Concentric rings of power

What could we expect if martial law were declared on a national scale in America? How would we react, how would it affect our lives and what could we expect on the street and cyberspace level? I’m thinking about these questions much more since the White House and the Department of Homeland Security recently denied a request by Congressman Peter DeFazio to view the secret plans already drawn up in case of a national emergency in a terrorist attack.

From looking at the way 9/11, Hurricane Katrina and major political events have been handled over the past six years I think we can draw several conclusions: 1) Restrictions would have an hierarchal structure in terms of location and the type of restrictions put into place. 2) The presence of government officials and armed forces (police, civilian or military) would be focused to specific locations. 3) Those not in the immediate area of focus would notice very little outward change in their lives and would be accepting of how it affected the few arenas of their lives; while those directly affected would see a significant change in their day to day lifestyle. 4) The media blackout would be extraordinary.

Let’s take a hypothetical situation where two major US cities are targeted and go from there. City A and City B suffer a man-made catastrophe and the top levels of government declare a national state of emergency. Martial law is declared throughout the United States and all of it’s territories. The exact nature of the catastrophe would be irrelevant, the focus of government response would not be assisting the victims and public at large, the focus would be on the consolidation of power and exerting control over the population.

The first step would be controlling all forms of communication in the US and it’s territories. This would mean the seizure of broadcast news in radio and television. All print media would fall into this aegis therefore all newspapers and magazines would be controlled by the government. Our electronic media would also need to be controlled and this is where it gets tricky.

To control the website content of corporate news organization would not be enough. The number of independent sources for news and access to foreign media is virtually limitless. People post and read messages on USENET, message boards and use instant messaging and text messaging for their phones. International calls are no longer the realm of large international corporations; international calling cards can be bought at the local convenience store as easily as buying a Coke. To stem this transfer of information and communication, all access to the Internet and telephones would be tightly controlled.

The Intelligence Community already resides within the Telco Hotels of the major US carriers, collecting data and voice streams as easily as we surf TV channels. They could, quite easily, gain control of the communications hubs and filter/block all electronic voice and data traffic. Control of the financial institutions would also be necessary and in the age of electronic funds transfer (EFT), this control would also be simple to implement and maintain.

With our means of communication stifled and funneled through their hands as well as our means of paying for services/goods needed by the average citizen under any circumstance, the government could create and maintain any scenario they wish to promote. With big business being joined at the hip with government and all major media in the US being controlled by big business it is not difficult to imagine their lack of outrage in such a situation. Compliance has already been bought.

Under this scenario the old lyric of “the revolution will not be televised” becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Government abuses cannot be exposed and the citizenry will have no means to know of events beyond their daily realm of living. You would, in effect, not be able to see the forest for the trees. The trees would be your neighborhood, the forest being the rest of the nation.

At this point the government could create concentric circles of control reaching out from the two cities, A and B, which are the epicenter of the event. The closest inner ring would resemble the government’s actions at the 9/11 attacks and especially New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. The second closest ring would resemble crowd control in New York City during the 2004 Republican Convention. The third outer ring would resemble the military’s use of embedded press in Iraq and and this would be closest the media would be able to access the area affected. The fourth ring would be the boundary where direct, overt and overwhelming government influence ends/begins with the rest of the nation, which would see little change in their lives other than tighter restrictions on banking and communications. Since this would be a more rural area of the nation these restrictions would be marginally recognized or noticed.

Major cities other than city A or B could be controlled in a manner I describe for the 3rd ring of control, listed below. The undeclared boundaries of urban and suburban life are easily controlled and noticeable in most major metropolitan areas via the interstate road system in the form of perimeter highways. Choke points can be established and controlled easily in this manner.

Inside the central ring, no one would be able to leave to the second ring and no one from the second ring would be able to enter, except specific government personnel. Those caught in the central ring would in all likelihood be rounded up for transportation to specific locations, such as we saw with the survivors of Katrina in New Orleans who attempted to use the Superdome and the Convention Center as their shelter. No one in the outside world or even within the second ring would be aware of the happenings and events taking place in this central ring.

