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February 25, 2006
GOP Prepares Domestic Detention Centers
Abu Ghraib, U.S.A.?
Maybe. Is it any surprise that our Crazy New Order just gets crazier?
Consortiumnews.com, has pieced together two typical Bush-era slices of news that, together, illustrate a frightening (though perhaps not wholly unexpected) situation: the Republican-controlled U.S. government is making preparations to detain thousands of Americans at army bases across the country.
Crazy? Ten years ago...perhaps. Today? The possibility concerns me, but hardly seems inconceivable.
On February 6, Senator Lindsey Graham lent his support to Bush's illegal wiretapping program during a Senate Judiciary hearing (see partial transcript from the Washington Post, archived here if that link goes dead), telling Attorney General Alberto Gonzales that he believed President Bush "has not only the right, but the duty, in my opinion, to pursue Fifth Column movements... I stand by this President’s ability, inherent to being Commander in Chief, to find out about Fifth Column movements, and I don’t think you need a warrant to do that."
Fifth Column, the term for individuals working within a country to further an invading enemy's military and political aims, originated during the Spanish Civil War.
Of course, today, anyone who questions the actions of the Bush administration is labeled an Al Qaeda sympathizer.
So, add to this the news that, two weeks before Graham's statement, Halliburton's Kellogg Brown & Root unit announced it had landed a $385 million contract to build detention centers at unused U.S. military bases.
"The contract, which is effective immediately, provides for establishing temporary detention and processing capabilities to augment existing ICE Detention and Removal Operations (DRO) Program facilities in the event of an emergency influx of immigrants into the U.S., or to support the rapid development of new programs," reads a Halliburton press release (archived here, in case the link ever goes dead).
"New programs"? Uh...
"The contract may also provide migrant detention support to other U.S. Government organizations in the event of an immigration emergency, as well as the development of a plan to react to a national emergency, such as a natural disaster. In the event of a natural disaster, the contractor could be tasked with providing housing for ICE personnel performing law enforcement functions in support of relief efforts."
Next Katrina, housing the homeless need not be a problem!
Keep your eyes and ears open.
Posted by MJuhre at February 25, 2006 04:10 PM