posted 02-27-2002 10:37 AM            

Posted on 2/27/02 8:26 AM Pacific by Screaming_Gerbil

"Citizen, Can I See Your ID."
by Al Martin

What has not been explained to the American people is the reason why 35,000 Army Reservists and 65,000 National Guard have been called up. It is to maintain internal checkpoints. It has nothing to do with the external "War on Terrorism." All of these people are being trained at the US Army School of Urban Control at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. CNN actually showed an urban training mock-up, what they're training on, and what the new Internal Security checkpoint is going to look like. It was mighty sinister looking.

There was a barrier that went across the road. To the right was an elevated shed like structure, elevated perhaps fifteen feet in the air. It had a small second story that was open. On it was a sign that read "Homeland Security Internal Checkpoint." There were sandbags and the wooden arm that crossed the road read "100% ID Checked." Then there was a small shed to the right with a small barbed wire area behind that. On this structure was a sign, which read, "All citizens not having proper identification will be detained. All foreign nationals will be detained. All citizens who are deemed to be acting in a suspicious manner will be detained." At each of these posts there will be six armed Army or National Guard reservists with M-16's with full field kit. On top of the structure to the rear, the open structure on top, there's a man with a machine gun emplacement.

They showed the actual mockup used for training purposes. They had new uniforms. They weren't in their regular uniforms. It's a new gray uniform with a gray helmet and a visor so you can't see their eyes. The only thing you can see is from their lips down because they said that's "to prevent any retribution" from people who don't like this new idea.

This uniform looked exactly like the Imperial Storm Troopers from "Star Wars" except instead of white, it was gray. All the helmets have little transceivers so they can communicate with each other. There will be six guards at each internal security checkpoint. And there's another warning on the inside of the barbed wire enclosure, "Any detainees attempting to escape will be shot." It was a yellow and red sign inside the detainment area.

The only person who actually spoke on camera during this story was a sergeant, an Army Reservist sergeant. You could tell that he completely disagreed with what was going on. You couldn't hear the question being asked, but he was looking at the camera and he said, "We're here to protect the people." Then he put his head down and shook his head, and you could tell he didn't believe a word of what he was saying -- like it was some big frigging joke.

Then they showed the procedure they were using to train these guys. An average American car, like a Ford or a Chevy, drives up and there's supposed to be a husband and wife in the front seat and a couple of kiddies in the back. So they drive up to the checkpoint, and the corporal comes up to the car and says, "May I see your identification, citizen."

They call everyone "citizen." I swear to God, I'm not making this up. Then the guy asks for his driver's license, then something else and something else. Then he says, "Very good, citizen."

There's a spot on the gate that goes across the road that they had x-ed out. But you could tell what it said because the sergeant alluded to it. It said, "All citizens are required to present their National Identification Cards." But they left it blank as a black spray-painted out spot because the legislation for that hasn't happened yet.

The big sign on the side of the one and half story shed with the machine gun nest on top said "Homeland Security Internal Checkpoint." And now we're all supposed to say, "Hail the Republic." That's the new mantra. They showed a bunch of guys being trained at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, probably enlisted and reservists and such. And they kept raising up their right arm saying, "Hail the Republic."

The sergeant even said that they are duplicating the ancient Roman Legions salute to Caesar, using the right arm upraised with the fist. Instead of "Hail Caesar," though they say, "Hail the Republic."

This is what's coming. People don't believe it or people don't understand it but when 80% of the people support whatever "security" measures are necessary.

What does it all mean? We all better start worrying when George Bush starts to play the fiddle.

Congress is supposed to be recessed for the rest of the year, but they will be giving the Administration extraordinary wartime authority -- pursuant to all remaining legislation. In other words, they will simply allow the Administration to act under pending statutes. They are simply going to transfer to the Administration emergency wartime power to act under bills, which are still pending, even though they haven't been passed.

The implication is that we will be under a defacto state of martial law soon. There are 100,000 military being trained for these internal security checkpoints.

