[117265] in Cypherpunks
IP: Enemies of the state By Diane Alden
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Robert Hettinga)
Mon Aug 30 16:09:00 1999
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Date: Mon, 30 Aug 1999 15:42:23 -0400
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Date: Mon, 30 Aug 1999 12:18:24 -0600
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From: Robert Huddleston <cabhop@highfiber.com>
Subject: IP: Enemies of the state By Diane Alden
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http://www.enterstageright.com/0899enemy.htm
Enter Stage Right
Enemies of the state
By Diane Alden
In a July 26th op-ed for the Washington Post, Secretary of Defense William
Cohen said we live in a "grave New World." He expressed a warning to
enemies of the United States, both foreign and domestic, that the
government was on the case. He also offered a "reassurance" to law-abiding
citizens, that the bureaucracy is preparing to deal with terrorist attacks
from any quarter. He states, "A special Task Force for Civil Support is
being created to ensure that we have the military assets to help respond
domestically. Any military assistance in the wake of domestic attack must
be in support of the appropriate federal civilian authority -- either the
Department of Justice or the Federal Emergency Management Agency...but we
must not trample on American lives and liberties in the name of preserving
them."
Cohen posted this op-ed with the likely intent of advising people that if
there were a terrorist attack that the military would intervene. But the
tendency towards using the military as a police force has already begun. In
the Balkans, Haiti, and elsewhere, the U.S. army of occupation invariably
functions as a police force. In some cases, it also performs as a "meals on
wheels with guns."
Recent history indicates that the U.S. military has been used on occasion,
to bolster federal and local police agencies. In the case of Waco, the Army
provided the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms with support under
the operational control of Joint Task Force 6. A request was made by the
Justice Department for the Army's special operation forces to accompany
BATF agents storming the Branch Davidian Compound. Had it been acted upon
by the military, the siege at Waco would have been an even worse fiasco of
government over-reaction, than was the case. Using the military against
U.S. civilians usually creates a backlash -- affecting it for decades. The
two most notorious cases are Kent State and the use of the army against the
bonus marchers after World War I.
Posse Comitatus
The Posse Comitatus Act is presumed to be the bulwark against use of the
military as a police force; but it has been eroded since the 80s, due in no
small part to the "war on drugs." According to a government source, the
black helicopters everyone talks about seeing over the boonies are part of
the National Guard's participation in the marijuana eradication program.
These flights over rural America are as a result of congressional
amendments to Posse Comitatus, which created these exceptions.
Other exceptions to the Act include the statutory authority of the
President to use federal troops to quell domestic violence. Upon request by
a state governor, the President issues a proclamation maintaining a
breakdown in public order has occurred. Orders to disperse are issued. If
they are not followed the President can order the Secretary of Defense,
along with the Attorney General, to quell the insurrection and restore
public order.
On the surface the excuse for using the military in emergency situations
appears benign. Being prepared for chemical or biological attacks by
terrorists, foreign or domestic may be the height of common sense. Cities
have used the National Guard to quell disturbances the police can't handle.
Ordinarily citizens trust the government in such circumstances because
military involvement comes from a need at the state or local level.
But in the "grave new world" of Secretary Cohen, bureaucrats are either
unaware or don't care that the trust between the citizens of the United
States and its government is at an all time low. Poll after poll shows how
mistrustful we have become. The inclination to think the worst of basic
institutions is pervasive. A recent Zogby poll shows that a majority of
Americans no longer believe that the government is "of" the people or "by"
the people. Even some in Congress are concerned. This latest government
move to unify military and police into a cohesive "first response" task
force should be subjected to the most serious investigation by Congress
On June 25, 1997, Representative Ron Paul of Texas read the following into
the Congressional Record: "In a police state the police are national,
powerful and authoritarian. Inevitably, national governments yield to the
temptation to use the military to do the heavy lifting...once the military
is used, however minor initially, the march toward martial law...becomes
irresistible."
