Subscribe to Common Dreams News Updates
Most Popular This Week
Popular content
Today's Top News
Homeland Secretary to Reveal Security Plans: Report
WASHINGTON - U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is expected to reveal on Wednesday the Obama administration's domestic policies to prevent terrorist attacks, the Wall Street Journal said on Tuesday.
U.S. Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano attends a press conference in Grand Central Terminal in New York. Napolitano announced a new strategy to make ordinary citizens the first line of defense against an increasingly multi-faceted terrorist threat. (AFP/Getty Images/Chris Hondros) In an interview, Napolitano said the new strategy is expected to rely largely on refining and expanding initiatives launched under former President George W. Bush, the paper reported on its website.
The new plans are part of a wider effort to significantly increase the cooperation Napolitano's agency has with state and local governments in the United States, the paper said.
Napolitano is also expected to call for more civic awareness and involvement to prevent attacks, the paper said, adding that she is likely to discuss efforts to work closer with foreign governments, from sharing airline-passenger data to intelligence about potential plots.
"We live in a world now where no one department of government can be held to be the sole repository of protecting security," Napolitano told the paper in an interview on Monday. "There is a role to be played at every level."
Among the Bush administration programs to be expanded, for instance, is a pilot program to train police to report suspicious behavior such as theft of keys from a facility that keeps radiological waste, the paper said.
In a speech scheduled for Wednesday to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, Napolitano is likely to also emphasize the President Barack Obama's concern for civil liberties, according to the paper.
(Reporting by Ajay Kamalakaran in Bangalore, editing by Philip Barbara)
63 Comments so far
Show AllMrs. Napolitano,
I'd like to report some suspicious activity.
The federal government and Ben Bernanke gave away trillions of taxpayer dollars to Wall Street under the threat of economic collapse and martial law.
Now they won't reveal where any of it went or what was put up as collateral.
They used "terror" (ism?) to pull off the heist now they're using all the tools in their box to block investigation.
I hope you can stop another "attack"
Please help.
Sincerely, CX-1
Cygnus-X1-isaHole July 29th, 2009 10:39 am ...Thank you. And I would like to report treasonous activities within the United States government under the guise of the false flag of 9/11, the 9/11 Commission Report that was a stack of lies, the subsequent illegal invasion of two sovereign nations, the theft of the presidential election of 2000 and 2004 and the immutable evidence that we as a nation under the mis-leadership of Bush II have tortured men and children..Ummmm..Oh yes....The use of depleted uranium in the Middle East.....ummmm oh yes....the indiscriminate bombing with drones of Afghanistan and Pakistan....and umm...Oh yes, the use of the military against our own civilian population...ummm...yes...the Illegal Patriot Act, the Military Commission Act and the voiding of habeas corpus.....ummm ..yes...almost forgot illegal surveillance of civilians.....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.......
Sincerely, A former sheeple, Bill
Ditto guys.
This is one sick-fuck nation.
nedlud
I think , finally , with the confirmation of how much MORE the USA is going to be "led" on this path of "security state"....
that it can be fairly said the United States of America as a Republic is
effectively DEAD...and can not be resurrected...and will end up as not just a Police State (still calling itself democracy of course, as Huey Long -- an avowed fascist decades ago from texas - predicted) ..
the only question remaining is -- how SEVERE the terror and devastation will be BY THE TIME americans FULLY realize the horror of what they have permitted to become.
the USSR collapsed almost in a blink of an eye.
Germany for Nazis was "defeated"...
the USA will have a LONG FALL -- each stage becoming more severe and terrifying, imo.
all the writing is on the wall.
Hey, us Texans have enough f*&ked up stuff happening here. After all, we gave you Bush. Please don't give us Huey Long, he belongs
to Louisiana.
Big Brother is Black...
Jeevee
It's NOT NECESSARY to put a racial tinge on anything that's gotten us into this unutterable mess. I can't help thinking that the vast majority were either too lazy or too indifferent to check the candidates' voting records.
Another ne-con rightwingnut fear mongering. The people, or shall I say the previous dictator regime got this country into this mess through lies. They should be afraid for as long as they live.
