by Jim Fetzer (with Paul Joseph Watson)
"It could never happen here. We are the greatest democracy in the world. Indeed, we are the greatest country in history! Politicians say it all the time. Our enemies are foreign, not domestic. So stop your hysteria and focus on the Brewers and the Packers."--Ed Garvey
Wednesday, 5 March 2013, I called the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in the expectation of speaking with a press representative about a dozen questions I have that are bothering me and a lot of other concerned citizens. It was a snow day, however, and the duty officer who answered explained that they were closed "due to inclement weather" and I should call back the next day. Thursday, 6 March 2013, I called again and informed the switchboard operator that I was a reporter and would like to speak to a press spokesman. I was connected to a secretary, who told me that DHS does not answer inquiries by phone and that I should submit any questions to mediainquiry@dhs.gov.
While I have now done that, I have no reason to believe I will receive honest answers, if, indeed, I receive any answers at all. The situation is so disturbing that I cannot imagine how any replies to my questions could possibly add up. So I am publishing them here with a few words of explanation and some links that explain how we know these are real issues and why they matter, if, indeed, that is not already obvious on their face. I have also appended an article by Paul Joseph Watson, which greatly reinforces the questions that DHS needs to answer. We appear to be confronted with our own Stasi, where the time appears to have come to deal with the threat that it poses to the American people.
For your information, my name is Jim Fetzer, I am a former Marine Corps officer and a journalist for Veterans Today. Our readers have expressed interest in knowing more about recent activities by DHS, which is my reason for calling. Are you authorized to speak for DHS?
May I have your name and the title of your position? Just for my personal information, what was your profession before joining DHS? Could you tell me where you are from and a little about your education for our readers’ information? It adds a personal dimension to the story.
(1) Sen. Rand Paul has conducted a filibuster against the use of predator drones to kill American citizens on US soil without due process, which appears to be a blatant violation of the Bill of Rights. How will DHS determine who will be killed using them and who will not?
Jon Stewart praises Rand Paul Filibuster: "He's using the filibuster the way it's meant to be used"
(2) There are new reports that DHS acquiring 2,700 light tanks which are especially designed to withstand IEDs of the kind that US forces have encountered in Iraq and Afghanistan. Does DHS anticipate using these in American streets against US citizens--and if so, why?
The new DHS sanctioned ‘Street Sweeper’ (my own slang due to the gun ports) is built by Navistar Defense (NavistarDefense.com), a division within the Navistar organization. Under the Navistar umbrella are several other companies including International Trucks, IC Bus (they make school buses), Monaco RV (recreational vehicles), WorkHorse (they make chassis), MaxxForce (diesel engines), and Navistar Financial (the money arm of the company).
———————- From Navistar Defense: The International® MaxxPro® is Navistar Defense’s Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle and incorporates the latest design in armoring technology. Extensively tested by the military and used in theater today, the MaxxPro features a V-shaped hull and other design features that greatly improve survivability. MaxxPro® MRAP specifications:
Length: 254″ (21.2 feet)
Width: 102″ (8.5 feet)
Height: 120″ (10 feet)
Wheel base: 153″ (12.8 feet)
Curb weight: 37,850 lbs. (18.9 tons)
Engine: MaxxForce® 9.3
The MaxxPro MRAP is built to withstand ballistic arms fire, mine blasts, IEDs, and other emerging threats. Its V-shaped hull helps deflect blasts out and away from the crew and its armoring can be customized to meet any mission requirement.
(3) Earlier articles have reported that DHS has acquired more than 1.5 billion rounds of .40 hollow point ammunition, which is not even permissible for use in combat under the Hague Treaty of 1899. For what conceivable purpose does DHS need this vast stockpile of munitions?
(4) These purchases and those of 7,000 fully automatic assault weapons are reported to have been made with no-bid contract was justified due to an “unusual and compelling urgency” alleging a shortage of bullets threatening “substantial safety issues for the government”. What would that be?
(5) The public has long known of the existence of more than 300 FEMA camps distributed across the county and we have noticed that DHS is advertising for personnel to man them. Since there are no obvious natural disasters that might warrant them, what is their purpose?
(6) Special arrangements have been made for the use of funeral homes and other facilities to process large numbers of bodies of US citizens, should an emergency arise that would overwhelm hospitals and other care centers. What is the purpose of making these arrangements?
