The American Police State: End Game for 9/11 and Bush's Subsequent Power Grabs

by Dan Merica
OpEdNews
Oct. 24, 2006

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE RELATED CARTOON "Catastrophic Empowering Events"

Throughout history, various politicos have utilized "Catastrophic Empowering Events" to incite their citizenry and coerce them into accepting undesirable agendas. Hitler torched the German Reichstag and blamed his opponents in a plot to eliminate them. FDR allowed the Japanese to bomb Pearl Harbor to thrust America into WWII. Then, there was George W. Bush and 9/11.

Back in 1998, Dick Cheney's group dubbed as the "Project for a New American Century" (Neo-Cons), which included Jeb Bush and subsequent major players in George W. Bush's administration, lobbied President Clinton and Congress to attack an already weakened Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein and build permanent U.S. bases in the oil-rich Middle East. As soon as Bush obtained the presidency in 2001, their quest for the long-sought-after Iraq War was on. But, Secretary of Defense Rumsfield bemoaned the fact that the American people probably wouldn't go for the illegal war without a "Catastrophic Empowering Event" to push it through. Then, with 'phenomenal luck', one of those events actually did happened just in the nick of time. It was as if government insiders were complicit with the 9/11 attacks so say the 'disputers' of the official story.

Disputing the Government's Official 9/11 Story

The official 9/11 account, which has been echoed throughout the mainstream media, is full of impossibilities and improbabilities according to the 'disputers'. The Bush administration claimed it had no prior warnings. However, the 'disputers' ask why then was Attorney General Ashcroft urged to stop using commercial flights and go private and why was there a 1200% increase in orders to sell-short airline stocks during the week before 9/11. Professional pilots have commented that they themselves couldn't fly the complex, computerized 757's without extensive specialized training and practice and that it was certainly impossible for foreign terrorists with nothing more than some flight lessons for small private aircraft to perform the flight maneuvers of 9/11. With Vice President Cheney controlling NORAD on 9/11, the 'disputers' believe that insider complicity was necessary for the terrorists to hit at a time the air force was in stand-down mode for war games simulating what was actually happening for real as well as the terrorists' hijacked planes going unfettered for over an hour without interception.

The 'disputers' say the facts don't support the government's official 9/11 story that the WTC towers collapsed because their steel super structures were softened by the jet fuel fires resulting from the plane crashes. Instead, the 'disputers' cite evidence that points to controlled-explosive demolitions set by government insiders as the real cause.

If the government's story were true, the towers would have to bare the ignominy of being the only steel framed buildings in the world ever felled by fire.
There is quite a distinction between the 2700 degrees (F) steel melting point and the 1800 degrees (F) at which jet fuel burns. The case for fire is further discredited because significant proportions of the fuel exploded outside the buildings and fireproofing covered the steel beams.
The North Tower burned only for 1 hour and 43 minuets and the South Tower for only 56 minuets before collapsing. In contrast, Philadelphia's Meridian Plaza in 1991 remained standing after eight of its floors burned for nineteen hours with a hot fire.
Experts say the towers' collapse had all the earmarks of controlled-explosive demolition as confirmed by on-the-scene first-response teams reporting hearing sounds of explosions, seeing ascending spirals of flashes going around the buildings and massive horizontal plumes of pulverized cement dust and other debris shooting out the sides of the buildings. (Only high explosives can pulverize cement into dust.)
All the world watched as the North Tower only took 8.1 seconds and the South Tower took only 10.4 seconds to smoothly cascade straight down to their footprints. Obstructions (such as the floors below) would normally cause a slow, erratic fall with debris spewing every which way. So, the towers' picture-perfect falls were a good indication that a series of coordinated explosions from pre-positioned demolition charges cleared the way down. Incidentally, the Bush family through Marvin Bush has been in charge of WTC security since immediately after the 1993 failed terrorist bombing.
The towers' huge beams just happened to be cut up in thirty-foot lengths, a perfect fit for the flatbed trucks that quickly whisked away debris to shipping points out of the country preventing a full-scale investigation. However, BYU physicist Dr. Steven Jones did managed to analyze some WTC physical samples and discovered the presence of Thermate, a substance, which is used in military demolition explosives for cutting steel. Incidentally, its yellow residue is clearly visible on shattered beams in Ground Zero photos.
Also, there were goofs. A premature explosion with smoke and damage was observed in one of the basements prior to the plane hit. The North Tower was the first hit, but the second to fall. A billfold in perfect condition attributed to terrorist Atta was found in the rubble implying a bumbled attempt to plant phony evidence.

