While the public’s eyes are
riveted on the progression of coronavirus numbers, a profound reorganization of
the executive is taking place, giving primacy to senior health officials over
policy. In the shadows, bankers and soldiers are agitating in the hope of
confiscating power for their own benefit.
The primacy of administrative logic over political logic
Many governments in industrialized
countries decided to respond to the Covid-19 epidemic by confining their
populations. This strategy does not stem from medicine, which has never
practised isolation of healthy people, but from good management of medical
resources to prevent a massive influx of sick people so as not to clog
hospitals. Few industrialized countries, such as Sweden, have rejected this
administrative approach to the epidemic. They have opted for a medical approach
and therefore do not practise generalised containment.
The first lesson of the
current period is therefore that in developed countries, administrative logic
is now superior to medical experience.
Yet
even without medical expertise, I have no doubt that millennia of medical
experience can be more effective against a disease than bureaucratic recipes.
Incidentally, if we continue to observe the current phenomenon, we can see
that, at the moment, Sweden has 10 deaths per million inhabitants, while Italy
mourns 166 per million. Of course, this is only the beginning of the epidemic
and these two countries are very different. However, Italy will probably have
to deal with a second and then a third wave of infection, while Sweden will
have acquired group immunity and will be protected from it.
The primacy of senior health
officials over the elected representatives of the people
This
being said, the widespread containment of capital goods not only disrupts the
economy, but also modes of government. Almost everywhere, we see the word of
politicians fading in the face of that of senior health officials, who are
supposed to be more effective than they are. This makes sense because the
decision to contain is purely administrative. We have collectively agreed to
fight for our hospitals and to prevent disease, not to fight it.
Unfortunately, everyone can see that,
contrary to appearances, we have not become more efficient. For example, the
Member States of the European Union have not been able to provide the necessary
medical equipment and medicines in good time. This is the fault of the usual
rules. For example: economic globalisation has resulted in there being only one
manufacturer of artificial respirators, and it is Chinese. Tendering procedures
take several months before they are available, and policies are no longer in
place to override these procedures. Only the United States has been able to
solve this problem immediately through company requisitions.
France, which during the
Second World War, under Philippe Pétain, experienced an administrative
dictatorship known as the “French State”, has already experienced a political
takeover by senior civil servants over the past three decades. We then spoke of
ENArchie. Identically and without her being aware of it, she deprived
politicians of the knowledge of the administration that the accumulation of
local and national mandates conferred on them. From now on, elected
officials are less well informed than senior civil servants and have all the
trouble in the world to control them.
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Just as senior health officials suddenly
find themselves vested with an authority that does not normally belong to them,
so bankers and the military aspire to the same promotion at the expense of
politicians.
Bankers lurking in the shadows
The former Chancellor of the
Exchequer (Minister of Finance), then British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown,
published an op-ed in the Financial Times [1] In it, he argues for using the fear of
Covid-19 to achieve what failed during the financial crisis of 2008. At the
time, he had failed to create a global financial government and had to settle
for mere consultation with the G20. It would be possible today, he continued,
to create a global health government. And to consider which powers should be
associated with the permanent members of the Security Council.
There
is no reason to believe that this global government would be more successful
than national governments. The only thing that is certain is that it would
escape any form of democratic control.
This
project is no more likely to succeed than that of the world financial
government. Gordon Brown was also a staunch supporter of keeping the United
Kingdom in the European Union. Again, he lost.
The deep US state lurks in the
shadows
Historically,
in all crises, attempts are made to use the argument of “urgency” to change
Power without the public having time to think, and often this is successful.
On January 30, 2020, the WHO declared a “state of public health emergency
of international concern”. The next day, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper
secretly signed a Warning Order stating that NorthCom was to stand ready for
possible application of the new “Continuity of Government” rules.
These
rules are classified Above-Top Secret, meaning that communication is restricted
to persons with the highest level of clearance and with a Special Access
Program (SAP).
It should be remembered that the principle of “continuity of government”
was forged at the beginning of the Cold War. It was designed to protect the
United States in the event of a nuclear war against the Soviet Union and the
death or incapacity of the President, Vice President, and Speaker of the House
of Representatives. According to a written directive from President Dwight
Eisenhower, a replacement military government was to provide immediate
continuity of command during the war until democratic procedures were
restored [2].
