4um: U.S. Detention Centers are Part of Long-Term DHS Plan: "ENDGAME," Part I

Title: U.S. Detention Centers are Part of Long-Term DHS Plan: "ENDGAME," Part I
Source: Daily Kos
URL Source: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/9/30/74155/1739
Published: Sep 30, 2007
Author: Residentcynic
Post Date: 2007-09-30 12:21:35 by Zipporah
Keywords: None
Views: 1579
Comments: 113

by Residentcynic [Subscribe]

Sun Sep 30, 2007 at 04:41:55 AM PDT

ENDGAME is the policy executed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its sub-agencies, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Office of Detention and Removal (DRO), that is part of a sweeping 10-year plan (2002-2012) to: 1) apprehend, 2) incarcerate (detain), 3) "process"—(investigate and question), and 4) remove all removable aliens or potential terrorists. The order of apprehension to removal is literal, as the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under DHS shifted the traditionally two-pronged approach of 1)investigation, 2)detention-removal to a one-pronged approach in 2000: detention-first and "process" the person while incarcerated. (p. 2-7 of ENDGAME document)

This is especially troubling, as the detention-removal prong was originally set up for aliens who had committed crimes. According to ICE, the investigation prong was discarded in 2000 because incarcerating first "reduce[s] potential demand for detention space, save[s] money,"increase[s] public safety, reduce[s] the potential for future crimes, and enhance[s] the welfare of our society." (2-7)

In 2000, 2004, and most recently on January 22, 2006, DHS awarded Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown, and Root (KBR) a contingency contract from DHS. The 2006 contract gave KBR $385 million "to establish temporary detention and processing capabilities to expand existing ICE Detention and Removal Operations Program facilities in the event of an emergency influx of immigrants into the U.S.,or to support the rapid development of new programs."

Two weeks later, on Feb. 6, 2006, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, "announced that the Fiscal Year 2007 federal budget would allocate over $400 million to add 6,700 additional detention beds. This $400 million allocation is more than a four-fold increase over the FY 2006 budget, which provided only $90 million for the same purpose." The contract accomodates "up to 20,000 refugees from environmental and political disasters. A future expansion in 2008 calls for another 20,000 beds."

Four hundred million dollars and 40,000+ beds is certainly a bizarre way to save money and improve efficiency, no? Further, the contingency in the contract provides that KBR gets paid well before an "immigrant emergency" happens, and funds KBR even if an emergency doesn't occur. Representative Henry A. Waxman, (D-CA), called the contract "worrisome."

"With Halliburton's ever expanding track record of overcharging, it's hard to believe that the administration has decided to entrust Halliburton with even more taxpayer dollars," Mr. Waxman said. "With each new contract, the need for real oversight grows."

If KBR building enough detention centers by the end of this year to incarcerate 20,000+ people, and another 20,000 by 2008, isn’t enough to give one pause, the spokespeople should:

"A spokesman for the [Army Corps of Engineers, who issued the bid], Clayton Church, said that the centers could be at unused military sites or temporary structures and that each one would hold up to 5,000 people." He also claimed the reason for the centers were to "feed, house, and protect" the immigrants.

(Perhaps the 30 bases that Rumsfeld decommissioned just weeks after the 9-11 attacks are what they have in mind.)

A spokeswoman for ICE, Jamie Zuieback, said:

"KBR would build the centers only in an emergency like the one when thousands of Cubans floated on rafts to the United States."

She emphasized that the centers might never be built if such an emergency did not arise.

"It's the type of contract that could be used in some kind of mass migration" Ms. Zuieback said.

Mass migration into the United States? The same United States that deports "potential terrorists" to Guantanamo and other far flung renditions? Sorry, I don’t buy it. I believe ENDGAME's program "is designed to house additional detainees who have not been convicted of crimes."

Attorney Ahilan Arulanantham with the ACLU of Southern California told AlterNet":

"Obviously, if the government's intentions are to care for refugees displaced by a natural disaster, we have no problem with that. But with the numbers of detentions, which have exploded since 1996 and more so after Sept. 11 -- and remember after 9/11, the government detained over 1,000 people in New York City, none of whom were linked to terrorist activity -- based on stories like these, we fear that their program could victimize people fleeing persecution or calamity, the very people that the program is designed to help."

BACKGROUND:

Not surprisingly, the original highly classified version of ENDGAME began during the Reagan administration, and was called "Continuity of Government" or COG. The planners included Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld when Cheney was a congressman for Wyoming and Rumsfeld was former defense secretary under Gerald Ford, and CEO of G.D. Serle, a pharmaceutical company.

