Militarization of public health in the case of emergency is now official

by Michel Chossudovsky
July 31, 2009
Global Research

According to CNN, the Pentagon is "to establish regional teams of military personnel to assist civilian authorities in the event of a significant outbreak of the H1N1 virus this fall, according to Defense Department officials."

"The proposal is awaiting final approval from Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

The officials would not be identified because the proposal from U.S. Northern Command's Gen. Victor Renuart has not been approved by the secretary.

The plan calls for military task forces to work in conjunction with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. There is no final decision on how the military effort would be manned, but one source said it would likely include personnel from all branches of the military.

It has yet to be determined how many troops would be needed and whether they would come from the active duty or the National Guard and Reserve forces.

Civilian authorities would lead any relief efforts in the event of a major outbreak, the official said. The military, as they would for a natural disaster or other significant emergency situation, could provide support and fulfill any tasks that civilian authorities could not, such as air transport or testing of large numbers of viral samples from infected patients.

As a first step, Gates is being asked to sign a so-called "execution order" that would authorize the military to begin to conduct the detailed planning to execute the proposed plan.

Orders to deploy actual forces would be reviewed later, depending on how much of a health threat the flu poses this fall, the officials said." (CNN, Military planning for possible H1N1 outbreak, July 2009, emphasis added) 

July 31, 2009
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2009/07/former-fbi-translator-bin-laden-w...

Before you hear what she has to say, you should know a little about Sibel Edmonds' background.

Edmonds is a former FBI translator, who the Department of Justice's Inspector General and several senators have called extremely credible (free subscription required).

Some of Edmonds allegations' have been confirmed in the British press.

Now, Edmonds is saying that Osama Bin Laden worked for the U.S. right up until 9/11, and that that fact is being covered up because the US outsourced terror operations to al Qaeda and the Taliban for many years.

Is there are confirmation of Edmonds' claim?

Yes.

By Luke Ryland
July 31, 2009
Against All Enemies blog

Former FBI translator Sibel Edmonds dropped a bombshell on the Mike Malloy radio show, guest-hosted by Brad Friedman (audio, partial transcript).

In the interview, Sibel says that the US maintained 'intimate relations' with Bin Laden, and the Taliban, "all the way until that day of September 11."

These 'intimate relations' included using Bin Laden for 'operations' in Central Asia, including Xinjiang, China. These 'operations' involved using al Qaeda and the Taliban in the same manner "as we did during the Afghan and Soviet conflict," that is, fighting 'enemies' via proxies.

As Sibel has previously described, and as she reiterates in this latest interview, this process involved using Turkey (with assistance from 'actors from Pakistan, and Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia') as a proxy, which in turn used Bin Laden and the Taliban and others as a proxy terrorist army.

9/11 Family Members and Survivor File for Re-validation of Citizens' Signatures with New York State Supreme Court, following rejection of NYC CAN petition by the City Clerk and Board of Elections

New York City -- On Wednesday, several 9/11 victim family members and a survivor took the first step in challenging the City Clerk's rejection of the NYC CAN petition for a new investigation in New York City. The group filed a Verified Petition/Order to Show Cause with the Supreme Court of the State of New York requesting a review of Board of Election documentation and a 'special referee' appointed to re-validate the over 52,000 signatures filed by NYC CAN on June 24th.

The NYC CAN petition was rejected by the City Clerk on Friday, July 24th, a week ago, certifying less than the minimum of 30,000 qualified signatures of electors. This benchmark, according to the Clerk's office, was not met. A "qualified elector" is a registered New York City voter who was eligible to vote in the last election. According to the letter sent by the Clerk to the City Council, the NY Board of Elections validated 26,003 signatures and invalidated 24,664, leaving 1,333 that were not certified.

The Journal of 9/11 Studies has published a new paper by Dr. Frank Legge, entitled "What Hit the Pentagon?", available here: http://journalof911studies.com/volume/2009/WhatHitPentagonDrLegge.pdf

Here are some excerpts:

"The most logical inference from the Pentagon attack evidence is that the perpetrators of 9/11 knew that there would be many members of the public who would become suspicious for one reason or another. The perpetrators realized that a powerful technique for weakening the arguments of the skeptics would be to have them arguing against one another."

Washington, D.C. -- Representatives Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), and Michael McMahon (D-NY) today applauded the House passage of $70,723,000 in funding for the World Trade Center Health Programs for Fiscal Year 2010. The funding was included in the FY2010 Labor and Health and Human Services Appropriations Bill, which passed the House today. The lawmakers, along with Rep. Peter King (R-NY), are sponsors of the 9/11 Health and Compensation Act (H.R. 847), which would provide long-term, comprehensive health care and compensation for those sickened or injured in the aftermath of 9/11.

