Homeland Security for Whom?

Douglas Valentine
LewRockwell.com
July 21, 2010

The Washington Post has published a splashy exposé about the mammoth “homeland security” intelligence empire that now burdens the United States, financially and ideologically.

As usual, however, there is no real historical context. And that lack of context is part of the story – not just the current dimensions of the empire.

I wrote the following article for Penthouse in the summer of 2003. It was reprinted by CounterPunch later that summer.

At the time I said: “This homeland security boondoggle is the biggest reorganization of the U.S. government in 50 years. It might even bankrupt the country and, perhaps intentionally, throw it into a Depression. That remains to be seen. What is certain is that at a cost of $50 billion in taxpayer’s money, the homeland security infrastructure will provide Bush with 170,000 political cadres, and the internal security he needs to assure the continuity of his political power indefinitely. Except for providing Bush with political internal security, there is no need for the Department of Homeland Security; it is a Trojan Horse through which Bush will unleash his ideological storm troopers and exploit his ill-gotten power to achieve permanent political dominance.”

I put the blame on “Bush” at the time (and the numbers have varied) but it’s really the national security state that’s to blame for the near Depression the homeland security state (financially and ideologically) has caused. And of course the Washington Post is part of the national security state – that secret group of people who control America through secret deals – the type of secret deals that enable Washington Post reporters’ access to anonymous CIA officers.