Jarhead I go th... July 29th, 2009 10:51 am.......And what has Obamassiah done to correct ANYTHING, leatherneck?
"Meet the new boss, same as the old boss."
"We won't get fooled again, wont' get fooled..."
If you do not control your border, the rest of this is simply window dressing. An exercise in futility.
Taking the "Department of Homeland Security" would be a good start in improving the nations safety and security in my opinion. Too big, too unweildy to accomplish much.
Someone the other day posted how childish the name sounds, must agree. I cringe any time I hear it.
We do face danger of attacks like 9/11......but I don't see anything Bush did or this bunch is doing that would mitigate that danger.
Though I admit I feel "so much safer" when I get on a plane after removing my shoes.
Henry8 July 29th, 2009 11:40 am...................The only danger we face over another "9/11 like attack" is from inside our own government...just as the first.
I don't believe that theory, so I'll just have to go on the fact that it was more than likely the Saudi's money that did it, which is my theory. And as long as there are countries out there banrolling these types of activities, we stand in that danger in my opinion.
Henry8 July 29th, 2009 12:22 pm..........Certainly your perogative.
Thanks! Note above I said it was my theory.
Henry8 July 29th, 2009 12:22 pm........"so I'll just have to go ON THE FACT that it was more than likely the Saudi's money that did it, which is my theory." ......You may not accept the truthers theories, since, as I said, it's your perogative. But, that the Saudi's did it IS NOT A FACT as you stated....it's your theory.
But weren't most of the 'identified culprits' Saudi nationals? Have you forgotten the mad rush to evacuate members of the Saudi royal family and acquaintances while the US airspace was closed to all other traffic?
Anyway - why is anyone surprised by these actions of the new puppet of the ruling oligarchy? Hasn't the Congress and the administration steadfastly refused to undo all of the unconstitutional legislation (Patriot Act, Military Commissions Act, Pres, Security Directive 51, etc.)!!!!
Just wait until all of us worker proles have ID numbers tattoed on the inside of our forearms.
curmudgeon99 July 29th, 2009 1:12 pm...........Identified? How? There was NO DNA evidence. And 9 or 11 of them were found to be alive and well.
Just as long as they don't tattoo it on our backsides!
"so I'll just have to go on the fact that it was more than likely the Saudi's money that did it, which is my theory."
I said My Theory.....you just missed that.
Henry8 July 29th, 2009 1:29 pm.....No, you see, I did not miss it....re-read my post. You said..........."so I'll just have to go on the fact that it was more than likely....." Then you added it was your theory. You may think it's a fact, but it's not. You are basing your theory on a supposition...as we are are until 9/11 is re-investigated.
Yes, Homeland Security; how benign and childish sounding.
As childish sounding as it's Nazi origins.
PRECISELY -- right down to the use of Orwellian Language.
boy they really have this mastered right down to the bone.
the great reminder and warning against FASCISM for the sake of security
was given by DWIGHT EISENHOWER:
"my fellow americans, i leave office with warning: beware of the undue influence of the Military/Industrial/Corporate/Congressional complex lest we lose our republic.....for we shall SURELY bankrupt ourselves in the QUEST for Absolute Security".
there is no such thing as "freedom and liberty" with the dangers of existence.
the USA can not survive as a nation and a republic for choosing between "security and safety"
AND LIBERTY.
it is one way or another -- not BOTH.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN:
"THE NATION that Gives up Liberties - no matter how temporary - for the sake of SECURITY and SAFETY -
Deserves NEITHER Liberty nor Safety. "
this is now where the USA has arrived.
Don't let your neighbors see you watching "Lawrence of Arabia". You may wind up in a dungeon in some Third World shithole where you will be waterboarded 180 times.
I wonder how long it will take and how much it will cost us for her program to train police to report the theft of keys to a nuclear facility?
Oh, the burdens of homeland security!
I visited a nuclear facility in 1968; the much maligned, now aging, Chalk River reactor that produces medical isotopes. Even in that pre-electronic era there were no keys and everything operated on the security code entry pads you now see in airports.