The size of this central ring would most likely depend on the population density and the circumstances surrounding a disaster. A nuclear, biological or dirty bomb attack could result in a very large area being classified as a central ring area, such as an entire city. What would make the job of determining the size and shape of the central ring easier to control is the geography of the area. The more susceptible a city is to being cut off from the rest of the world, the more easy it would be to control it. Such as Manhattan (island) or San Francisco (peninsula). Cities like Los Angeles, Miami and Chicago are bordered on one side by a body of water. A city like Dallas or Denver would be difficult because of the lack of physical boundaries.

The second ring would reach beyond the first ring just far enough away to keep prying eyes from seeing what is going on inside the first ring, yet close enough to give a panoramic view of the central ring. It would provide a staging area to move specific people and equipment in and out of the first and second rings. Anyone trying to sneak in or out of the area could be rounded up easily and quickly, as travel would be completely restricted. Centers for temporary detention could be quickly and easily set up. The typical industrial areas of large cities are an example of this. There would be plenty of room for staging equipment and personnel, processing curfew violators in secret as well as being an ideal location for Command, Control and Communication (C3). Think of the Baghdad Green Zone and you have an idea of the level of security and that example also provides you with an idea of how geography can control the shape and placement of an ideal quarantine zone.

The third ring would operate under nighttime curfew restrictions with stereotypical checkpoint style monitoring of travel by citizens. Access into and out of this area would be tightly controlled on a need to travel basis. This area would operate more freely for it’s citizens as communications in and out of this zone to the rest of the nation would be tightly controlled but it would exist. Think of odd/even, travel/work days. This would be the closest the media would be allowed to get to the area in question. A certain resemblance of normalcy would be seen but with tight restrictions. This would be suburbia, the bedroom communities of the city affected. It would be white, upper middle class to middle class, predominately white collar and educated with too much to loose for speaking up, their silence and compliance would be simple and they would view it as logical and maybe patriotic.

The fourth ring would be the rest of the nation. Travel would be free and open with no restrictions. Communication would be monitored and controlled but it would be easily and freely available. The vast bulk of the US population would live in this zone. Few government officials would be needed in this area but there would be a government presence in locations such as the post office or in city hall of towns and cities across the nation.

So, what would be the purpose of such a restriction of citizens and under what conditions could this occur? Control and power are of course the main motivation for such a scenario but there is another scenario I believe we are heading into. The general attitude of the average American is quickly evolving into an angry response to what they see at the highest levels of government. No longer are we simply satisfied with electing new officials, there is a rising tide of voices wanting accountability for those who have lied to us over the last six years. These voices are becoming more and more loud and the numbers of Americans who want to see criminal charges brought up against those in power is beginning to become more mainstream.

It is obvious that those who are currently in control of this nation have no intention to leave this power behind. The powers they have granted themselves are not the sort of thing they wish to leave behind for another party or a new set of leaders. They will not relinquish their power under any circumstances, even in the slightest bit. An exit strategy from office is simply not an option for them and as the voices grow louder in dissent, the choices they have in maintaining their power grow larger. It would require only a false flag operation or the act of looking the other way when intelligence tells them an attack is imminent.

When the voices in the room become a loud roar, this is when it will occur. Not a moment before or too early. Our economy is clinging to a thread and will only add to the situation when the time is ripe for the takeover. As it stands today the major lenders are announcing that the mortgage crisis is deepening as prime borrowers are now falling behind in their debt and mortgage payments. When the sub-prime market belly flopped we were told again and again that the prime market was strong and steady, that this was a simple correction. We are now seeing the tip of the iceberg as those with outstanding credit and generous incomes are falling behind as well.

A falling stock market, rising inflation, a failed housing market, a failed credit system and an overall sense of desperation will be the sign that something is on the verge of happening in this nation. When the economy is in shreds, the anger is at it’s highest and the leaders are at their most smarmy, condescending levels we can expect something to occur.