The Army War College's publication Parameters contains a paper written by a
member of the Judge Advocate General's office, and had some interesting
things to say about the use of the Army in domestic emergencies. The recent
moves to consolidate the National Guard and the Army Reserves into
"domestic control units" and the legal transformation of the Army under the
Stanford Act (1984) have been incorporated into Army strategy under the
acronym OOTW or "operations other than war." The importance and frightening
aspects of the Justice Department, FEMA and Army marriage may be found in
the essence of the paper: "Civilian and military leaders need to expect an
increase in domestic deployments of U.S. military forces. Strategic leaders
can take solace in the lessons learned from military participation in
domestic disaster relief, for the record indicates that legal niceties or
strict construction of prohibited conduct will be of minor concern." In
other words -- the rule of law and constitutional guarantees are
insignificant in an emergency.
Worrywarts -- Black Helicopters and Trust
Do the worrywarts overstate the case? Do the folks in the bars and cafes in
rural America fret about black helicopters or the UN camping out in
national parks, merely to break up the monotony? Does this fundamental
mistrust of government and the misuse of federal power have legitimacy? The
answer may lie in recent events.
No longer does the federal government merely arm the U.S. Marshall's
service, the Secret Service, the FBI, the Border Patrol, DEA, BATF and the
military. Today the IRS, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, EPA, the Forest
Service and even the Small Business Administration are carrying firearms.
In the deadly incidents of over-reaction at Ruby Ridge and Waco, hardly a
flak-jacketed bureaucrat paid any meaningful price. Expanding the power of
federal agencies to use force against U.S. citizens means the possibility
of another Ruby Ridge or Waco are increasing. Every state can cite
instances in which bureaucrats armed to the teeth are conducting military
style operations. To the Founding Fathers, a federal police force was
unthinkable, and individual citizens were advised to keep and bear arms.
Thomas Jefferson said, "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of
arms...as a last resort to protect themselves against tyranny of government."
Bureaucrats in Ninja Mode
Early one morning in July of 1997, two men went to work at the Clearwater
County flood control center in rural northwest Idaho. Immediately they were
accosted by six heavily armed federal agents carrying 9 mm Glock sidearms
and wearing flak jackets. The agents hauled away 40 banker boxes of county
records relating to the 1996 flood recovery work. The basis for the search
warrant was kept secret. Local officials wondered why they weren't simply
issued a subpoena for the records. Eventually, the Justice Department
closed the investigation for lack of evidence. The aftermath of the
Clearwater incident left residents wondering why the federal government had
sent a swat team to their community when an accountant would have been
sufficient. The answer to that question may be found in the growing trend
towards militarization of the federal bureaucracy. For instance, the
Clearwater commando raid was not conducted by the FBI but by the Federal
Emergency Management Agency Office (FEMA). In a more civil time, the agency
would have sent auditors to investigate allegations of financial
mismanagement.
A similar incident took place on Santa Clara Island in California in
January of 1998. Using the force of a small army, the U.S. Park Service
conducted a surprise raid on a nature camp, employing the excuse that the
camp's owner was robbing Chumash Indian graves. The commando style raid
included rousting and handcuffing a 15-year-old girl asleep in her cabin.
The park rangers wore ski masks, carried machine guns and kept the girl
handcuffed for two hours. In actuality, the Park Service wasn't after
illegally obtained artifacts. Using forfeiture laws, they were after the
last bit of private property on Santa Cruz Island. For years, the National
Park Service had been attempting to obtain a privately owned
6500-acre-ranch, which covers 10 percent of the island. The federal
government's stalking horse, the Nature Conservancy, owns the other 90
percent.
Similarly, one month after Ruby Ridge, Malibu millionaire Donald Scott, was
gunned down in his home in an assault which included 14 federal, state and
local government agencies led by the National Park Service. The alleged
crime was the assertion by a paid drug informant that Scott was growing
marijuana on his property. None was ever found, but the government got
control of the dead man's land.
There are also thousands of incidents of intimidation, terror and
confiscation of property by the IRS. Larry Klayman's Judicial Watch is
fighting a battle with the IRS on behalf of Joe Farah's conservative
Western Journalism Center in Sacramento. The political use of the IRS to
shut this organization up and shut it down -- reeks of politicization. The
overwhelming majority of organizations audited by the IRS are conservative.
