Martial Law and Detention Camps in America

Executive Orders Establishing Martial Law in the U.S.

On May 9, 2007, President Bush implemented National Security Presidential Directive/NSPD 51. This Executive Order (No. 13434) gives the President the power to suspend Constitutional government and instate broad dictatorial powers under martial law in the case of a "catastrophic emergency" [note: the nature of a "catastrophic emergency" is undefined and left to the President's discretion]. NSPD 51 grants unprecedented powers to the Presidency and the Department of Homeland Security, overriding the foundations of Constitutional government. It allows the sitting President to declare a “national emergency” without Congressional approval. The implementation of NSPD 51 would lead to the de facto closing down of the legislature and the militarization of justice and law enforcement. The President can declare a "public emergency" and station troops anywhere in America and take control of state-based National Guard units without the consent of the governor or local authorities in order to "suppress public disorder."Bush Grants Himself Dictatorial Power for Continuity of Government (May 2007)

Martial law is defined as military rule or authority imposed on a civilian population when the civil authorities cannot maintain law and order, as in a time of war or during an emergency. Declaration of martial law means your rights are suspended and it is government by decree: people can be arrested and imprisoned indefinitely without charges, freedom of speech and freedom of assembly can be suspended, and censorship of the media can be imposed. Gun ownership will also come under severe attack during marital law: you could see house to house searches by the military or National Guard looking for guns and seizing any they find, along with stored food.

Executive Order No. 12919: "National Emergency"

Should the President proclaim and put into effect Executive Order No. 12919, "the President would put the United States under total martial law and military dictatorship. "The President need not wait for some emergency to occur, however. He can declare a National Emergency at any time and freeze everything. Congress, and the States, are powerless to prevent such an executive dictatorship as long as the President advises Congress in a timely matter."

Establishing Martial Law in the United States

On October 17, 2006, there were two acts of tyranny committed. The first was a public signing of the Military Commissions Act of 2006, which suspended habeas corpus. This Act will allow the President to declare you an 'enemy combatant,' ending your rights to seek legal or judicial relief from unlawful imprisonment. The second act of tyranny took place in a private Oval Office ceremony in which the President signed into law the John Warner National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2007, which essentially eliminates the protections of the Posse Comitatus Act and which re-wrote the Insurrection Act. The NDAA will allow the President to declare a 'public emergency' and take control of state-based National Guard units, without the consent of the governor or local authorities, in order to 'suppress public disorder.' —Daneen G. Peterson, Ph.D.

In the final hours before Congress adjourned in 2006, President Bush signed the Military Commissions Act of 2006. In doing so, the Constitution was violated and the principle of habeas corpus, which protects against unlawful and indefinite imprisonment, was thrown to the wind. This Military Commissions Act of 2006 gives the President absolute power to designate 'enemy combatants.' Section 6 of the Military Commissions Act strips those declared an 'enemy combatant' of the right to be heard in court to establish his or her innocence as guarded by the Constitutional principle of habeas corpus. This Act violates Article I, Section 9, of the U.S. Constitution: “The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion.” Presently, the suspending of habeas corpus will be applied to 'non citizens,' but once one class of people is deprived of their rights it's only a matter of time before other groups are also deprived. Moreover, the Act's 'enemy combatant' designation applies to both Americans and foreigners. Thus by establishing military tribunals for 'enemy combatants', the Military Commissions Act puts the U.S. military in control of American citizens. —Nathanael Kapner

The John W. Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007 (PL 109-364) was signed by President Bush on October 17, 2006 . 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," wrote Jeff Stein, CQ National Security editor, on 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 further wrote.

"But the amended law takes the cuffs off" and "critics say it's a formula for executive branch mischief," Stein explained. "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,'" Stein added.

"One of the few to complain, Senator Patrick J. Leahy (Democrat-Vermont), 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.'"

However, these changes were repealed in their entirety by HR 4986, National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008, reverting back to the original state of the Insurrection Act of 1807. Despite this repeal, President Bush attached a signing statement saying that he did not feel bound by the repeal. It remains to be seen whether President-elect Obama will reverse Bush's signing statement.

Bush Gives Himself Unprecedented Power to Impose a Form of Martial Law (October 2008)

Executive Authority

Executive Order No. 12656, Assignment of Emergency Preparedness Responsibilities, assigns national security emergency preparedness responsibilities to federal departments and agencies, delegating to FEMA primary responsibility for coordinating the efforts of, among other things, federal emergency assistance. The executive order "appointed the National Security Council as the principal body that should consider emergency powers. This allows the government to increase domestic intelligence and surveillance of U.S. citizens and would restrict the freedom of movement within the United States and grant the government the right to isolate large groups of civilians. The National Guard could be federalized to seal all borders and take control of U.S. air space and all ports of entry."

Executive Order No. 11921, Adjusting Emergency Preparedness Assignments to Organizational and Functional Changes in Federal Departments and Agencies, allows FEMA (stated as the Federal Emergency Preparedness Agency) to "develop plans to establish control over the mechanisms of production and distribution, of energy sources, wages, salaries, credit and the flow of money in U.S. financial institutions in any undefined national emergency." It also provides that when a state of emergency is declared by the President, Congress cannot review the action for six months.

