Re: Army Reg #210-35: Civilian prison camps on Army installations

2006-04-06

Richard Moore

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To: "Richard K. Moore" <•••@••.•••>
From: a reader
Subject: Re: Army Reg #210-35:  Civilian prison camps on Army installations

Slaves are people who work involuntarily, typically for
substandard (if any) pay.

What this regulation describes is a program wherein an
inmate--someone convicted of a crime and serving time--has
volunteered for a work or work-study program. He will be
paid a prevailing wage by his correctional facility. But he
will perform the work on an Army base doing work that the
base needs done.  If he does not like the work, he can quit.
He will still be housed, fed and clothed by the prison in
which he is confined, but he won't get supplemental pay
unless he accepts other work offered by the prison.

It is not about Gitmo prisoners. They have not been accused,
let alone convicted of anything. It is not about herding
civilians into trains without judicial process and hauling
them off to camps where they must work or be gassed.

Even the excerpts you chose make this fairly clear, but the
parts you omitted make it totally unambiguous, especially
the appendix that includes EO 11755. That executive order
says, among other things:

   The development of the occupational and educational skills
   of prison inmates is essential to their rehabilitation and
   to their ability to make an effective return to free
   society. Meaningful employment serves to develop those
   skills. It is also true, however, that care must be
   exercised to avoid either the exploitation of convict labor
   or any unfair competition between convict labor and free
   labor in the production of goods and services. Under
   sections 3621 and 3622 of title 18 of the United States
   Code, the Bureau of Prisons is empowered to authorize
   Federal prisoners to work at paid employment in the
   community during their terms of imprisonment under
   conditions that protect against both the exploitation of
   convict labor and unfair competition with free labor.

   Nor shall it prohibit the employment by a contractor in the
   performance of such contracts of persons confined for
   violation of the laws of any of the States, the District of
   Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin
   Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the
   Northern Mariana Islands, or the Trust Territory of the
   Pacific Islands who are authorized to work at paid
   employment in the community under the laws of such
   jurisdiction, if

     ((1)
         (a)) The worker is paid or is in an approved work training
         program on a voluntary basis;

         ((b)) Representatives of local union central bodies or
         similar labor union organizations have been consulted;

         ((c)) Such paid employment will not result in the
         displacement of employed workers, or be applied in skills,
         crafts, or trades in which there is a surplus of available
         gainful labor in the locality, or impair existing contracts
         for services; and

         ((d)) The rates of pay and other conditions of employment
         will not be less than those paid or provided for work of a
         similar nature in the locality in which the work is being
         performed; and

     (2). The Attorney General has certified that the work
     release laws or regulations of the jurisdiction involved are
     in conformity with the requirements of this order.

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Dear reader,

Thanks for sending in your comments. This gives us an
opportunity to look into the question of how one interprets
the meaning of unfolding events.

What we know for sure is that they are converting army
facilities into civilian prison camps, to be run by military
personnel. They are setting this up very systematically,
including liaison arrangements with agencies at all levels,
on a nation-wide basis.

They tell us the system is primarily for federal prisoners,
but many exceptions are noted, and the introduction talks
about certain groups being "currently excluded from this
program". These seem to be rather clear signals that the
program can be readily expanded as regards who qualifies
for entry.

They also tell us, as you point out, that the program is for
entirely good purposes, saving the taxpayer money, and
rehabilitating prisoners. Why, I ask, should we accept this
statement of purpose at face value? Clearly any government
agency, discussing the 'purpose' of a program in a public
document, is going to put their best PR face forward. Given
the record of lies from this administration - probably
breaking historical records - I think we are justified in
assessing the purpose of these facilities based on our best
judgement, taking everything into account.

There are a lot of army camps, they can hold a lot of
people, they are relatively isolated and easy to guard, and
we need to think about the reason for the scale of such an
operation. Most certainly they are not talking about
rounding people up and carting them off, but this program
clearly creates the infrastructure that could facilitate
that kind of action.

I see these camps, and the Patriot Acts, as being closely
related. The Patriot Acts allow anyone to be rounded up, and
the camps provide a place to put them. If an antiwar or
environmental protest is declared to be a 'terrorist act',
all the participants would instantly become 'federal
prisoners', and would be eligible for immediate
participation in the Civilian Inmate Program. As the
regulation says, this would utilize under-used facilities,
and avoid overcrowding in our prison system. There's also
the savings in legal expenses, as terrorist detainees have
minimal rights.

I suppose if one believes the official 911 story, then only
confusion can follow. Such people will need to fend for
themselves. If, however, one has realized that 911 could
only have been an inside job, orchestrated at the highest
levels, then one needs to ask the question: what is the
purpose of the Patriot Acts? If there are no terrorists to
detect or detain, and the White House knows this, then why
all the government powers? Why all the loss of legal
protections?

Perhaps the more apt question is, what was the purpose of
the 911 project? The answer to this is pretty obvious. The
purpose of the project can be observed in the subsequent
actions of the perps, particularly those actions that are
enabled by the project. Answer: 911 provided the means to
pursue aggression abroad and to keep the domestic population
under control - under whatever circumstances might arise.
These camps help fulfill this purpose.

The nation has been taken over by a militarist regime, and
one that has exhibited scant regard for the welfare of the
American people. The American people are being used, their
economy is being looted and driven into bankruptcy, and
there is very likely to be a general economic collapse.
There is also likely to be a nuclear war in the Middle East,
initiated by the same perps, and it is unclear what the
consequences of that will be, internationally and
domestically.

This regime is intent on pursuing its agenda despite
whatever opposition might arise, and it is a regime that is
strongly opposed by a growing majority of the population.
There is every reason to expect massive discontent and civil
unrest, particularly in the face of an economic collapse and
an aggressive nuclear attack. The regime needs and has
acquired the means to deal with such unrest.

I can understand why religious conservatives are fooled by
the regime's rhetoric, but I find it difficult to understand
why progressives and liberals continue to be in denial about
what is happening to our society. The signs are so blatant
at this point.

rkm
-- 

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