When they were showing the lines of enlisted and reserve people being trained in this camp, with M-16s in their hands, I can tell you I don't think any of them would hesitate to shoot at American citizens. I think they're being indoctrinated. The indoctrination they're going through is obvious. The enlisted people are being told by the drill sergeant that they are being given extraordinary authority that "your job is to protect the security of the State at all costs."

There is a direct parallel between the old Soviet Union and the East Bloc and what we are doing. We are establishing internal travel restrictions on the American people. We are essentially following the Soviet textbook. In the Soviet Communist Bloc, for example, there were checkpoints in every city. You had to have what's called an "internal travel visa." You had to have that visa stamped at every checkpoint in every city. Then they checked you out at every entrance to every city. Then if you checked out, they would affix a visa stamp and charge you ten marks for it. It was a real racket.

What will be interesting to see is what kind of a racket is going to go along with these internal security check points. In other words, how much of a "toll" are they going to charge? They're going to have to do something to pay for all of this and one of the obvious ways to pay for it would be to charge everyone a one or two dollar "toll."

And this is what we should be looking forward to - toll booths around the nation. They're not saying this yet, but obviously in an effort to pay for this, there's going to be some sort of a "security tax." Since this system is incredibly cumbersome (having to stop every single vehicle and check identification) and we've been taught to be suspicious of driver's licenses because it's so easy to obtain false driver's licenses, the implication is that national security cards are the only thing that will eventually be accepted as identification. The further implication is that in order to accommodate traffic (this will create traffic jams miles and miles long), there would be a separate line for those carrying pre-approved internal visas whose allegiance to the government has already been checked.

The sergeant on the news report said that all the people involved (100,000 military people) are being forced to swear new loyalty oaths to the United States. He just mentioned the government's overall policy, which Bush talked about last week, that all federal civilian employees are going to have to take new oaths of allegiance to the "Republic." And that extends to some members of the military who will be involved in internal security.

Surprisingly enough all these border checks, you would think, would be handled directly by the military - or under the auspices of the military. They're not. They're under the auspices of "Homeland Security." What it means is that you have 100,000 troops (reservists and national guards people) based in the United States, which will be seconded to the Office of Homeland Security. Their ultimate jurisdiction is being transferred from the Department of Defense to the Office of Homeland Security.

In other words, the Office of Homeland Security is gaining a militarized division of 100,000 troops.

It's finally getting some of the liberals nervous. But it's coming. Day after day, they're showing polls that seventy to eighty percent of the American people are prepared to approve whatever security measures are "necessary" to "fight terrorism."

* * *

MEDIA DEPT.: According to a reliable inside source, all the mainstream media outlets have received a confidential memorandum from the White House asking that they change the monikers they're using "Homeland Security" to "Home Front Security." Apparently they believe that "Home Front Security" sounds more patriotic and less sinister than "Home Land Security."

They have also asked the media not to show any more footage of the urban training and internal security checkpoints and to minimize the coverage of any "future" troop movements within the United States. The implication is that when these internal security checkpoints get set up, there will be a lot of movement of troops, helicopters, etc. So as not to disturb the domestic tranquility of the people by telling the people the truth, the government is asking the media to limit coverage of any domestic troop movements.

All the media will comply because they're all dying to jump on the government line. MSNBC has in fact changed their moniker form "Homeland Security" to "Home Front Security." "Home Front" is more homey sounding and much more patriotic. It strikes a chord with a lot of people especially older people who remember this being so extensively used for security measures put in place during the Second World War.

* * *

AS SEEN ON TV DEPT.: The new checkpoints have been established and they look just like the mockups that were shown on TV. There's a large red and yellow placard that says "Homeland Security Internal Checkpoint." You have to show your driver's license to go through and you're told that soon even that will not be sufficient. There was a company of National Guard setting up an ancillary facility. They had their new gray helmets with the visors on, so you couldn't see their eyes. And it is true. We went through the checkpoint.

posted 02-28-2002 03:32 PM            

If military 'Dueces' & Humvees are any indication, it's kind of disturbing to see this much hardware in a town the size of Iowa City (population about 100,000 people, when the students are in town at University of Iowa). I've seen Apache gunships flying over Lake Conroe in Texas, but not very often. I've only lived there for a couple of years since moving out from Houston, so I don't even know where their base is?