FEMA's powers were consolidated by President Jimmy Carter to incorporate: The National Security Act of 1947, which allows for the strategic relocation of industries, services, government and other essential economic activities, and to rationalize the requirements for manpower, resources and production facilities; The 1950 Defense Production Act, which gives the President sweeping powers over all aspects of the economy; The Act of August 29, 1916, which authorizes the Secretary of the Army, in time of war, to take possession of any transportation system for transporting troops, material, or any other purpose related to the emergency; and The International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which enables the President to seize the property of a foreign country or national. These powers were transferred to FEMA in a sweeping consolidation in 1979 (note: FEMA is now under the Department of Homeland Security, which was formed in 2002). For the first time in American history, the reigns of government would not be transferred from one elected element to another, but the Constitution, itself, could be suspended.

Executive Orders

Executive orders are supposed to be a presidential tool for running the executive branch of government; executive orders were never intended to be used as imperial orders. The only people with the authority to curb the misuse of executive orders are the members of Congress, who have 30 days from the issuance of an order to reject it by majority vote. However, they seldom bother to read them, and the press seldom bothers to cover them—even when they represent sweeping new interpretations of human rights, compromises of U.S. national sovereignty, or abuses of power.

Executive Order No. 10990: Enables U.S. government to take over all transportation and take control of U.S. highways and ports.

Executive Order No. 10995: Enables U.S. government to seize and control all media.

Executive Order No. 10997: Enables U.S. government to take over all gas, electric power, petroleum, fuels, and minerals.

Executive Order No. 10998: Enables U.S. government to take over all food supplies and farms.

Executive Order No. 11000: Enables U.S. government to mobilize civilians into work brigades under government supervision.

Executive Order No. 11001: Enables U.S. government to control of all health, education, welfare functions.

Executive Order No. 11002: Enables the Postmaster General to operate a national registration of all U.S. persons.

Executive Order No. 11003: Enables U.S. government to take control of all airports and aircraft.

Executive Order No. 11004: Enables the Housing and Finance Authority to relocate communities, build new housing, decide on areas to be abandoned, and put entire populations into new locations.

Executive Order No. 11005: Enables U.S. government to takeover of all railroads, waterways, and public storage facilities.

Naomi Wolf Interview on the Police State in America (October 2008)

Army Times Article Supporting Naomi Wolf's Claims (October 2008)
Rep. Sherman: Martial Law Threatened If We Voted 'No' on Bailout (Video - October 2008)
Prescott Bush Led Plan to Launch a Fascist Coup in 1930s America
Local News Report, Martial Law Is Coming (Video)

Look back to the police state in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and, more recently, to the police state during the 2008 conventions (both Republican and Democrat), and you will see eroding civil liberties and impending Martial Law.

"Let Military Keep Order In Disasters" Says Brookings Institute, the Global Elite's Think Tank for Public Policy
Disaster Relief? Call in the Marines

Blackwater Eyes Domestic Contracts in U.S.
Blackwater May Lose License in Iraq

Blackwater USA: the Shadow Army of the Shadow Government

Blackwater Mercenaries Deployed in New Orleans

A Blackwater contractor is paid six to nine times more than a top Army sergeant, and a Blackwater contractor working in Iraq can earn $10,000 or more per month or $120,000 or more per year (tax free). The U.S. taxpayers pay Blackwater USA, a war profiteer of the military-industrial complex, $1,222 per day for one Blackwater "Protective Security Specialist, which, the Congressional report notes, amounts to $446,000 per contractor per year.

Scandal-Ridden Blackwater Changes Name to ‘Xe’

The scandal-ridden security firm Blackwater USA is officially changing its name effective immediately as the company moves to rebrand itself after being fired last month by the State Department from its job protecting diplomats in Iraq. The company will now be known as Xe and hopes to be a “one-stop shopping source for world class services in the fields of security, stability, aviation, training and logistics,” according to a memo sent by company president Gary Jackson to employees on February 13, 2009.

Is Xe's Erik Prince ‘Graymailing’ the US Government?
Xe's Erik Prince: Tycoon, Contractor, Soldier, Spy for the CIA
Obama Administration Uses Blackwater in Drone Killings
CIA Hired Blackwater for KillingsMore Blackwater Revelations: This Time Child Prostitutes
Blackwater Founder Implicated in Murder

Blackwater Mercenaries: Knights Templars on a “Crusade to Wipe Out Muslims”
Iraqis Speak of Random Killings Committed By Private Blackwater Guards
Blackwater Chief is a Super Villain: Ex-Employees

The Police State After Hurricane Katrina

YOU MUST CLICK HERE Martial LAW IS COMING L@@K @ THis!!! (Mark Mason)

September 8, 2005

ABC News - Authorities stepped up their efforts to empty the city of New Orleans.

Bob Woodward reported from New Orleans (video above):

The police and the National Guard find themselves in a very difficult position tonight to try to carry out an order to force people from the city without actually using force.

Today in New Orleans, they got a lot tougher on the holdouts, not only the flooded areas but New Orleans' driest and wealthiest neighborhoods too. The police and National Guard going street by street, house to house. They say there are no orders to use force, just strong persuasion, sometimes entering open houses with guns drawn and instructions to disarm anyone inside.

"No one will be able to be armed. We will take all weapons," said the New Orleans Police Chief during a press conference.

That happened today in this wealthy neighborhood where homeowners had armed themselves to protect their mansions. Residents were handcuffed on the ground. In the end, police took their weapons but let them stay in their homes.

For many of the police and guard troops, it is an uncomfortable job to do this in an American city.

"It is, it is surreal," said a guardsman. "You just never expect to do this in your own country."

"Walking up and down these streets, you don't want to think about the stuff you're gonna have to do," explains another guardsman. "Somebody pops around the corner."