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Operation Falcon and the Looming
Police State

By Mike Whitney

02/26/07
"ICH"
--- - On 29th June, 1934, Chancellor Adolph Hitler, accompanied
by the Schutzstaffel (SS), arrived at Wiesse, where he personally
arrested the leader of the Strum Abteilung (SA), Ernnst Roehm.
During the next 24 hours 200 other senior SA officers were arrested
on the way to Wiesse. Many were shot as soon as they were captured
but Hitler decided to pardon Roehm because of his past service to
the movement. However, after much pressure from Hermann Goering and
Heinrich Himmler, Hitler agreed that Roehm should die. At first
Hitler insisted that Roehm should be allowed to commit suicide but,
when he refused, Roehm was shot by two SS men.
(Spartacus.schoolnet.co)

Later, Hitler delivered a speech at
the Reichstag in which he justified the murders of his rivals
saying:

"If anyone reproaches me and asks why I did not
resort to the regular courts of justice, then all I can say is this:
In this hour I was responsible for the fate of the German people,
and thereby I became the supreme judge of the German people. It was
no secret that this time the revolution would have to be bloody;
when we spoke of it we called it 'The Night of the Long Knives.'
Everyone must know for all future time that if he raises his hand to
strike the State, then certain death is his lot."

The Night
of the Long Knives is seen by many as the turning point where Hitler
made it clear that he was above the law and the supreme leader of
the German people.

Operation Falcon: Blueprint for
removing dissidents and political rivals

The Bush
administration has carried out three massive sweeps in the last two
years, rolling up more than 30,000 minor crooks and criminals,
without as much as a whimper of protest from the public.

Operation Falcon is the clearest indication yet that the
Bush administration is fine-tuning its shock-troops so it can roll
up tens of thousands of people at a moment’s notice and toss them
into the newly-built Halliburton detention centers. This should be a
red flag for anyone who cares at all about human rights, civil
liberties, or simply saving his own skin.

Operation Falcon
was allegedly the brainchild of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales
and his counterpart in the US Marshal's office, (Director) Ben
Reyna. But its roots go much deeper into the nexus of right-wing
Washington think tanks where fantasies of autocratic government have
a long history. The name, Falcon, is an acronym for “Federal and
Local Cops Organized Nationally.” It relates to the more than 960
state, local and federal agencies which are directly involved in the
administration’s expansive criminal dragnets.

Typically, law
enforcement agencies are protective of their own turf and wary of
outside intervention. The Falcon program overrides these concerns by
streamlining the information-sharing processes and setting up a
chain-of-command structure that radiates from the Justice
Department. This removes many of the traditional obstacles to agency
interface. It also relocates the levers of power in Washington where
thy can be manned by members of the Bush administration.

Dictatorships require strong centralized authority and the
Falcon program is a logical corollary of that ambition. It creates
new inroads for Bush to assume greater control over the nationwide
police-state apparatus. That alone should be sufficient reason for
alarm.

The first Operation Falcon took place during the week
of April 4 to April 10, 2005. According to the US Marshal’s official
website, “The emphasis centered on gang related crimes, homicides,
crimes involving use of a weapon, crimes against children and the
elderly, crimes involving sexual assaults, organized crime and drug
related fugitives, and other crimes of violence.” More than 10,000
criminal suspects were arrested in a matter of days. It was the
largest criminal sweep in the nation’s history and, according to
U.S. Marshall chief Ben Reyna, “produced the largest number of
arrests ever recorded during a single initiative.” The Washington
Times noted, “The sweep was a virtual clearinghouse for warrants on
drug, gang, gun and sex-offender suspects nationwide.”

The emphasis was clearly on quantity not quality.

Still, this doesn’t explain why state and federal
agencies had to be integrated with local law enforcement simply to
carry out routine police work.

More importantly, it doesn’t
explain why local police ignored their duty to protect the public
just so they could coordinate with outside agencies. According to
one report “162 accused or convicted of murder” were picked up in
the first sweep. That means that the police knowingly left murderers
on the street and put the public at risk while they orchestrated
their raids with federal agencies.

That’s irresponsible. It
also suggests that there may be a more sinister motive behind the
program than just ensuring public safety. The plan appears to have
been devised to enhance the powers of the “unitary” executive by
putting state and local law enforcement under federal supervision.
Once again, it’s an attempt by the administration to extend its grip
to the state and local level. We saw a similar strategy unfold after
Hurricane Katrina when the Bush administration used the tragedy to
seize control of local police and National Guard units so they could
establish de facto martial law. Troops, armored vehicles and
mercenaries were deployed to New Orleans to fight lawlessness and
looting even though desperate people were still stranded on their
rooftops waiting for food, water and medical attention.