This replacement government was never requested, except on September 11,
2001, by the National Counter-Terrorism Coordinator, Richard Clarke [3] However, if the country was undergoing a
terrible attack, neither the President, the Vice-President nor the Speaker of
the House of Representatives had died or been prevented from doing so, which
led me to conclude that it was a coup d’état. In any case, President George
Bush Jr. regained his prerogatives the same day in the evening and no
explanation was ever given of what happened during the ten hours of suspension
of his authority [4].
According to the best Pentagon expert, William Arkin, in Newsweek [5], there are now seven separate plans:
Rescue & Evacuation of the
Occupants of the Executive Mansion (RESEM) to protect the
President, the Vice President and their families.
Joint Emergency Evacuation Plan (JEEP)
to protect the Secretary of Defense and key military leaders.
Atlas Plan to
protect members of Congress and the Supreme Court.
Octagon, about which
nothing is known.
Freejack, also
unknown.
Zodiac, still
unknown.
Granite Shadow,
which provides for the deployment of special units in Washington and stipulates
the conditions for the use of force and the passage of places under military
authority [6].
Rescue & Evacuation of the
Occupants of the Executive Mansion (RESEM) to protect the
President, the Vice President and their families. Joint Emergency Evacuation Plan (JEEP)
to protect the Secretary of Defense and key military leaders. Atlas Plan to
protect members of Congress and the Supreme Court. Octagon, about which
nothing is known. Freejack, also
unknown. Zodiac, still
unknown. Granite Shadow,
which provides for the deployment of special units in Washington and stipulates
the conditions for the use of force and the passage of places under military
authority [6].
Note
that RESEM is intended to protect the president and vice-president, but can
only be applied once they are dead or incapacitated.
In any
event, the implementation of these seven plans would be the responsibility of
the United States Military Command for North America (NorthCom) under the
responsibility of an illustrious unknown, General Terrence J. O’Shaughnessy.
It
should be remembered that under US law, this man is required to become the
dictator of the United States only in the event of the death or incapacity of
the three principal elected officials of the federal state, but in practice, his
predecessor, General Ralph Eberhart, has sometimes exercised this power without
this condition being met. Eberhart, now 73 years old, is the head of the major
US military avionics companies.
General O’Shaughnessy told the Senate Armed Services Committee on
February 13 that NorthCom was preparing for the worst. To this end, it liaises
on a daily basis with the ten other US Central Commands for the World [7].
NorthCom has authority not only over the
United States, but also over Canada, Mexico and the Bahamas. Under
international agreements, it can, on its own initiative, deploy US troops to
these three countries.
In 2016, President Barack Obama signed the top-secret Presidential Policy Directive 40 on “National
Continuity Policy”. FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate signed Federal Continuity Directive 1 two days before
President Donald Trump took office, specifying some of the details at lower
levels.
They’ve thought of everything, and are
prepared for the worst. The outbreak provides them with the motive to act. So
the questions asked by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian about a
possible deliberate release of the virus by the US military make sense.
—
[1] “End
the dog-eat-dog mentality to tackle the crisis”, Gordon Brown, Financial Times (UK), Voltaire Network, March 26, 2020.
[2] Continuity of Government:
Current Federal Arrangements and the Future, Harold C. Relyea,
Congresionnal Research Service, August 5, 2005.
[3] Against All Enemies: Inside
America’s War on Terror, Richard Clarke, Free Press (2004).
[4] A Pretext for War: 9/11, Iraq,
and the Abuse of America’s Intelligence Agencies, James Bamfort,
Anchor Books (2005).
[5] “Exclusive: Inside The Military’s Top Secret Plans If
Coronavirus Cripples the Government”, William M. Arkin, Newsweek, March 18, 2020.
[6] “Top Secret Pentagon Operation “Granite
Shadow” revealed. Today in DC: Commandos in the Streets?”, William Arkin, Washington Post, September 25, 2005.
[7] Hearing to receive testimony on
United States Northern Command and United States Strategic Command in review of
the Defense Authorization Request for fiscal year 2021 and the future years
Defense Program, Senate Committe on Armed Service, February 13,
2020.
French
intellectual, founder and chairman of Voltaire Network and the Axis for Peace
Conference. His columns specializing in international relations feature in
daily newspapers and weekly magazines in Arabic, Spanish and Russian. His last
two books published in English : 9/11 the Big Lie and Pentagate.
The
articles on Voltaire Network may be freely reproduced provided the source is
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