"The heroes and heroines of 9/11 deserve a helping hand from the federal government --it's the least we can do as a grateful nation. This $70 million in federal funding will keep the doors of 9/11 health clinics open until we pass comprehensive 9/11 health legislation, hopefully by the eighth anniversary of the attacks," said Rep. Maloney. "I thank President Obama and my colleagues in the House for their continued support of the men and women who came to the aid of the country after 9/11."

"This $70 million for the World Trade Center Health Programs will directly benefit the first responders and community members who are living with 9/11-related illnesses," said Rep. Nadler. "These funds are critical for ensuring that those who sacrificed -- or who were innocent bystanders -- on or after 9/11 are taken care of until we pass comprehensive 9/11 health care legislation. Thanks are due to President Obama, Congresswoman Maloney and my colleagues for supporting this crucial
program."

A CALL TO ACTION -- PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY

www.NYCCAN.org

July 27, 2009

9/11 FAMILIES, FIRST RESPONDERS AND SURVIVORS TO TAKE NEW YORK CITY TO COURT OVER NYC CAN PETITION

SEVENTY THOUSAND New Yorkers signed the NYC CAN petition, raising their voices in support of NYC CAN's demand for accountability. They have chosen to place the decision to create a new 9/11 investigation -- a REAL 9/11 investigation -- exactly where it belongs: before the voters of New York City this November. The voices of SEVENTY THOUSAND Americans who believe in democracy and believe that government exists to serve the people -- and not the other way around -- have been GAGGED by ONE so-called "PUBLIC SERVANT" -- The New York City Clerk -- who denied the petition and the voice of the people.

Welcome to America. Democracy denied.

By Muriel Kane
July 24, 2009
RawStory.com

According to a story in Friday's New York Times, Vice-President Cheney advocated in 2002 for the Bush administration to send military troops to Buffalo to arrest the so-called Lackawanna Six as enemy combatants.

This would have violated both Fourth Amendment guarantees against search and seizure without probable cause and the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which makes it illegal to use the military for law enforcement.

Despite those prohibitions, Cheney argued that the president did have the power to use the military on US soil, citing an October 23, 2001 Justice Department memorandum co-authored by John Yoo which claimed that presidential power extended to the domestic use of the military as long as it served a national security purpose.

The Lackawanna Six were a group of young Yememi-Americans who had attended an al Qaeda training camp in 2001. They were arrested in September 2002, and President Bush bragged of having broken their "cell" in his January 2003 State of the Union address.

However, an investigation by Salon failed to turn up any evidence that they were actually a "sleeper cell" or that they had been planning any kind of violent attack. Most of them were convicted merely of providing material aid to terrorists.

John Albanese
July 23, 2009
New York City

70,000 signatures. A groundswell of endorsements from some of the most prestigious and well-respected names in and out of the 9/11 Truth movement, anti-war movement, government and military officials, and, most importantly, the victim's families.

Whether one agrees or disagrees with the underlying language, history and personalities of those involved, it cannot be disputed that NYC CAN represents perhaps the most unified and historic groundswell of public support for a 9/11 investigation in the history of the 9/11 Truth movement. We cannot turn our backs on the self-evident nature of this historic collaboration.

For this reason I can no longer withhold my endorsement.

I am well aware of the problems inherent in this initiative. As one of the last few holdouts in the 9/11 Truth community, I too was deeply concerned with various aspects of this initiative. But, in many respects the widespread attention, and unifying character of the many endorsements, and the community outreach associated with the initiative, makes this not just a referendum on the events of 9/11, but also a virtual referendum on the nature of the 9/11 Truth movement itself.

With so much widespread support and exposure NYC CAN will once and for all create a high-profile platform for an open and honest dialogue -- not just about the events of 9/11 -- but about OURSELVES - and our ability to maintain our dignity and credibility as a movement in the face of what will invariably be organized efforts to disrupt our efforts -- from without and within.

At this we cannot fail. We cannot ignore the call of 70,000 New Yorkers, and countless others worldwide, who have taken a stand for creating this unique platform for truth.

It is for this reason that I would like to announce my full endorsement for the NYC CAN, and my intentions to work towards publicly supporting and promoting this initiative.