Operation FALCON II was another massive dragnet which
covered the western half of the country and focused primarily on
“violent sex offenders”. The raids took place from April 17-23, and
succeeded in apprehending 9,037 alleged fugitives. The US Marshals
web site boasts that the operation “took some of the country's most
dangerous wanted criminals off the streets and made America's
communities safer”.

Nonsense. Despite the claims of success,
only 462 “violent sex crime” suspects were arrested, along with
1,094 “unregistered sex offenders” and other minor “sex crime”
suspects. That leaves 7,481 suspects who were rounded up for other
unrelated reasons.

Who are they and what crime did they
commit? Were these drug violations, dads who were delinquent on
child-support payments, traffic tickets, jay-walking?!?

7,481 people who were incarcerated are unaccounted by the
government’s estimate. This means that the bulk of them were
probably undocumented workers who were shunted off to the INS
(Immigration and Naturalization) or dispatched to Cheney’s tent-city
gulags in western Texas. (See: Democracy Now “Human Rights Groups
Call for Closure of Texas Jail Holding Undocumented Immigrants”
2-23-07)

Similar inconsistencies appear in “Operation FALCON
III, which covered the eastern half of the country from October 22 -
28, 2006.” State, local and federal police-units arrested 10,773
fugitives; including 1,659 sex offenders, 971 unregistered sex
offenders, 364 gang members, 140 homicide suspects, and 3,609 drug
violations. Once again, the US Marshal’s official tally doesn’t
pencil out. This time, 4,030 extra people were rounded up without
any further explanation.

Who are they and have they been
charged with a crime?

Furthermore, sex offenders, drug users
and gang-bangers are not what we normally consider “some of the
country's most dangerous wanted criminals”. In fact, there are
indications that the great majority of these people are not violent
at all. For example, of the 30,110 total fugitives who were
apprehended in all three Falcon sweeps, a measly 586 firearms were
seized.

Clearly, the people who were arrested for the most
part were not “armed and dangerous” nor were they a serious threat
to public safety. They were probably just the unwitting victims of
an overzealous US Marshals office and an ideologically-driven
Justice Department.

So, what was the real impetus for the
Falcon raids? Was it just a bean-counting exercise to see how many
people would fit in the back of a Paddy-wagon or are they a dress
rehearsal for future crackdowns on potential enemies of the state?

Bogus News Reports

The Falcon operation
illustrates the incestuous relationship between the media and the
state. They are two wings on the same plane. The Justice Department
provided the TV networks with official footage of policemen and
government agents raiding homes and handcuffing suspects; and the
media dutifully aired the video on stations across the country. The
scenes were accompanied by a reassuring commentary lauding the
administration’s new crime fighting strategies and linking homeland
security with the nebulous war on terror.

Attorney General
Gonzales told reporters, “Operation FALCON is an excellent example
of President Bush’s direction and the Justice Department’s
dedication to deal both with the terrorist threat and traditional
violent crime.” He added, “This joint effort shows the commitment of
our federal, state, and local partners to make our neighborhoods
safer, and it has led to the highest number of arrests ever recorded
for a single initiative of its kind.”

So far, not one of the
more than 30,000 victims has been charged with a terror-related
crime.

The media-hype surrounding the raids has been
celebratory and uniform; cookie-cutter articles appeared throughout
the US press (most of them unsourced) highlighting the cooperation
between the divers agencies while providing an upbeat account of
what amounts to police repression. Thousands of nearly identical
articles appeared in the nation’s newspapers which seem to have been
authored by high-ranking officials at Homeland Security and protégés
of George Orwell; although the difference between the two is far
from certain.

Even stranger, most of the articles in the
mainstream media can no longer be retrieved via a Google search.
They seem to have vanished into the black-hole of Homeland
propaganda.

No matter. If the media was supposed to make
Gestapo-like crackdowns look like normal police operations; they
succeeded admirably. Mission accomplished.

Former Governor
of Louisiana, Huey Long once opined, “When fascism comes to America,
it will come wrapped in an American flag.” Indeed, he could have
added that the corporate media will gladly provide the flag and the
public relations campaign as they have with Falcon.

Falcon; new drills for a new world order

The
Falcon operations can only be understood in the broader context of
the ongoing assault on the constitutional system of checks and
balances; including the repeal of habeas corpus, warrantless
wiretaps and searches, and the use of torture.

For the last
6 years, the Bush administration has been busy dismantling the legal
safeguards which protect the citizen from the arbitrary and,
oftentimes, ruthless actions of the state. To that end, detention
camps are being prepared by Halliburton within the U.S., secret
courts have been established which deny due process of law, American
citizens are arrested without charge, law enforcement is
increasingly militarized, and the media has strengthened its
alliance with the central government.

Additionally, in
October 2006, George Bush quietly changed the Insurrection Act,
which prevented the President from deploying troops inside the
United States. Bush’s revision effectively overturns the Posse
Comitatus Act which put strict limits on the executive’s power to
use US troops in domestic situations. Just days earlier Bush signed
a similar bill, "The John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007"
which gives Bush the power to take command of National Guard units
across the country which are traditionally under the control of the
state governors.