So it appears that the Secretary doesn't know what she is talking about, not really a surprise.
does that mean more trampling on US citizen rights? does it mean more violation of the US constitution? once i predicted that Obama is another Bush coated with black chocolate in order to fool people that he is more palateble than Bush. doesn't this article confirm my prediction?
You forgot about his similar big ears.
There was a series of children's books about a dog who ate alphabet soup and was temporarily able to speak. Is this Obimbo compared to Bush?
I keep a postcard, stamped and addressed, to U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano just in case I see some human being in trouble. I don't dare offer aid these days to anyone who might be called 'suspicious' for fear of giving comfort to the 'enemy' so in this way I can summon Secretary Napolitano to come at once.
What a crock. Homeland Security is a big ruse for an expanding and abusive authoritarian corporate police state. It's bleeding us dry and setting us up for total dominance.
Meanwhile, paranoid, frightened little wingnut asswipes love big government security forces taking care of them and keeping them safe. Ha ha ha ha!
"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself".
Running a country by, of and for frightened sissies is no way to run a country.
I wish all these scared shitless Americans would get a pair and open thier damned eyes and see that this war on terror and "The Terrorist Threat" is as phony as a three dollar bill. It is used to frighten these brave Americans. What a joke! The US has for a long time been the home of the affraid and the land of the blind. Have mercy on by brain!
The Legendary Tennis Player, considered one of the greatest and very outspoken - Martina Navratilova - who defected from her former communist country Czechoslovakia decades ago and became a US citizen - realized and said:
"I left my home country because of the repression under communist dictators...to become a US citizen...i never DREAMED that one day -- the 'LAND of the FREE' would become the land of the Frightened".
"TO make the people do your bidding is not difficult....all you have to do is take a very big Lie and reduce it to the understanding of the common intelligence ......tell them that we are under attack...and that opponents are giving aid to the enemy....repeat and repeat it until they believe it...it doesn't matter whether it is under a socialist system or communism, or a rightwing dictatorship or democracy...it works anywhere".
What Can You Say?
You could say, say that 'We' the 'people' do exactly as predicted by Hitler. His Book 'Mein Kampf' (My Battle) has become a well of predictions of governmental rule and control, not only in the US, but foremost in the US and in Britain.
He definitely knew what he was talking about. That may sound estranging, yet requires our attention to understand that basically nothing has changed throughout the last 2000 years.
"...in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation. For the grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the art of lying."(Wikipedia)
When they come for Us, for Me or any of the people that have looked through it, I will probably meet all the people that post on CD. It will be a pleasure to meet most all of You, minus the ones that don't get it.
After reading the article it dawned on me, that the banner on that infamous aircraft carrier theater 'Mission Accomplished' was and is true.
With the demolition of the World Trade Centers, generating more money than the buildings were ever worth, allowing for unchecked government intrusion into anybody's life (minus lawmakers, law enforcement, military, the judiciary and politicians, as those are always above any doubt of conspiracy), repealing Habeus Corpus, by adapting the disturbingly effective principle of Adolf Hitler's 'discovery' of the 'Big Lie Technique'. The guy deserves the credit for unveiling the predictable inability of the citizenry to second guess the stories their government is dishing them out.
9/11 is the perfect Big Lie. All evidence removed, minus the traces of the military's favorite explosive. Stuff that You can't get anywhere else, but from the military. It's so to speak exclusively for the military. Like Anthrax spores are not part of You community college either. All the shitstuff comes from military which is your government.
With the de-liberalization act from 2001, the Big Lie was propagated 24/7. No escape. As 'Adi' (Nickname for Adolf) predicted, You just keep telling the lie, over and over again. And bush did. The disgusting part though is his continuation of Hitler-Techniques to install the same totalitarian dream-regime here in the USA.
Mission Accomplished.
By impoverishing the masses You line them up for the propaganda that somebody else is responsible for their misery. When people do great, they allow themselves the luxury of liberty, when they suffer they tend to lean to ultra conservative view points. Minus the ones that are always ultra-conservative.
To figure how to change the course of our future history is the utmost important task the citizenry of the United States has on hand. The only thing that reassures Me that there is hope, are the Americans themselves. 300 Million Americans, minus the lawmakers, minus the military, minus the law enforcement, minus the judiciary, minus the supporters and minus the enablers of aforementioned institutions.