"Under it U.S. officials furtively carried out detailed planning exercises for keeping the federal government running during and after a nuclear war with the Soviet Union. The program called for setting aside the legal rules for presidential succession in some circumstances, in favor of a secret procedure for putting in place a new "President" and his staff. The idea was to concentrate on speed, to preserve "continuity of government," and to avoid cumbersome procedures; the speaker of the House, the president pro tempore of the Senate, and the rest of Congress would play a greatly diminished role."

"COG proposals included vastly expanded detention capabilities, warrantless eavesdropping and detention, and preparations for greater use of martial law. These men planned for suspension of the Constitution, not just after nuclear attack, but for any "national security emergency," which they defined in Executive Order 12656 of 1988 as: 'Any occurrence, including natural disaster, military attack, technological or other emergency, that seriously degrades or seriously threatens the national security of the United States.'"

COG was made official in 2002 as a Commission, and is "an American Enterprise Institute and Brookings Institution project, funded by the Carnegie, Hewlett, Packard, and MacArthur Foundations." President Jimmy Carter is the honorary chairman and Lloyd Cutler and Alan Simpson are the commission's co-chairs; its members include Newt Gingrich, Leon Panetta, Jamie Gorelick, and other notables. On the website, the introduction describes its reason for existence:

"September 11th raised the possibility that foreign enemies might seriously disrupt the filling of vacancies in Congress, presidential succession, and achieving a quorum for the Court so much so that our basic institutions might not function in a normal constitutional manner."

According to the Washington Post and the 9-11 Commission Report, Vice President Cheney implemented a COG plan in the form of a "shadow government" by the new name of "Continuity of Operations Plan" (COP) immediately after 9-11, which dispatched "100 senior civilian managers to live and work secretly outside Washington, activating for the first time long-standing plans to ensure survival of federal rule after catastrophic attack on the nation's capital." The extent of their operation has never been reported. (Also reported on CBS News and CNN.)

Although I don’t agree with his platform, Rep. Ron Paul has this to say about COG and its Commision:

The "Continuity of Government Commission" (COGC), spearheaded by the Brookings Institution and the American Enterprise Institute, recently issued proposals for the operation of Congress following a catastrophic terrorist attack. Specifically, COGC advocates a constitutional amendment calling for the appointment of individuals to the House of Representatives to fill the seats of dead or incapacitated members, a first in American history. An examination of the proposal reveals that it is both unnecessary and dangerous.

Note that COGC is "self-commissioned," its members being neither elected nor appointed by any government body. The biographies of the commissioners demonstrate that COGC is made up mostly of professional lobbyists. Of course COGC is well-intentioned, but the nation should know exactly who is trying to substitute their wisdom for that of James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and other framers of the Constitution. I think most Americans would prefer that proposals to amend the Constitution come from elected lawmakers or grassroots efforts, not from think tanks and lobbyists.

One reading the COGC proposal cannot help but sense the familiar Washington conceit at work, a conceit that sees America as totally dependent on the workings of Capitol Hill. It is simply unthinkable to many in Washington that the American people might survive a period in which Congress did not pass any new laws. But the truth is that the federal state is not America. The American people have always been remarkably resilient in the face of emergencies, and individual states are far more equipped to deal with emergencies and fill congressional vacancies than COGC imagines.

In summary, ENDGAME is the second phase of a Reagan-era program, COG, furthered by Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld to thwart the constitutional process of succession in case of an national emergency or disaster. ENDGAME is now aligned with the immigration arm of government, and also terrorism. It's goal, or "endgame" is to round up and detain "all" deportable aliens or "potential terrorists" before 2012, some 12 million is a conservative estimate. A heady feat, but well on its way with a $400 million contingency contract awarded to Halliburton's subsidiary, Kellogg, Brown, and Root by the Department of Homeland Security.

If it weren't for everything we've been through these last six years, I wouldn't believe these programs were legitimate. Unfortunately, they are. This isn't the America I know, this is fascism.

I plan on doing another diary, a Part II, in the next week or two, which will detail current ICE abuses and immigration issues. This walk has become a marathon, and I don't want to abscond anyone else's material. BTW, I searched the terms, "ENDGAME" "Detention Centers" "COG" and "KBR" and didn't come up with any diaries on these subjects. Apologies if I repeated anyone's material.

A final note: I tried to keep personal commentary to a minimum (hard!) to let the facts speak for themselves.

Thanks for reading,
RC

.. you have a total disconnect with reality #1.. and no knowledge of history .. if you did you'd get a clue.. how about watching this ..it may just spark a brain cell or two that's been idle for so long...

1 Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

Save me the trouble of watching the whole thing and just tell me what it has to do with this post.

you're not here to learn a thing or to debate in good faith. if you were, you'd at least watch the video and then discuss what it is you think is inaccurate.

I watched the first few moments of the video. All it talked about was the Bush connection to the Nazi regime.

"When president Ronald Reagan was considering invading Nicaragua he issued a series of executive orders that provided the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) with broad powers in the event of a "crisis" such as "violent and widespread internal dissent or national opposition against a US military invasion abroad". They were never used.