(7) Since DHS has no foreign commitments, is there any reason to doubt DHS is acquiring these vast stocks of ammunition, these light tanks, and 30,000 drones, while making these special arrangements and manning FEMA camps for anticipated operations against US citizens?
You don’t have to have spent 35 years teaching logic, critical thinking and scientific reasoning to put together the following premises and draw the obvious conclusion:
(1) The US Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (3 October 2012) has established that there is no domestic terrorist threat;
(2) There are 300 or more FEMA camps distributed around the country and we know that Congress has authorized 30,000 drones for domestic surveillance;
(3) Since there is no domestic terrorist threat, the domestic surveillance and those FEMA camps are not intended to survey terrorists or to imprison terrorists;
(4) Since those drones and FEMA camps are either intended to survey terrorists or US citizens, it follows that, since they are not for terrorists, they are for US citizens;
(5) DHS has acquired more than 1.5 billion rounds of .40 caliber hollow-point ammunition, which is not even permissible in warfare under the Hague Treaty of 1899;
(6) Since DHS does not conduct operations abroad, it has been acquired for domestic consumption and, since there are no terrorists, it must be for US citizens;
(7) Congress is planning for funeral homes, cemeteries and mortuaries being “overwhelmed” from a mass terror attack, natural disaster or other crisis; but,
(8) there is no domestic terrorist threat and no conceiveable natural disaster would justify this dramatic authorization for coping with staggering numbers of bodies.
Conclusion: The United States is planning for massive civil war, involving massive casualities, with the citizens of the United States. Consider the evidence. There is no way around it. That’s what’s happening.
(8) A subcommittee of the US Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Intelligence has issued a report based upon its review of 680 "fusion center" reports from 2009-10 that showed no indications at all--NONE--of domestic terrorist activity. So why is DHS targeting Americans?
(9) Groups that have been reported to be on the DHS "terrorist watch list" include militias, veterans, 9/11 Truth seekers, and critics of US foreign policy, who have been exercising their rights under the Constitution. Why do groups like these belong on any "watch list" by a federal agency?
(10) The creation of DHS under the PATRIOT Act appears to be modeled upon the East German “Stasi” and to reflect the dissolution of the United States of America into a fascistic military-police state. Wouldn't it be better for our civil liberties for DHS to be disbanded?
(11) The reported massacre at Sandy Hook appears to some to have been a staged event that even involved the use of actors, which was designed as a "psy op" to reduce access to the weapons Americans need to oppose an assault by DHS. Was DHS involved in Sandy Hook?
The AR 15 Rifle was left in the car!
(12) The last question: Is DHS planning to conduct a massive civil war against the American people? What other conceivable purpose can there be for acquiring this vast stockpile of illegal .40 calibre ammunition, 2,700 light tanks, 300 FEMA camps and 30,000 drones when there is no domestic terrorist threat?
DHS Preparing for Civil War in the US?
Thank you for your cooperation in addresses these questions on behalf of Veterans Today. If you can provide contact information, I will be glad to send you a copy of the article when it is published and to acknowledge you as my source on behalf of DHS.
Media Portrays DHS Ammo Purchases as Conspiracy Theory
Media circles the wagons, goes into desperate damage control
Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com March 6, 2013
The establishment media, aided by a raft of leftist websites, is still portraying concern over the Department of Homeland Security’s purchase of some 2 billion rounds of ammunition as a conspiracy theory by regurgitating the glib statement of a single DHS official.
NRA CEO on the Gun Control Push
The latest examples include Media Matters and Raw Story, both of which attacked Fox Business host Lou Dobbs for daring to raise the issue on his March 4 broadcast during an interview with the NRA’s Wayne LaPierre.
Statement by Alex Jones: “Lou Dobbs hit the nail on the head, the reason we have the second amendment is to defend ourselves from a domestic government arms build-up which is always a prelude to state oppression. That’s why White House front groups like Media Matters and Politico are stonewalling this issue by saying it doesn’t exist. This is exactly the same thing former White House press secretary Robert Gibbs admitted to when he said he was ordered to deny the drone program – which was publicly admitted to exist – as a psychological warfare tactic to confuse the public.”