The above was just a small portion of the extensive and extraordinary evidence maintained by the growing ranks of Americans disputing the government's official 9/11 story.

Bush's "Reform Movement" Exploiting Terrorism Even before his 9/11 "Empowering Event" occurred, Bush started his "reform movement" (as Republicans call it) to increase his powers and turn America's free, open society with equality for all into a corporate, fascist dictatorship with a rich ruling class and an oppressed, poor working class. His first move was to start building a 'big brother' style system of severe surveillance upon Americans. As soon as he obtained the presidency in January 2001, Bush ordered the National Security Agency in the Pentagon to launch an illegal domestic spy program. But, after his 9/11 "Empowering Event" and with the benefit of terrorism as an excuse he was able to make huge strides in grabbing power, creating his imperial presidency and destroying the federal government's system of checks and balances established by the founding fathers.

In just 45 days after 9/11 and without debate, Congress while under pressure passed the 2001 Patriot Act without prior access to the 2,200 page document before voting. The Bill of Rights, with the guarantee of free speech, peaceable assembly and security in one's person, papers and effects, became a mere list of privileges that the government could take away at any time. The Patriot Act also cancelled the rights to due process and a prompt and public trial and protection against cruel and unusual punishment. The federal government could now freely wiretap phones, enter homes and perform search and seizure without warrants as well as indefinitely detain citizens without charge.
The 2002 Homeland Security Act was passed by a Congress again prohibited from seeing the 550-page bill before voting. The Department of Homeland Security was created as an intelligence gathering operation in which 22 federal agencies and their databases were merged to mostly spy on American citizens.
In 2004, the Department of Homeland Security sent a memo to police departments through out the U.S. with orders to watch the masses for body language and to look out for anyone showing arrogance or expressing opposition for decisions of the government. It's no surprise that antiwar protestors nation-wide have said that they are being watched and harassed by police.
In 2005, The Department of Homeland Security enlisted more than 50 corporations including Microsoft, Oracle and Verizon to watch and track the activities of Americans. The department's "Dataveillance" system is collecting copious information on all U.S. citizens of their patterns of behavior to assess motives and intentions.
The Department of Homeland Security is now opening private mail and forcing Internet providers to overhaul their computer networks to make it easier for monitoring E-mail. Also, it has pressured Yahoo, Google and the like to turn over their databases in order to see what websites citizens are visiting.
The Department of Homeland Security has hired General Yevgeni Primakov, Ex-head of the Soviet Secret Service (KGB) and Markus Wolfe, ex-boss of the East German State Security Police (STASI).
The 2004 Intelligence Reform Act was passed by Congress while being denied access to some sections classified "top Secret" in the 3,000 page bill. The act created the Department of National Intelligence as a clearing-house for all 15 U.S. intelligence agencies. It mandated a counter-terrorism center, spy satellite network to monitor private communications and standardizing state drivers licenses and birth certificates creating a national ID system. There is talk of eventually implanting signal-sending ID chips under the skin of all Americans to be tracked by satellite.
In June 2005, the National Security Service, a secret police unit to be operated by the White House with no Congressional oversight was created by George W. Bush by placing a portion of the FBI under his personal control.
In October 2005, the National Clandestine Service a new department in the CIA was created by a Bush executive order to engage in covert operations within the United States.
The Military Commissions Act of 2006 (dubbed the torture act) does away with habeas corpus. Anyone specified by the executive branch alone, could be arrested and held indefinitely without trial, access to the courts, and hope of appeal. Anyone could be declared an "enemy combatant" and then permanently detained and tortured, as defined by the Geneva Conventions, solely on the word of the president. It allows civilians to be tried by military tribunals instead of civilian courts and permits the use of evidence against them extracted under cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment. All legal residents of the U.S. and foreign citizens living in their own countries could be subject to this law. Also, it provides for a "stealth pardon" for war crimes committed by those who allow the torture and abuse of detainees, such as in Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison.