But with the looming possibility of a US invasion of Iraq, recent pronouncements by President George Bush's domestic security chief, Tom Ridge, and an official with the US Civil Rights Commission should fire concerns that these powers could be employed or a de facto drift into their deployment could occur.

On July 20 the Detroit Free Press ran a story entitled "Arabs in US could be held, official warns". The story referred to a member of the US Civil Rights Commission who foresaw the possibility of internment camps for Arab Americans. FEMA has practised for such an occasion.

FEMA, whose main role is disaster response, is also responsible for handling US domestic unrest.

From 1982-84 Colonel Oliver North assisted FEMA in drafting its civil defence preparations. Details of these plans emerged during the 1987 Iran-Contra scandal.

They included executive orders providing for suspension of the constitution, the imposition of martial law, internment camps, and the turning over of government to the president and FEMA.."

Have you ever seen a discussion as to why Tom Ridge abruptly resigned from Homeland Gestapo and disappeared???

One thing that sets apart those of us who are part of the 9-11 truth movement from those who deride it is our approach to information. We have a never ending quest for new videos, new analyses, new witnesses, new approaches. We are open ended in our approach.

The naysayers view every new piece of information as a threat, and therefore seek to discount it as soon as possible. This means they try to avoid taking in new information, and when they review it, look only for a reason to dismiss it.

Funny stuff especially since I'm not "sinkspur" and I've never posted on FreeRepublic.

It should be watched by school children in the morning with the same ferociousness they make them say the pledge.

I refused to say it in high school. With all the crap I caught by joining in that tiny aspect of the protest against the Indochina war, I shudder to think what they do to school kids today who refuse to stand and say the lie mantra called the Pledge of Allegiance.

In any event, short, concise videos like this are good ways to get people to wake up, because they cover the short attention spans most intellectually lazy suffer from, and help pull them in to a point of being curious enough to study enough of the facts hidden in plain view from them to be as dangerous to the criminals in power as they actually should be.

Thesis: Official 9/11 story is an unproven conspiracy theory. http://911truth.org http://Justicefor911.org http://summeroftruth.org Probable-cause standards have been met for an unlimited investigation of unsolved crimes relating to the events of Sept. 11, including allegations of criminal negligence, cover-up, complicity or commission of the attacks by US officials and assets of intel services.

As Ive said before.. I am in a quest for the truth.. where ever it leads.. that does mean take in information ..more or less use the Socratic method.. reject that which is not supported with evidence.. retain that which is..

Well I do need to give Rob Noel the credit ..he posted this video on another thread but IMO it needs to be viewed by many..

This video is concise and does connect the dots which it seems so many are unable to do for some reason.

It is hard to believe that someone as stupid as you actually comments on 'stuff' when all it does is reveal what a shill you are.

When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest.

When the US invades Canada maybe the whole America-is-turning-into-Nazi-Germany could be taken seriously.

No one is..... EXCEPT.... the United States government which has passed countless laws incouraging more and more illegal aliens to enter the United States. And then granting those same illegals countless benefits for coming and STAYING within the United States.

And these changes in the law started in 1965. I have posted all of the info about this several times in the thread on immigration.

When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest.

Oh so let me guess... this whole detention camp thing is being set up for US CITIZENS!!!

..what is plain to see which eludes some.. is that this is a Pandoras Box.. and if some unnamed mental midgets would take the time to THINK which apparently is either not an option or is impossible, one would see that this is about far more than about illegal aliens.. that is why I posted the video.. the video speaks of internal strife ..pitting one group against another.. public opinion reveals that most Americans are very upset about illegal immigration and would think this is a good idea.. as shown by some here.. but dont have the ability to see beyond their own nose..

There is no money in a tyrannical police state but there is lots and lots of money in an economy driven by consumerism.

Yep. Considering we incarcerate far more people then any other country, taunt away, brain dead boy.

Because the rest of us see the big picture. The one where 'state of emergencies' are declared and pesky, troublesome activists -- such as Truthers - - are rounded up, and this policy base that keeps way to many people incarcerated as it is is notched up to a whole new level.

Most of us here at 4UM see through the base of deception and lies you work to preserve.

We are more interested in the truth, and the way things actually are. This scares people like you.

Perhaps you are in the wrong place. You should waste more of your time in lie pits such as LP.

hes ignorant regarding history.. look at the Soviet Union.. and Red China.. who did they intern first? Anyone with ANY capacity whatsoever for logic can see it.. so its an utter waste of time attempting to have any exchange with one who choses ignorance...

As I said b/f you have NO clue.. how old are you anyway? .. Im beginning to wonder if youre not some 14 year old sitting at the computer while your mom yells at you to clean your room ..is that where you got the name Mr. Clean? ..