“The globalists are building a domestic army under the cover of national security – and only now does the second amendment – laid down by our visionary founders – come alive to fulfil its true purpose as a counter balance and shield against usurpers and tyrants everywhere.”
Hijacking confusion about whether 2,717 armored vehicles were destined for the DHS or the United States Marine Corps, Media Matters, which has been documented to be little more than an Obama administration mouthpiece, reported that, “The claim that DHS bought a 1.6 billion bullet stockpile is also misleading,” while simultaneously admitting that “DHS did buy 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition.”
The source of the claim that concerns over the bullet buys are a conspiracy theory or “misleading,” cited by both Media Matters and Raw Story, is a February 14 Associated Press report which did not conduct any actual investigation into why the DHS was purchasing the ammo, instead regurgitating a statement from DHS official Peggy Dixon, who claimed the bullets were bought in bulk to save money and were for training purposes only.
Firstly, the notion that the DHS, which threatened to release 10,000 illegal aliens because it couldn’t afford to house them while simultaneously building numerous new detention centers for illegal aliens at a cost of tens of millions of dollars, is the least bit interested in “saving money” is asinine.
This is an agency that has become synonymous with wasting taxpayers’ money yet one which has also enjoyed a budget increase year upon year even as the economy flatlines.
Secondly, the claim that the bullets were for training purposes only was blithely accepted and regurgitated by the AP despite being inherently disingenuous.
The majority of the bullets purchased by the DHS as part of its 2 billion round ammo buying spree were hollow point bullets (one order alone amounted to 450 million of them). Hollow point bullets just happen to be completely unsuitable for training purposes because they cost significantly more money compared to standard firing range bullets. This debunks both the ‘saving money’ argument and the ‘for training purposes only’ claim in one fell swoop.
Thirdly, the fact that the Associated Press also treated a DHS statement as the gospel truth, when the agency has been caught lying innumerable times, particularly on TSA body scanner issues and most recently with Janet Napolitano’s erroneous claim that the sequester debate was causing delays in airports, also serves as another reminder as to why distrust in the mainstream media is at an all time high.
The media also acted in unison following former Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin’s warning last week that the federal government is “stockpiling bullets” in preparation for “civil unrest,” savaging Palin as a tinfoil hat wearing lunatic who was spewing Alex Jones-style “conspiracy theories.”
Atlantic Wire responded by claiming Palin had obtained her rhetoric from a “debunked email” concerning the Social Security Administration’s purchase of 174,000 bullets last year, completely omitting the admitted DHS purchase of 2 billion bullets like it didn’t exist.
Politico also made reference to the Atlantic Wire “debunking” (despite the fact that it represented lying by omission and not a debunking at all), as well as reporting that concerns over the DHS ammo purchases had been rebutted by the “feds” and the “media”.
Apparently, the mainstream media has failed to grasp that concerns about government activity cannot be “debunked” by merely repeating glib statements issued by government officials.
Amidst all the so-called “debunkings” of the bullet buys, the media has also conveniently ignored the DHS’ purchase of 7,000 fully automatic assault rifles last September as well as the agency’s $2 million dollar relationship with a contractor that recently had to apologize for producing shooting targets of pregnant women, children and elderly gun owners depicted in residential settings.
The DHS has also been busy buying large supplies of body armor, leading to shortages. Last year, the agency put out an urgent order for “riot gear” in anticipation of civil unrest. The agency has also ordered bullet-proof checkpoint booths and hired hundreds of new security guards to protect government buildings over the course of the last 12 months. None of this has been addressed by the mainstream media.
While claiming to have “debunked” concerns about the DHS’ purchase of 2 billion bullets, the likes of the Associated Press, Politico, Media Matters, the Atlantic Wire and others have only debunked themselves – by relying on a single dubious statement from a DHS official as their source in addition to repeatedly lying by omission.
Is it any wonder that a recent Rasmussen poll found that just 6 per cent of Americans rate the mainstream media as “very trustworthy” when the corporate press now behaves as if merely repeating the glib statements of government officials is an acceptable way of ascertaining the truth about a story?
Paul Joseph Watson is the editor and writer for Infowars.com and Prison Planet.com. He is the author of Order Out Of Chaos. Watson is also a host for Infowars Nightly News.
Jim Fetzer, a former Marine Corps officer, is McKnight Professor Emeritus at the University of Minnesota Duluth.