Thread: New DHS Sec Johnson Signifies Push For a Civilian Army

New DHS Sec Johnson Signifies Push For a Civilian Army

Posted about 12 hours ago | 3 comments



Susanne Posel
Occupy Corporatism
October 19, 2013

President Obama has named Jeh Charles Johnson as the new Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Obama told the audience at the Rose Garden that Johnson has “been there in the Situation Room, at the table in moments of decision.”
The president said: “Jeh also knows that meeting these threats demands cooperation and coordination across our government. He’s been there in the Situation Room at the table in moments of decision, working with leaders from a host of agencies to make sure everyone is rowing in the same direction. And he’s respected across our government as a team player, somebody who knows how to get folks who don’t always agree to work towards a common goal.”
Because the “task” of counterterrorism is so great, Obama chose Johnson to continue Janet Napolitano’s “important work”.
With Johnson designing the legal framework for the Obama administrations various policies that justify criminal actions, Obama promised more transparency within his “national security team”.
As a graduate from Columbia Law School (CLS), Johnson has focused his legal career at American civil and criminal trials.
Johnson comes from an interesting family. His grandfather was part of a League of Nations (LoN), the pre-cursor to the United Nations, mission to Liberia in the 1930s.
The LoN was tasked with encouraging collective action by the global community with the establishment of an arbitration council and the power to initiate economic and military sanctions that were determined to be aggressive.
The Covenant of the LoN reads: “In order to promote international cooperation and to achieve international peace and security by the acceptance of obligations not to resort to war, by the prescription of open, just and honorable relations between nations, by the firm establishment of the understandings of international law as the actual rule of conduct among Governments, and by the maintenance of justice and a scrupulous respect for all treaty obligations in the dealings of organized peoples with one another, Agree to this Covenant of the League of Nations.”
Johnson has served as the assistant to the US Attorney in the Southern District and general counsel of the Air Force by former president William Clinton.
Johnson was special counsel to the John Kerry presidential campaign in 2004.
For the presidential campaign of Obama, Johnson was the foreign policy adviser and member of Obama’s national finance committee.
In 2012, Johnson was the general counsel for the Department of Defense (DoD) after nomination by Obama.
In this role, Johnson was an integral architect of the legal policies of our counterterrorism initiatives.
Part of this scheme, Johnson pressured for the continued support of the Military Commissions Act of 2009 and worked with Army General Carter Ham on the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy when its validity was questioned.
Johnson assisted in the propaganda war during the release of classified documents known as the Afghan War Diary .
In 2011, Johnson attempted to distort the memory of civil rights activist, Martin Luther King (MLK) by suggesting in a speech that MLK would have supported the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Johnson told the audience that the Afghan and Iraq wars were instances of the US being a global Good Samaritan.
Later that year, Johnson spoke at a conference at the Heritage Foundation (HF), stating the challenges of creating a “civilian law enforcement in this country.”
In 2012, Johnson defended the use of targeted killings while speaking to students at Yale Law School.
Johnson also said: “There is risk in permitting and expecting the U.S. military to extend its powerful reach into areas traditionally reserved for civilian law enforcement in this country. The military should not and cannot be the only answer.”



http://www.occupycorporatism.com/new...civilian-army/

6 hours ago by Tim Brown

Obama Nominates Major Campaign Fundraiser Jeh Johnson as Homeland Security Secretary

8 Comments

Following the departure of former Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to take over her duties as the president of the University of California, Barack Obama has nominated a major donor to his campaign (can you say 'quid pro quo'?) Jeh Johnson to succeed her.

Many breathed a sigh of relief that it wasn't Sheila Jackson Lee.

However, there have been many who have expressed concern over the nomination of Johnson by Obama in his announcement on Friday afternoon.

Fox News reports:

Federal campaign finance records show that over the past decade, Johnson has contributed more than $100,000 to Democratic candidates and groups.

During the 2008 presidential campaign, Johnson donated more than $33,000 to Obama's campaign, federal records show. Obama's campaign website listed Johnson as a member of the then-candidate's national finance committee and an adviser to Obama's foreign policy team during the 2008 election.

He was also a supporter of Hillary Clinton, having contributed $2,300 to her presidential primary campaign in July 2008.

The list of recipients of Johnson's largesse reads like a who's who of Congress -- Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.; Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.; Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C.; among others.

"I love this country, I care about the safety of our people, I believe in public service and I remain loyal to you Mr. President," Jeh Johnson said at the White House Rose Garden announcement Friday.

Johnson, a former general counsel for the Defense Department, aided in the changing of the policy on military commissions at Guantanamo Bay. He also pushed for abandoning "Don't ask, don't tell," which allowed for practicing homosexuals to serve openly in the military, an action that would have gotten them drummed out in humiliation from our very first Commander-in-chief.

Fred Lucas points out one of the most disturbing aspects of Jeh Johnson.

He writes:

During a March speech at Fordham University, months after leaving the Defense Department post, he supported the use of drones and dismissed the notion of a "drone court" to provide additional oversight for strikes. Advocates for such a court said the court would be similar to the FISA court.