You won't see the left leaning Sierra Club on the IRS hit list, or any
labor unions for that matter.
Countless cases of intimidation by the IRS against ordinary citizens would
fill the phone book of a large city. Yet even when Congress responds and
asks for accountability, it is merely to give a slap on the wrist and say
"now be good boys and go play." Apparently Congress doesn't have a clue, it
doesn't care, or it is impotent.
The Nanny State is Packing Heat
Under the Congressional nose and in the name of efficiency, in 1994 the
Justice Department began to allow blanket deputations of numerous agencies,
and that authority has recently been extended. Agencies such as the
National Air and Space Administration, Labor, State, Transportation,
Veteran's Administration, Social Security Administration, and the small
Business Administration have received permission for agents to carry
weapons. According to the General Accounting Office the number of armed
federal bureaucrats is more than 80,000, but the specific number is
unknown. The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center produced 848 graduates
in 1970. In 1998, the center turned out 25,077. This number does not
include FBI agents trained at the FBI center in Quantico, Virginia.
Incredibly, of the federal agencies with at least 500-armed officers, the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has grown the most-40 percent in 15 years.
Federal agents are trained and authorized to enforce over 3,000 criminal
laws that Congress has passed. In addition, they must now deal with
hundreds of thousands of regulations that carry criminal penalties.
Thousand of regulations have been placed on the books in the last 30 years,
and relate to environmental or endangered species "crimes," or efforts to
enforce a federal "war" on tobacco and drugs.
Military forces have been enlisted in this "war" and serve in disparate
places. They are being used as a surrogate federal police agency which
includes 10,000 military personnel stationed on the border between Mexico
and the U.S., as well as in Central and South America. Some of them are
coming back in body bags. Some are involved in shooting civilians. But any
way you slice it, the military is being used as police. This has nothing to
do with their primary function and it sets a profoundly dangerous precedent
for the Republic.
Speaks with Forked Tongue
Secretary Cohen's reassurances, like all too many promises coming from
federal bureaucrats, have a hollow ring. Given past actions, Cohen's
guarantee that the Justice Department and agencies such as FEMA will have
oversight or input into the use of the military in an emergency, should not
persuade a reasonably intelligent citizen that his government will do the
right thing. Past experience shows that trusting the government has cost
American citizens their lives, their fortunes and their honor.
Congress would do well to find its courage and stop acting like the poor
relation begging for a crumb. Accepting its oversight responsibilities by
demanding cooperation from the Executive Branch would do a great deal to
stop the slide towards a police state. Even Congressional leaders like Dan
Burton and Christopher Cox say, the Clinton Justice Department is so out of
control it does not respond to Congress except in a perfunctory fashion. By
stonewalling efforts to obtain information on Chinagate, and other
incidents of government corruption, it betrays its contempt for Congress
and the rule of law.
A thorough housecleaning should be ordered before any of the alphabet
agencies is anywhere near ready to talk about how to use the military in an
emergency. FEMA, the IRS, the National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife and
other "benign" agencies have obviously lost their job descriptions. Part of
their training should include a course on constitutional guarantees and
respect due the citizens of the United States. Congress should defang,
defund, deregulate, disarm and tame the 8,000-pound bureaucratic beast.
Additionally, until a couple of feds are thrown in the slammer, or made
accountable for their abusive and shameful actions, pathological mistrust
of government will continue. The little guy in fly over country will
persist in believing he sees U.N. troops in the park, and a fed behind
every bush. The powers that be need to wise up and pay attention to the
fears that haunt Americans. The fear of government is not baseless. Nor are
those who worry about their government's actions, all deranged wackos.
In their wisdom, the Founding Fathers had absolute distrust of unrestrained
government power -- that is why they gave us the Bill of Rights.
web posted August 9, 1999
© 1999, Enter Stage Right and/or its creators. All rights reserved.
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Robert A. Hettinga <mailto: rah@ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'