Bush/Republican anti-terrorism measures have far exceeded the scope of protection from terrorists and have unnecessarily advanced into grabbing power and slashing civil liberties, which appears to be their true purpose in the first place.

Other affronts to our liberties as part of his "reform movement" include Bush twice taking the White House with the help of Republican vote fraud. Among other infractions in election year 2000, thousands of voters sharing the surnames of black convicts were removed from voter registration rolls in Florida. In 2004, the wide variances between some exit polls and the 'official' counts in favor of Bush were declared by experts to be statistically impossible. Also, Bush has expanded his powers by persistently using his Constitutional prerogative of 'signings', which are statements added to Congressionally passed bills to the effect that he personally isn't bound by them as he pens his signature. Furthermore, major telecommunication corporations have bribed Congress to do away with the Internet law of 'net-neutrality' to eliminate free speech on the Internet and shut down the online alternative news-sites critical of Bush and the Republicans.

Martial Law

To where is all the above leading? It would appear that the Bush administration is preparing for martial law. Bush has signed executive orders giving himself sole authority to impose martial law and suspend habeas corpus with no checks and balances during a national emergency. The Pentagon has ordered U.S. Northern Command at Peterson Air Force Base to prepare a series of secret strategies for rapid military takeover of the U.S. upon Bush's orders. General Tommy Franks said in 2003 that after a major casualty-producing event in the Western world, Americans would "question our own Constitution" and consent to militarization of the United States for security. Homeland Security gave Halliburton a $385 million dollar contract to construct detention facilities around the country supposedly for a national emergency. Remember, Bush's predilection for interment camps was demonstrated during the 2004 Republican Convention when 1,806 protestors were rounded up, imprisoned without charges and kept in filthy conditions for 24 hours or more.

"North American Union"

Bush isn't content with just turning the United States alone into a dictatorship. In March 2005, He emerged from a meeting at Baylor University with Mexican President Fox and Canadian Prime Minister Martin and announced that the North American continent was in the process of being transformed from three sovereign nations into one super regional political and economic entity dubbed the "North American Union". As early as 2010, boundaries will be redefined so immigration control will be around the three countries and not between them and legitimate traffic can be streamlined across their borders. Soon, a non-elected governance board for the "North American Union" will be formed along with a tribunal with supremacy over the U.S. Supreme Court and a customs and immigration service with authority over U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement within the 'DHS'. Public discourse as well as a vote within each nation as to the will of the people has been disallowed. The formation of the "North American Union" has been under wraps with 'mums' the word from the mainstream media. Thus, very few Americans know about it. Even Congressional requests for information have been denied. The driving forces are military and corporate (Eisenhower's military-industrial complex) and their goal is to create an enormous despotic police state not for the benefit of the people but their self-serving pursuit of extreme greed and power. They will use anti-terrorism as the ruse and strip civil liberties from citizens to squash dissent.

Vote in November

Bush's latest in a long list of stated pretenses for staying the course in his bloody war is to "bring democracy to Iraq". But, he cuts and runs at home by slashing our liberties and building a police state under the guise of fighting his war on terror. By doing so, he hands over victory to the terrorists because, as he says, "they hate our freedoms". What we the American people do about Bush's power grabs and assaults on the Constitution and Bill of Rights will determine whether or not we will soon be living under the yoke of tyranny. And, the first thing we can do is vote out Bush's rubber-stamp Republican Congress this November to reinstate check and balances to the federal government.

www.cartoons-political.com

Dan Merica is a political cartoonist and opinion writer battling the right wing scourge now devastating our country. His work is posted on his website, www.cartoons-political.com. Also, checkout his news blog, cartoons-politicalnews.blogspot.com.