123realchange.blogspot.com

Announcing Sibel Edmonds Podcast Show with Co-Host Peter B. Collins - "THE BOILING FROGS"
July 12, 2009
Sibel Edmonds (If you're not already famliar with Sibel, read more about her here)

I am pleased to announce the launch of my Podcast show, 'The Boiling Frogs.'
This site will present two in-depth interviews per month, one-hour each, with well-respected and controversial guests. My guest list will include:

* Investigative reporters
* Authors with controversial and bold track records
* Courageous and legitimate whistleblowers
* Well-respected academic and legal experts on our relevant issues ...

Tuesday, July 21, 2009 - Podcast Show #1

The Boiling Frogs Presents James Bamford

James Bamford discusses the NSA's warrantless wiretapping program, the ties between NSA and the nation's telecommunications companies including the Israeli companies involved in intercepting highly sensitive communications for the U.S. government, the agency's failings pre-9/11 and the relevant information blackout by the 9/11 Commission, the US mainstream media, President Obama's 'no change' so far, and more.

Dear Friends,

This past week, NYC CAN broke 70,000 signatures. We have now collected over 18,000 signatures in addition to the 52,000 submitted on June 24, 2009. According to the law, we can force the referendum for a new investigation on the ballot by submitting another 15,000 valid signatures on August 25, regardless of what City Council does. To be comfortably above 15,000 valid signatures, we aim to have at least 35,000 signatures by August 23, which means we have 17,000 to go. This is well within reach as our petitioners are bringing in 4,000 signatures per week.

DONATE NOW: http://nyccan.org/donate.php

July 22, 2009

I am writing to endorse the www.nyccan.org initiative. It is shocking that one of the greatest mass murders in the history of the United States has not yet received an adequate investigation. The limitations and shortcomings of the 9/11 Commission have now been widely recognized, and even its two chairmen have acknowledged that the commission was "set up to fail." Meanwhile this country continues to live under major legal and even constitutional changes flowing from an event which we still do not adequately understand. It is not too much to say that the future of America as an open society will depend in large part on whether it can find the political will to determine what happened on that fateful day.

Peter Dale Scott

The interview can be heard at 4 p.m. Eastern/1 p.m. Pacific, available at http://www.kpfa.org/

It will also be available as an archive thereafter at http://www.kpfa.org/node/34

More on The Hidden History of 9/11:

Information tends to flow centripetally, from the margins to the center, and not vice versa, in the same way as sensations travel from our finger tips to our brain and central nervous system. Paul Zarembka's Hidden History of 9-11, doesn't subscribe to any one conspiracy theory, but it argues, persuasively, that familiarity with the fault lines of the official story opens a reader to a fundamental and necessary awareness. We may never know the full story of 9-11, in the same way that we may never know the full story of the Kennedy assassinations, but the awareness that we do have following these events provides us at the very least with a healthy skepticism and a willingness to entertain the possibility of there being counter-narratives that cannot be dismissed.

From Kevin Ryan
July 21, 2009

A new paper is available at The Journal of 9/11 Studies. This is from Professor Graeme MacQueen, and is called "Did the Earth Shake Before The South Tower Hit the Ground?" Here is the abstract:

"In the debate over the collapses of the Twin Towers on 9/11, the shaking of the earth that accompanied these collapses has played an important role. This shaking registered clearly on seismographs. Less clear, however, are its causes and the times it began. The National Institute of Standards and Technology emphasizes the role of the debris from the collapsing buildings in producing the seismic signals. In assessing NIST's hypothesis I focus on the collapse of the South Tower and attempt to determine the time the collapse began, the time the debris from the Tower struck the ground, and the temporal relation of these events to the shaking of the earth that accompanied the collapse. I consider both the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory's seismic evidence and the evidence provided by a less studied form of seismic instrument, the video camera. I also draw on witness testimony. I conclude that key statements by NIST are false. Major shaking of the earth, and corresponding seismic signals, started well before the debris hit the ground. In fact, it seems certain that the shaking of the earth started before visible signs of building collapse. This evidence is incompatible with the official NIST hypothesis of the cause of the collapse of the Towers."

Click here to listen

GUNS AND BUTTER with Bonnie Faulkner

Osama bin Laden: Dead or Alive? -- David Ray Griffin
Interview with David Ray Griffin about his new book, "Osama bin Laden Dead or Alive?". We examine all the evidence, both that indicating bin Laden died, and that suggesting he is still alive; the important bin Laden videos and audio recordings, the significance, if any, in the timing of their release; statements by significant political and intelligence figures; and why the hunt for bin Laden must proceed.