounced “sea-smurf”) attack.... this new mission marks the first time an active unit has been given a dedicated assignment to NorthCom, a joint command established in 2002 to provide command and control for federal homeland defense efforts and coordinate defense support of civil authorities. After 1st BCT finishes its dwell-time mission, expectations are that another, as yet unnamed, active-duty brigade will take over and that the mission will be a permanent one.... the response force requirement will be an enduring mission. How the [Defense Department] chooses to source that and whether or not they continue to assign them to NorthCom, that could change in the future,”...
The active Army’s new dwell-time mission is part of a NorthCom and DOD response package. Active-duty soldiers will be part of a force that includes elements from other military branches and dedicated National Guard Weapons of Mass Destruction-Civil Support Teams....A final mission rehearsal exercise is scheduled for mid-September at Fort Stewart and will be run by Joint Task Force Civil Support, a unit based out of Fort Monroe, Va., that will coordinate and evaluate the interservice event. In addition to 1st BCT, other Army units will take part in the two-week training exercise, including elements of the 1st Medical Brigade out of Fort Hood, Texas, and the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade from Fort Bragg, N.C. There also will be Air Force engineer and medical units, the Marine Corps Chemical, Biological Initial Reaction Force, a Navy weather team and members of the Defense Logistics Agency and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.One of the things Vogler said they’ll be looking at is communications capabilities between the services. “It is a concern, and we’re trying to check that and one of the ways we do that is by having these sorts of exercises. Leading up to this, we are going to rehearse and set up some of the communications systems to make sure we have interoperability,” he said.“I don’t know what America’s overall plan is — I just know that 24 hours a day, seven days a week, there are soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines that are standing by to come and help if they’re called...It makes me feel good as an American to know that my country has dedicated a force to come in and help the people at home.”
[for more see http://www.burbankdigest.com/node/126]
Directive for a "Catastrophic Emergency" in America: Building a Justification for Waging War on Iran? [regardless of target predictions, preparations info. is factual]
by Prof. Michel Chossudovsky
June 24, 2007
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=6134
"Another [9/11 type terrorist] attack could create both a justification and an opportunity that is lacking today to retaliate against some known targets" (Statement by Pentagon official, leaked to the Washington Post, 23 April 2006)
"We're fighting a war on terror because the enemy attacked us first, and hit us hard. ... Al Qaeda's leadership has said they have the right to "kill four million Americans,... For nearly six years now, the United States has been able to defeat their attempts to attack us here at home. Nobody can guarantee that we won't be hit again. ...: (Vice President Dick Cheney, United States Military Academy Commencement, West Point, New York, May 26, 2007)
In the immediate wake of the invasion of Iraq (April 2003), various national security procedures were put in place which focused on the eventuality of a "Second 911". These initiatives in the area of Homeland Security outlined the precise circumstances under which martial law could be declared in the case of a second major terrorist attack on America. Under martial law, the military would take over several functions of civilian government including justice and law enforcement. ... according to former CENTCOM Commander, General Tommy Franks... In an interview in December 2003... outlined a scenario, which would result in the suspension of the Constitution and the installation of military rule in America:
"[A] terrorist, massive, casualty-producing event [will occur] somewhere in the Western world - it may be in the United States of America - that causes our population to question our own Constitution and to begin to militarize our country in order to avoid a repeat of another mass, casualty-producing event." (General Tommy Franks Interview, Cigar Aficionado, December 2003)...
US Northern Command
The Administration's "Catastrophic Emergency" procedures are intimately related to military planning at the level of the Pentagon. In this regard, the formation of US Northern Command (NORTHCOM) in April 2002 (based at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado) constitutes an important landmark in the evolving relationship between the Military and Homeland Security.
US Northern Command was created as a new command structure with the explicit mandate to defend the Homeland against foreign terrorists.