Leaves what, 200 Million spirited Americans to change the world and to expose the Big Lie, 25/8.
And yes, We Will 'Win'. Consider the alternatives.
itsjustkarma July 29th, 2009 2:59 pm.............What Can You Say?..............My friend, we must win. The alternative for us is not an alternative. There is NO CHOICE. BUT, the eternal, ongoing question is what, just what will it take to get organized and in the streets? We ALL know now that blabbing on any site serves only to release the pressure. From MPOV, this has all been well orchestrated.....much better than the farcical false flag of 9/11 (with all respect to the victims and those left behind and those still suffering).
The streets, as frightening as it may seem to people of peace, seem to be the ONLY answer. IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE VIOLENT! As with the recent denial of NYC CAN's 70,000 signatures for the November referendum by some fascist clerk (jerk) of the courts, they have bought and sold the judicial system many times over. The MSM is under their control, so what choice is there, but to hit the streets in an organized, peaceful manner in astronomical numbers? This is their FEAR!
"We ALL know now that blabbing on any site serves only to release the pressure."
Are you kidding? Reading articles on CD and posting in the forum is the fuel for the rumbling engines of nonviolent revolution. Just look what we've accomplished so far. Absolutely beautiful. Look outside your window.
rtdrury July 29th, 2009 4:59 pm..............Ho, ho and ho!
rtdrury: That was the ace of spades! Well said!
Jeevee
Does writing at such length make you feel better?
Karma 2:59 excellent post ---- please remember there are some plusses among the minusses.
"Napolitano said the new strategy is expected to rely largely on refining and expanding initiatives launched under former President George W. Bush".
At least the honesty is refreshing.
CHANGE = "refining and expanding initiatives launched under former President George W. Bush"
Janet, surely you are tapping the exquisite anti-blowback expertise of your imperialist peers UK & Israel. What is this expertise costing the imperial taxslaves?
It seems - though it has never been expressed openly - that the federal government has taken the position that the attacks of Sept 11, 2001 effectively cancelled the US Constitution.
This can be seen, first, by the consensus that the US is currently in a state of War - although, as we know, war making powers are specifically granted solely to the Congress which, as we know, has not made any official declaration confirming this. Further, this War - it has been suggested - is open-ended and will last decades if not longer. Second, basing his opinions on this (undeclared) War, John Yoo argued that the executive has unlimited powers and, most important, that the executive's primary responsibility was to keep Americans safe. This runs contrary to specific language in the Constitution, which states that the primary responsibility is to defend the Constitution. The authors of the Constitution repeatedly insisted on the primacy of liberty over safety (though these need not be mutually exclusive). While some of the more contentious measures inspired by Yoo's opinions have been rescinded, it is now apparent that there is a bipartisan consensus that safety trumps liberty and the US is now in an (undeclared) post-constitutional phase.
jeffc July 29th, 2009 5:36 pm...Clearly, the Patriot Act and the Military Commission Act voided our rights. Nothing new here. We are not in a post Constitutional state. We are under a lightly veiled facsist regime which will become more apparent very shortly. Most Americans are in denial. Many on CD are not. It's all smoke and mirrors, just like the false flag of 9/11 and the idea that the economy is getting better.
jeffc 5:36 --- excellent summary
Total fascism then total economic decline.
Resistance is useless!
"Napolitano is also expected to ...."
encourage "CIVIC AWARENESS"....
how INNOCENT and NOBLE and PATRIOTIC SOUNDING
for something that is exactly the kind of thing that is CENTRAL to FASCISM:
citizens and residents becoming the "state's control apparatus".....
they used to call it :
SPYING on your own neighbor...
it's really the final phase of the completion of America the "democracy" become FASCISM.
and with the Structural economic decline - and disaster caused to americans -- you can BET Americans are going to get so "patriotic" and be "civic minded" -- with a few dollars in their pockets from the "state" for "security and safety of the nation".
it is now -- American against american.
JOSEF STALIN coudln't have gotten to this in a more clever way....