Americas National Security StateStephen Lendman It streamlined the nations military, established the National Security Council, created the CIA, and instituted what became Americas military-industrial complex and police state apparatus. Post-9/11, theyve accelerated exponentially. Washingtons long arm is merciless. Its been that way for decades. Go along or else became policy. The CIAs first major foreign operation ousted Irans democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadeq. A generation of repressive Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi rule followed. So did the growth of Americas national security state. It operates worldwide. It seeks unchallenged dominance. It cracks down hard on non-believers. State-sponsored terrorism became institutionalized. Coverup and denial suppress it. Its worse than ever now. Washington rules force others to comply. Failure is pretext for regime chance, targeted assassinations, and/or unjustifiable arrests, fabricated charges, convictions and imprisonment. Americas military apparatus operates virtually everywhere or nearby. Interventionism is official policy. So is unbridled power. In September 2001, Congress approved the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF). It did so for the use of United States Armed Forces against those responsible for the recent attacks launched against the United States. Washingtons imperial war machine is humanitys greatest threat. Domestic police state laws erode freedom. National security priorities alone matter. Sacrificing fundamental rights for alleged security assures neither. Institutionalized lawlessness is policy. Bipartisan complicity enforces it. Americas heading toward full-blown tyranny. Its already a hairs breadth away. Freedom became a four-letter word. Fear-mongering convinces people to accept what demands condemnation. Greater Boston residents tasted what martial law feels like. Its coming to a neighborhood near you. It can show up anywhere anytime. Perhaps itll become official US policy. It CAN happen here. In 2010, Washington Post (WP) contributors Dana Priest and William Arkin discussed a a hidden world, growing beyond control. Their report headlined Top Secret America. Its worse now than then. Hard right extremism defines it. Bipartisan demagogues take full advantage. They reflect Americas criminal class. Managed news misinformation supports it. Current conditions are deplorable. Expect much worse ahead. Priest and Arkin said whats ongoing is so unwieldy and so secretive that no one knows how much money it costs, how many people it employs, how many programs exist within it, or exactly how many agencies do the same work. Whats ongoing is hidden from public view and lacking in oversight. An alternative geography was created. Americas less safe than ever. Hundreds of billions are spent annually. Recipients include 1,271 government organizations and 1,931 private companies. Operations continue at about 10,000 nationwide locations. Counterintelligence, homeland security and intelligence functions are performed. An estimated 854,000 people are employed. Perhaps a million or more are now. Funding increases annually. Secrecy prevents public disclosure. In Washington and surrounding areas, 33 building complexes for top-secret intelligence work are under construction or have been built since September 2001. Theyre the equivalent of three Pentagons or 22 US Capitol buildings about 17 million square feet of space. Redundancy, waste, and overkill are excessive. Many security and intelligence agencies replicate each other. For example, 51 federal organizations and military commands, operating in 15 US cities, track the flow of money to and from terrorist networks. So-called networks are what Washington says they are. Around 50,000 intelligence reports are published annually. The volume is so large that many are routinely ignored. The extent and complexity of whats ongoing defies description. Priest and Arkin quoted former national intelligence director Adm. Dennis Blair saying: After 9/11, when we decided to attack violent extremism, we did as we so often do in this country. The attitude was, if its worth doing, its probably worth overdoing. He stopped short of explaining that 9/11 was state-sponsored terrorism. America needs enemies. When none exist, theyre created. Its longstanding US policy. The Pentagon and civilian national security apparatus reflect two seats of power. Presidents and congressional members defy them at their own risk. Some learn the hard way. Lessons taught arent forgotten. Embedded power has things its way. Top secret America reflects out-of-control militarism and growing police state harshness. Post-9/11, both escalated exponentially. Theyre destroying freedom altogether. When completed, it wont be announced. According to Priest and Arkin, at least 20% of government organizations wage war on terrorism. Post-9/11, they were established or refashioned. Many existing previously grew to historic proportions. Congress threw money at them irresponsibly. Nine days post-9/11, $40 billion was appropriated beyond what the federal budget authorized. Bolstering domestic defenses and waging war on terror were prioritized. It was just the beginning. Multi-billions followed annually. Much shows up in black budgets. Whats spent is hidden from public view. The skys the limit reflects US policy. Americas never been less safe than now. The Pentagons Defense Intelligence Agency grew from 7,500 employees in 2002 to 16,500 in 2010. Perhaps it approaches or exceeds 20,000 today. Thirty-five FBI Joint Terrorism Task Forces became 106. More exist now. Moneys no object. By end of 2001, 24 new federal organizations were created. In 2002, another 37 were added. In 2003, 36 followed. So did numerous others annually. Through 2009, at least 263 were created. Who knows how many more since. America operates its own way. Secrecy is official policy. Dont ask, dont tell discloses little. Washingtons the capital of Top Secret America. About half of its post-9/11 enterprise stretches from Leesburg to Quantico, VA, north through Washington, and northeast past the Baltimore-Washington International Marshall Airport. Other facilities fill business parks. Some are in neighborhoods, near schools or shopping centers. Theyre everywhere. They reflect national security madness. Few people have a complete sense of whats going on. Secrecy becomes self-defeating. Throwing money at problems doesnt work. Who cares as long as budgets and power bases expand annually. In January 2009, federal authorities approved a massive new Homeland Security Department headquarters. Itll house nearly all 22 DHS divisions. Its planned on a 176-acre hilltop site. Its situated east of the Anacostia River. Initial budgeting was $3.4 billion. Costs escalated to $3.9 billion. Perhaps hundreds of millions more will be needed. Its the largest government project since the Pentagon. Washingtons national security state matters most. So do war-making priorities. National emergency powers reflect both. Coup detat authority runs things. Popular needs go begging. Theyre sacrificed to advance Americas imperium. Humanity may not survive its blitzkrieg. Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.His new book is titled How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War.Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. 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