This mandate is defined in the Pentagon's "Joint Doctrine for Homeland Security (JP-26)". Even in the case where the "outside enemy" is fabricated (and this is known at the highest levels of the military-intelligence apparatus), a military coup d'Etat characterized by detailed command military/ security provisions, would become operational almost immediately.
NORTHCOM's "Command Mission" encompasses a number of "non-military functions" including "crisis management" and "domestic civil support". Under Northcom jurisdiction, the latter imply a process of "military support to federal, state and local authorities in the event of a terror attack."NORTHCOM has a mandate to "defend the homeland" ...According to Frank Morales, "the scenario of a military take-over of America is unfolding." And Northern Command is the core military entity in this takeover and militarization of civilian institutions....
The Pentagon's "Second 9/11"
In early 2006, (former) Secretary Don Rumsfeld approved a far-reaching military campaign plan to fight terrorism around the World, with a view to retaliating in the case of a second major terrorist attack on America. This Pentagon plan was, in essence, an extension of the Second 911 "Contingency Plan" agenda announced by Dick Cheney in 2005. The Pentagon's anti-terrorist plan was outlined in three secret documents, of which excerpts were leaked to the Washington Post.
These three documents consist of an overall "campaign plan" plus two "subordinate plans". The second "subordinate plan" explicitly focuses on the possibility of "Second 9/11" and how a second major attack on American soil might provide "an opportunity" to extend the US led war in the Middle East into new frontiers:
"[It] sets out how the military can both disrupt and respond to another major terrorist strike on the United States. It includes lengthy annexes that offer a menu of options for the military to retaliate quickly against specific terrorist groups, individuals or state sponsors depending on who is believed to be behind an attack. Another attack could create both a justification and an opportunity that is lacking today to retaliate against some known targets, according to current and former defense officials familiar with the plan. (Washington Post, 23 April 2006, emphasis added)
The presumption of this military document, is that a Second 911 attack "which is lacking today" would usefully create both a "justification and an opportunity" to wage war on "some known targets...".
National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive, NSPD-51/ HSPD 20
In May 2007, a major presidential National Security Directive is issued, National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive NSPD 51/HSPD 20,
NSPD 51 / HSPD 20 is a combined National Security Directive emanating from the White House and Homeland Security. It is tailor-made to fit the premises of both the Pentagon's 2006 "Anti-terrorist Plan" as well Vice President Cheney's 2005 "Contingency Plan".
The directive establishes procedures for "Continuity of Government" (COG) in the case of a "Catastrophic Emergency". The latter is defined in NSPD 51/HSPD 20 (henceforth referred to as NSPD 51), as "any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions."
"Continuity of Government," or "COG," is defined in NSPD 51 as "a coordinated effort within the Federal Government's executive branch to ensure that National Essential Functions continue to be performed during a Catastrophic Emergency."
NSPD 51 has barely been reported by the mainstream media. There was no press briefing by the White House or by DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff, which would be the normal practice, given the significance and implications of NSPD 51. The text of NSPD /51 HSPD 20, announced by the White House is not even mentioned on the DHS's website.
This Combined Directive NSPD /51 HSPD 20 grants unprecedented powers to the Presidency and the Department of Homeland Security, overriding the foundations of Constitutional government. NSPD 51 allows the sitting president to declare a “national emergency” without Congressional approval The adoption of NSPD 51 would lead to the de facto closing down of the Legislature and the militarization of justice and law enforcement:
The President shall lead the activities of the Federal Government for ensuring constitutional government. In order to advise and assist the President in that function, the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counter terrorism (APHS/CT) is hereby designated as the National Continuity Coordinator. The National Continuity Coordinator, in coordination with the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (APNSA), without exercising directive authority, shall coordinate the development and implementation of continuity policy for executive departments and agencies. The Continuity Policy Coordination Committee (CPCC), chaired by a Senior Director from the Homeland Security Council staff, designated by the National Continuity Coordinator, shall be the main day-to-day forum for such policy coordination. (National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive NSPD 51/HSPD 20, emphasis added). NSPD 51 grants extraordinary Police State powers to the White House and Homeland Security (DHS), in the event of a "Catastrophic Emergency". The Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counter terrorism (APHS/CT), who is slated to play a key role in the eventuality of Martial law, is a key White House adviser, Frances Fragos Townsend.