Without fanfare, Bush has taken control of
all armed forces and militias inside and outside of the country and
now has a monopoly on all the state-sanctioned tools of organized
violence. It’s a coup that could never have succeeded without the
tacit cooperation of the media.

Bush is now free to declare
martial law in response to a natural disaster, a pandemic or a
terrorist attack. The congress is powerless to stop him.

Also, Bush recently signed the Military Commissions Act of
2006, which allows the president to arbitrarily declare citizens and
non citizens “enemy combatants” and imprison them indefinitely
without charge. The new law gives Bush the authority to disregard
the Geneva Conventions and the 8th amendment’s ban on “cruel and
unusual” punishment and apply “harsh interrogation” which may
include torture. The act effectively repeals habeas corpus, the
cornerstone of American jurisprudence and the Bill of Rights.

The Military Commissions Act cannot coexist with the US
Constitution; the two are mutually exclusive.

The Military
Commissions Act, The John Warner Defense Authorization Act, the
Homeland Security Act, the Patriot Act, and the myriad presidential
signing statements have conferred absolute power on George Bush. The
question is whether or not some incident will arise that will
persuade Bush to use his extraordinary new powers.

General
Tommy Franks predicted that a “massive, casualty producing event”
might cause “our population to question our own Constitution and
begin to militarize our country;” a scenario that many see as likely
now.

Is that it? Will another terrorist attack provide the
rationale for overturning republican government and declaring
martial law?

If so, then we should know what to expect.

According to FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) it
would mean “the suspension of the normal functions of civilian
government, implying the cancellation or postponement of state and
federal elections.” (Global Research) It would also “close public
and government facilities not critical for continuity of essential
operations.” (FEMA)

Northern Command would assume control
and under “the classified 'Continuity of Government” (COG)
Operations Plan' a secret 'shadow government' would become
functional, redeploying key staff to secret locations.” (Global
Research)

Also, “all forms of public gatherings or citizen's
protests which question the legitimacy of the emergency procedures
and the installation of a police state” would be banned. The
military would be deployed to carry out “police and judicial”
functions.

Martial law in the US would be applied with the
utmost attention to public sensibilities and perceptions, avoiding
the garish display of force we see in Iraq. It would be a “kinder
and gentler” martial law with a limited number of military personnel
on the streets (just enough to remind us that things have changed)
and an emphasis on “preemptive” policing operations. (Expect
Falcons’ 4, 5 and 6 etc) It would probably be disguised by a
carefully crafted public relations campaign and a predictably cheery
moniker, such as, “The Security Enhancement and Homeland
Fortification Act”. The possibilities are limitless.

The
Bush administration is also prepared if some unforeseen tragedy
befalls congress, like another anthrax attack.

In fact, the
American Enterprise Institute, to which the Bush team is closely
aligned, has already "issued proposals for the operation of Congress
following a catastrophic terrorist attack". They advocate the
"APPOINTING" of individuals to the House of Representatives "to fill
the seats of dead or incapacitated members, a first in American
history" "The Continuity of Government Commission is
self-commissioned', its members being neither elected nor appointed
by any government body and mostly made up of professional
lobbyists". (Read the whole article:
http://www.conservativeusa.org/cog-ronpaul.htm) (Coincidentally,
Newsweek article “White House Rehearses for Domestic Attack”
2-23-07; “The White House is staging a high-level exercise Saturday
to test responses to the prospect of a massive domestic terrorist
attack.” These drills are a critical part of the C.O.G. regimen
dating back to the Reagan administration)

According to the
AEI’s plan, the future United States congress will be comprised of
lobbyists and industry representatives. What else would one expect
from an organization that believes that corporate interests should
determine policy?

These are the chilling precedents which
have paved the way for further government lawlessness and abuse.
They foreshadow the ominous transition from representative
government to autocratic rule; from inalienable rights to martial
law.

The Falcon operations are just a small part of this
larger paradigm. The program is not designed for rounding up minor
crooks and drug dealers, (which no one really cares about anyway)
but for removing leftists, dissidents and political rivals. These
are the real targets. The power of the state is measured in terms of
how effectively it defeats or eliminates its enemies. And, the Bush
administration has shown a remarkable aptitude for crushing its
rivals.

The Crawford Fuehrer

One day, after a
particularly savage domestic purge; we can expect President Bush to
stride to the presidential podium and reiterate the same words that
were uttered by his German predecessor 60 years ago:

"If
anyone reproaches me and asks why I did not resort to the regular
courts of justice, then all I can say is this: In this hour I was
responsible for the fate of the American people, and thereby I
became the supreme judge of the American people….Everyone must know
for all future time that if he raises his hand to strike the State,
then certain death is his lot."

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information for research and educational purposes. Information
Clearing House has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of
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