The Occupation of New Orleans
by Mike Whitney
www.dissidentvoice.org
October 3, 2005



 

The appearance of fully armed mercenaries on the streets of New Orleans tells us that the city is currently under occupation. Whenever foreign troops are deployed within an urban area it can only mean one thing: the loss of sovereignty. It’s no different here. Blackwater mercenaries are part of a privately owned army that has seized control of the streets from their rightful owners, the people of New Orleans. They are an integral part of a much broader plan to militarize the nation and turn America into a garrison-state.

Blackwater employees may work for the United States government, but, in fact, they represent the exclusive interests of an elite cadre of corporate globalists who are transforming America into a base for future operations. New Orleans is simply the testing grounds for their radical theories of establishing order. It provides a pilot program for working out the kinks that inevitably arise from revamping society from the ground up. So far, the project is moving ahead better than anyone could have expected, mainly due to the media’s skillful diversion of the public’s attention from the militarization process to the many human-interest stories of suffering and rebirth. It is a cynical way of exploiting misery and obfuscating the truth.

Just like Iraq, the propaganda system has been the most successful part of the entire campaign; working flawlessly to provide a storyline that runs counter to the facts as we know them.

New Orleans is the first American city to come under the direct control of the global-corporate oligarchy. By taking advantage of loopholes in the current law created by terrorist legislation, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has been able to insert both the military and private security organizations into a major metropolitan area without as much as a peep from his critics. There’s simply been no opposition from any quarter to a draconian move that will have sweeping affects on the future of liberty in the US.

We can only imagine the gleeful reaction to these new developments at America’s many elite bastions, like the American Enterprise Institute, the Federalist Society, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the others, who have worked so tirelessly to overturn the basic principles of personal freedom and representative government. The emergence of a militarized police state is the victory they have sought for decades. Now, it has materialized in the wreckage of the South’s main port-o-call.

The soldiers and mercenaries will be part of a permanent military contingent in New Orleans performing routine policing activities, assisting NGOs, and executing various disciplinary functions. The Red Cross is already being assisted by Blackwater employees, ensuring that vital assistance is meted out according to strict guidelines rather than mere need. These same restrictions have been applied in Afghanistan and Iraq to make sure that victims meet certain political criteria before they can get aid. This is how the Pentagon enters NGOs into the overarching military goals of the operation and turns relief into a subtle form of coercion.

Realistically, New Orleans can no longer be considered a part of the United States. It now belongs to that confused jumble of quasi-states like Kosovo, Afghanistan, Haiti and Iraq that toil beneath the corporate banner of the new world order.

The pattern emerging in New Orleans is no different from the one we see wherever the corporate globalists extend their grip. The social safety net is savaged, the public infrastructure is destroyed, and the path is paved for the multinational parasites to descend on their prey and reap their windfall profits from “no-bid” contracts.

The shifting political realities in New Orleans are bound to create a growing sense of unease and horror among the public. In Iraq, Afghanistan and Haiti, that disquiet has evolved into indigenous resistance movements.  We expect the same will take place in New Orleans. The deployment of troops is a deliberate provocation and a direct threat to the fundamental principles of a free society. It cannot stand. Democracy is incompatible with occupation; whether it’s in Iraq or New Orleans. It is pointless to talk about freedom in America until every soldier and mercenary is removed from the streets of our cities.

Mike Whitney lives in Washington state, and can be reached at: fergiewhitney@msn.com.

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