Foreign Policy Implications of NSPD 51: The Role of the Vice President [note: PRESENT & FUTURE]
While NSPD 51 has the appearances of a domestic national security decision, it is, nonetheless, an integral part of US foreign policy. It belongs to a longstanding military national security agenda. NSPD 51, bypassing the Constitution, envisages very precise procedures which guarantee the powers of Vice President in relation to "Continuity of Government" functions under Martial Law:
"This directive shall be implemented in a manner that is consistent with, and facilitates effective implementation of, provisions of the Constitution concerning succession to the Presidency or the exercise of its powers, and the Presidential Succession Act of 1947 (3 U.S.C. 19), with consultation of the Vice President and, as appropriate, others involved. Heads of executive departments and agencies shall ensure that appropriate support is available to the Vice President and others involved as necessary to be prepared at all times to implement those provisions." (NSPD 51, op cit.) [....]
2007 National Defense Authorization Act
The "Use of the Armed Forces" in America under a National Emergency
Unrestricted & Arbitrary Powers conferred to the President & Vice President
In October 2006, Bush signed into law the John Warner National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007, (also known under the title Department of Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007) [The John Warner NDAA 07 was adopted on 17 October 2006]
NDAA 07 includes specific provisions which allow the military to take control of normal police and law enforcement functions at the Federal and State levels.
Sec. 1076 of the NDAA 07 overturns the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which prevents the military from intervening in the conduct of civilian government activities, including the conduct of Justice and Law Enforcement. Posse Comitatus has been central to the functioning of constitutional government. (It should be noted that other previous pieces of legislation have already invalidated the substance of Posse Comitatus).
What is significant in these specific provisions of NDAA 07 (Sec. 1076) is that they dovetail the provisions of Bush's National Security Presidential and Homeland Directive (NSPD 51, HSPD 20) enacted on May 9, 2007. NSPD 51 would essentially scrap Constitutional government in the case of a so-called "Catastrophic Emergency". . If an emergency situation were to be called by the President, NSPD 51 would instate martial law under the authority of the White House and the Department of Homeland Security. It would suspend constitutional government under the provisions of Continuity in Government (COG). It would establish extraordinary powers for the president and vice-president.
The provisions of NSPD 51 are consistent with an existing body of legislation and regulations pertaining to alleged terrorist attacks on the Homeland and the declaration of martial law. Sec. 1076 of NDAA 07 (DDAA 07), however, goes much further in defining the role of the Military in the case of a "Catastrophic Emergency."
Sec 1076 essentially defines the discretionary powers which would be conferred to the president and the vice president if NSPD 51 were to be applied.
Sec. 1076 of the NDAA 07, which was apparently slipped in at the last minute at the request of the White House as an amendment of Sec. 333, pertains to the "Use of the Armed Forces in Major Public Emergencies." [...]
Student Arrested For 'Terrorist Threats'
'Police say the nature of the story makes it a felony.'
17 Oct 2008 (KY) A George Rogers Clark High School junior arrested Tuesday for making terrorist threats told LEX 18 News Thursday that the "writings" that got him arrested are being taken out of context. Winchester police say William Poole, 18, was taken into custody Tuesday morning. Investigators say they discovered materials at Poole's home that outline possible acts of violence aimed at students, teachers, and police. Poole told LEX 18 that the whole incident is a big misunderstanding. "My story is based on fiction," said Poole, who faces a second-degree felony terrorist threatening charge.
U.S. policymakers mull creation of domestic intelligence agency
CNN
22 Oct 2008
On Monday, at the request of Congress, the RAND Corporation outlined the pros and cons of establishing a domestic intelligence agency. It also discussed different ways to organize a new entity, either as part of an existing department or as a new agency.
