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FEMA Today and the Bush AdministrationShould Americans be suspicious of the agency's plans or focus?
FEMA's ineffective disaster relief efforts for Hurricanes Katrina and Ike, and shadowy, sinister history, have made many question the agency's funding and purpose.
In a 2002 article in the Australian paper the Sydney Morning Herald author Ritt Goldstein claimed that “Recent pronouncements from the Bush Administration and national security initiatives put in place in the Reagan era could see internment camps and martial law in the United States.” The article was picked up by Congressman Jim McDermott and in a speech given before Congress in 2003, he expressed concern that the current system could be used to target Arab Americans. “FEMA has practiced for such an occasion,” he explained. The Congressman worried that the broad powers given to the Federal Emergency Management Agency under President Reagan combined with legislation passed to fight terrorism could be used to trample civil liberties and detain law-abiding citizens. Then, on January 4, 2006, the Halliburton subsidy Kellogg, Brown, and Root was given a government contract to build temporary detention centers for the Department of Homeland Security. The camps were said to be for an “immigrant emergency.” According to Maureen Farrell in her article “Detention Camp Jitters,” Rex 84 (FEMA’s 1984 drill that planned for detainment for large portions of the American civilian population,) was also conducted under the premise of preparing for “an influx of immigrants.”
Disaster Relief? In defending FEMA’s slow performance after Hurricane Katrina, former head Michael Brown explained “FEMA doesn’t evacuate communities … FEMA does not do communications” and “many may be surprised to learn that, guess what, FEMA doesn’t own fire trucks. We don’t own ambulances. We don’t own search and rescue equipment …,” prompting many to question the organization’s purpose. While FEMA could not put out fires or bring their own ambulances, many expected the organization to be prepared, at minimal, to coordinate efforts from agencies equipped to provide relief, including the American Red Cross (who were denied access to New Orleans during the worst of the devastation.) Recent relief efforts for victims Hurricane Ike have also been criticized, with one Galveston nurse, Reginald Cleveland, telling The Huffington Post “I say put the [FEMA] people out. They obviously don’t know what they’re doing.” Certainly, the immense devastation caused by these storms would be difficult for any organization to handle. But with over 13.8 billion dollars in funding from 1998 to 2002, and the words “emergency management” right in the agency’s title, the lack of preparation for natural disasters brings to question what kind of emergency they have been planning for.
Stretching the Truth Taken together, it’s easy to see how FEMA’a history and their recent performance have made some people uneasy. On the website Kingdom Engineers one blogger writes “It has been known for some time that there are camps which are built and ready to imprison people around the US. When the tribulation period enters full swing you can expect a big round up of people.” While under-reported in the mainstream media, the controversies surrounding FEMA have been picked up and exploited by hundreds of sites on the internet. Relying on massive generalizations and scare tactics, these unaccredited sources proclaim that any day now FEMA will turn against us, that the end is coming, and that the media is in on the ploy to keep the government’s secrets in their war against the population. Enough legitimate information about these often unrelated events exists to make even the skeptic nervous. But a closer look can show that while the US government often plans for the worst with their own best interest in mind, it is a mental jump to assume there is a diabolical overarching purpose or a eagerness to act on them. Links to “evidence” frequently fail or bring us to completely unrelated topics. Sites claiming to have the addresses of FEMA concentration camps turn up empty fields or active army bases and prisons. In reality, there is no evidence that Kellogg, Brown, and Root has built a single camp yet. The tragedy is that many of these events are genuine threats to Americans’ safety and civil liberties. The rumors and hysteria surrounding FEMA and Rex 84 distract us from legitimate information and the means to act upon it. And in a presidential voting year where no one is entirely sure who to trust, distraction may be the last thing we need. References: Arrillaga, Pauline & Sullivan, Eileen. (17 September 2008). “Hurricane Ike Survivors Lash Out at FEMA.” The Huffington Post. Farrell, Maureen. (13 February 2006). "Detention Camp Jitters." BuzzFlash.com Goldstein, Ritt. (2 July, 2002). “Foundations Are in Place for Martial Law in the US.” The Sidney Morning Herald
The copyright of the article FEMA Today and the Bush Administration in Law, Crime & Justice is owned by Sandra Phaneuf. Permission to republish FEMA Today and the Bush Administration in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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