"In my view targeted lethal force is at its least controversial when it is on its strongest, most traditional legal foundation," Johnson said. "The essential mission of the U.S. military is to capture or kill an enemy. Armies have been doing this for thousands of years. As part of a congressionally-authorized armed conflict, the foundation is even stronger."

He said that FISA oversight is an extension of Fourth Amendment protections, which is not applicable in war.

"The idea of judicial authorization of lethal force against an enemy combatant, particularly during armed conflict, has no similar roots in an activity typically performed by the judiciary," Johnson said. "To the contrary, the idea is motivated by a desire to rein in the president's constitutional authority to engage in armed conflict and protect the nation, which is the very reason it has constitutional problems."

"It would appear that the president plans to nominate a loyalist and fundraiser to this post," Sen. Jeff Sessions, (R-AL), senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a statement. "This is deeply concerning. This huge department must have a proven manager with strong relevant law enforcement experience, recognized independence and integrity, who can restore this department to its full capability."

Sessions said that DHS "is the most mismanaged department in the federal government. Department policies have collapsed enforcement and destroyed the morale of our officers. Immigration officers have been forced not to perform their duties. ICE officers even filed a federal lawsuit against DHS in an effort to regain their ability to enforce the law. It would appear that the President plans to nominate a loyalist and fundraiser to this post."

One can see cause for concern, but how will the Senate react to the nomination? Will it be similar to the nomination of John Brennan, who was confirmed with the most "No" votes in history following a filibuster by Senator Rand Paul (R-KY)? Or will this go over similar to the shutdown deal with all RINOs onboard?

According to Sessions, Mr. Johnson will have to demonstrate the following to the Senate:

• A commitment to achieving management control of this sprawling department and its law enforcement duties.
• A determination to restore the depleted morale of immigration officers who have been blocked from doing their jobs.
• A resolve to enforce the laws of the land, and a repudiation of the far-reaching non-enforcement protocols issued by the prior DHS Secretary.

Sessions was not the only Senator to express concern.

Texas Senator John Cornyn (R) bashed Johnson as someone who does not have the experience to secure the border and claimed that the nomination was nothing more than payback for his campaign contributions.

"Rather than selecting someone who knows the unique dynamics of our Southern border, the President has tapped one of his former New York fundraisers," Cornyn said.

He then added "After this administration's mismanagement of DHS, in particular its failure to secure the border, Texans expect a nominee with serious management and law enforcement experience."

The nomination comes as Obama is set to push once again for immigration reform.


http://freedomoutpost.com/2013/10/ob...ity-secretary/

'Is Everybody Blind?': City Council Meeting Erupts in Applause After Ex-Marine Issues Dire Warning About U.S. 'Building a Domestic Army'

Obama’s New DHS Pick A Nightmare For Liberty

October 21, 2013 by Sam Rolley

UPI

Many Americans who have been critical of the Department of Homeland Security are preparing for a frightening change for the worse following the White House’s announcement that Jeh Johnson, formerly the Pentagon’s top lawyer, was President Barack Obama’s nominee to replace Janet Napolitano as DHS Secretary.
During his time at the Pentagon, Johnson was a key player in authorizing and defending the government’s extrajudicial drone executions of American citizen and has, according to one official, been “responsible for the prior legal review and approval of every military operation approved by the President and secretary of defense” throughout Obama’s first term in the Oval Office.
“The president is selecting Johnson because he is one the most highly qualified and respected national security leaders,” the unnamed senior Administration official told The Washington Post. “During his tenure at the Department of Defense, he was known for his sound judgment and counsel.”
In 2011, Johnson was instrumental approving in the execution of Anwar al-Awlaki, an American citizen and suspected senior figure in al-Qaida, who was executed with a drone strike in Yemen.
Waves of criticism directed at the CIA and the White House followed from Americans who believed al-Awlaki’s citizenship afforded him due process. Johnson responded to the criticism in a speech at Yale Law School shortly after the strike occurred.
“Belligerents who also happen to be U.S. citizens do not enjoy immunity where non-citizen belligerents are valid military objectives,” he said at the time.
Criticizing the President’s pick, a blogger at Ron Paul’s Institute for Peace and Prosperity wrote last week:

If the ubiquitous voice of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano in the metro (or Walmart, etc) demanding that you say something if you see something wasn’t frightening enough, if TSA’s cancer rays and gropings were not outrageous enough, if Homeland Security military vehicles on US soil were not disgusting enough, Obama has a real treat in store for you. …
Thanks to Johnson’s determination, at least three American citizens have been killed without trial by their government.
Now he will be in charge of the “homeland.”
Chew on that next time you ponder “opting out” at the airport!

Johnson also served as general counsel for the government during the WikiLeaks controversy involving the unauthorized disclosure of hundreds of thousands of sensitive documents by Pfc. Bradley Manning and others.
In a letter to a whistle-blower organization in 2010, Johnson charged that WikiLeaks and its associates were responsible for “illegal and irresponsible actions” which aided America’s enemies in “their own terrorist aims.”
Johnson, on behalf of the Federal government, went on to demand “that NOTHING further be released by WikiLeaks, that ALL of the US Government classified documents that WikiLeaks has obtained be returned immediately and that WikiLeaks remove and destroy all of these records from its databases.”

Filed Under: Conservative Politics, Liberty News, Staff Reports


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