Fwd:WashPost report on domestic martial law plans

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Sep 21, 2005 9:45 AM

WashPost report on domestic martial law plans

Cackling Grackle <cacklinggrackle >

 

 

 

http://blogs.washingtonpost.com/earlywarning/2005/09/today_in_dc_com.html

 

William M. Arkin on National and Homeland Security

Today in DC: Commandos in the Streets?

 

Today, somewhere in the DC metropolitan area, the military is conducting a

highly classified Granite Shadow " demonstration. "

 

Granite Shadow is yet another new Top Secret and compartmented operation

related to the militarys extra-legal powers regarding weapons of mass

destruction. It allows for emergency military operations in the United

States without civilian supervision or control.

 

A spokesman at the Joint Force Headquarters-National Capital Region

(JFHQ-NCR) confirmed the existence of Granite Shadow to me yesterday, but

all he would say is that Granite Shadow is the unclassified name for a

classified plan.

 

That classified plan, I believe, after extensive research and after making

a couple of assumptions, is CONPLAN 0400, formally titled

Counter-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction. Concept Plan

(CONPLAN) 0400 is a long-standing contingency plan of the Chairman of the

Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) that serves as the umbrella for military

efforts to counter the spread of weapons of mass destruction. It has

extensively been updated and revised since 9/11.

 

The CJCS plan lays out national policy and priorities for dealing with WMD

threats in peacetime and crisis -- from far away offensive strikes and

special operations against foreign WMD infrastructure and capabilities, to

missile defenses and " consequence management " at home if offensive efforts

fail.

 

All of the military planning incorporates the technical capabilities of

the intelligence agencies and non-military organizations such as the

national laboratories of the Department of Energy. And finally, CONPLAN

0400 directs regional combatant commanders to customize

counter-proliferation plans for each of their own areas of operations.

 

When that " area of operations " is the United States, things become

particularly sensitive.

 

That's where Granite Shadow comes in. U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM),

the military's new homeland security command, is preparing its draft

version of CONPLAN 0400 for military operations in the United States, and

the resulting Granite Shadow plan has been classified above Top Secret by

adding a Special Category (SPECAT) compartment restricting access.

 

The sensitivities, according to military sources, include deployment of

" special mission units " (the so-called Delta Force, SEAL teams, Rangers,

and other special units of Joint Special Operations Command) in

Washington, DC and other domestic hot spots. NORTHCOM has worked closely

with U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM), as well as the secret

branches of non-military agencies and departments to enforce " unity of

command " over any post 9/11 efforts.

 

Further, Granite Shadow posits domestic military operations, including

intelligence collection and surveillance, unique rules of engagement

regarding the use of lethal force, the use of experimental non-lethal

weapons, and federal and military control of incident locations that are

highly controversial and might border on the illegal.

 

Granite Shadow is the twin to Power Geyser, a program I first revealed to

The New York Times in January. The JFHQ spokesman confirms that Granite

Shadow and Power Geyser are two different unclassified names for two

different classified plans.

 

In the case of Power Geyser, the classified plan is CJCS CONPLAN 0300,

whose entire title is classified. According the military documents, the

unclassified title is " Counter-Terrorism Special Operations Support to

Civil Agencies in the event of a domestic incident. " It is another Top

Secret/SPECAT plan directing the same special mission units to provide

weapons of mass destruction recovery and " render safe " in either a

terrorist incident or in the case of a stolen (or lost) nuclear weapon.

Render safe refers to the ability of explosive ordnance disposal experts

to isolate and disarm any type of biological, chemical, nuclear or

radiological weapon.

 

The obvious question is why there is a need for two plans. My guess is

that Power Geyser and CONPLAN 0300 refers to operations in support of a

civil agency " lead " (most likely the Attorney General for a WMD attack)

while Granite Shadow and CONPLAN 0400 lays out contingencies where the

military is in the lead. I'll wait to be corrected by someone in the

know.

 

Both plans seem to live behind a veil of extraordinary secrecy because

military forces operating under them have already been given a series of

''special authorities'' by the President and the secretary of defense.

These special authorities include, presumably, military roles in civilian

law enforcement and abrogation of State's powers in a declared or

perceived emergency.

 

In January, when The New York Times reported on the Power Geyser name from

my Code Names website, the Pentagon argued that " It would be irresponsible

to comment on any classified program that may or may not exist. "

 

I can't see how the Defense Department can continue this line of argument

post-Katrina. We see the human cost of a system of contingency planning

done in complete secret, with a lack of any debate as to what should be

the federal government's priorities, emphasis, and rules.

 

As the Granite Shadow commandos and their federal brethren go through

their paces today, some inside the system will lament that I have

" compromised " their work. But the very fact that nothing in my writing

damages the Granite Shadow effort should demonstrate that we can have a

discussion of contingency planning priorities in the United States, and

debate extraordinary special authorities granted to those in uniform,

without compromising the details of the plans themselves.

 

There's still time. The full-scale exercise of Granite Shadow's

capabilities and procedures doesnt start until April 2006.

 

A note to readers: Today begins a weekly feature of Early Warning, namely

code name of the week. This will endeavor to discuss some secret program

of the government, sometimes with an argument that the secrecy is

excessive, sometime with far more questions than answers.