Martial Law: "The suspension of normal civil law and its replacement by strict military control. Often declared during times of civil unrest."

* * * * *

     There are certain things, for most of us, that are too big to contemplate with a sense of intimate reality. As abstractions we can think of them, but as living experiences they elude us. The effect of a nuclear attack in the U.S. or of multiple attacks upon different cities falls into this category. It is so horrible for us to imagine because of the vastness of the destruction it would cause, that we cannot wrap our feelings around it in advance - we cannot even begin to feel what we would feel if it actually happened. We can only touch it with our minds as an idea, and increasingly, as a thought that has been made public by various political figures.

See: "Kennedy: Bush Makes U.S. More Vulnerable." (Sept. 27, 2004) http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Kennedy-Iraq.html

     Thinking about what is emotionally impossible to grasp can be a useful thing to do as a way of preparing for an event like this. Knowledge of some of the ramifications involved - legally, structurally, militarily, and socially - can give a tiny bit of comfort, just a tiny bit, because we have a little knowledge of what could happen. It is not much. It is not the emotional impact which is impossible for us to truly prepare for. But it is something.

     Government agencies such as FEMA and the Dept. of Homeland Security are presently in active stages of preparation for such an event. The International Red Cross also has protocols in place for dealing with a nuclear disaster, based on experience with other nuclear events involving radiation and contamination that they have dealt with. In addition, the Departments of Emergency Management within each state have plans in place to handle different kinds of catastrophes. These departments will soon receive federal guidelines for dealing with a potential "dirty bomb" attack.

     We can look at these efforts and be glad for them, knowing that they can help create sanity in what might very well be a time of upheaval and hysteria. This does not mean that the current state of readiness can meet the challenge that a large-scale nuclear attack would present, or that there is any way of truly 'meeting' it, except in the moment. But it means that certain measures are in place to do so, and that we can be grateful for these. We can also consider the changes in government policy which would likely follow a major nuclear event, and look at the laws in place that would be called upon to set up emergency structures and vehicles through which order and safety could be restored. There is concern among many about the possible misuse of these emergency provisions, which is all the more reason for us to know what the laws are and how they are meant to be applied.

     These are not things that we want to know about. But they are things it may be useful to know about prior to an emergency situation so that should it occur, we do not loose our footing entirely.


* * * * *


     The following links will take you to a discussion of the aftermath of a nuclear attack, specifically in relation to support and services to people. The first three links concern plans for evacuation of refugees from an attack area to temporary 'cities' that would be erected. The planning for this is already underway at FEMA, according to some reports.

"FEMA Preparing for Mass Destruction Attacks on Cities." (July 15, 2002) http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/7/14/214727.shtml

     NewsMax writes that on June 19, 2002, FEMA posted a special bid notice for one of the agency's largest contract awards ever. (See: Draft FEMA Bid Notice: http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/8/6/182408.shtml

offering contracting firms $300 million for a five-year contract to prepare plans to create temporary housing on a scale never before imagined.  Though preparation for a nuclear event was never mentioned directly, in the opinion of many, this bid primarily involved a consideration of nuclear threat as primary, and preparation for a natural disaster as secondary."

"FEMA Plans to Move Residents of Towns, Cities." (April 12, 2004) http://www.911review.org/Wget/www.americanfreepress.net/09_27_02


     The next link concerns Red Cross protocols for dealing with a nuclear event. Look particularly at the section relating to psychological and emotional consequences to people:

"Annex III. The Role of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in technological disaster."
http://www.icrc.org/Web/Eng/
siteeng0.nsf/iwpList74/C456E8A2E492730DC1256B660059AB84

     According to the Red Cross report, (See: Sec. 4.2 and 4.3 under "Potential Risks of Technological Disasters), maximum psychosocial disruption emerges from disasters characterized by:

* suddenness;  * high uncertainty;  * prolonged duration;  * broad scope of physical destruction;   * death and injury;  * occurrence at night;  * massive exposure of survivors to dead and badly injured individuals..."

     The report adds, "if the affected people do not get help and support in their suffering, the psychological problems may increase and lead to serious psychological and physical diseases which have consequences for the social life and welfare of the family and community."


* * * * *


     Regarding the legal and constitutional issues involved in the aftermath of a nuclear event, many legal authorities concern themselves with the prospect of the concentration of government powers in the hands of the executive at a time of national crisis. Their concerns are for the maintenance of individual liberties in the presence of martial law, and for the preservation of the historic rules ("Posse Comitatus") which have prevented a standing military presence from being charged with maintaining law and order within the states. These legal issues are well summarized in the following two articles:

"War on Terrorism Will Compel Revisions to Posse Comitatus." (Dec., 2002) http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/article.cfm?Id=1000

"Challenges to Prevention and Preparedness: Intelligence, Legal, Organizational, and Budgetary."

This article is by the Homeland Security Institute, not the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS), but related to it. HSI was established in April, 2004 by the DHS. (See section on "Emergency Legal Authorities.)
http://www.homelandsecurity.org/
bulletin/Primer_ChallengestoPreventionandPreparedness.htm


Efforts of the federal government to prepare states and cities in advance of a nuclear event are described in the following two articles:

"U.S. Plans to Offer Guidance for a Dirty Bomb Aftermath." ( Sept. 27, 2004) http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/27/politics/27nukes.html

"Feds Prepare Cities for Dirty Nukes Attacks." (Sept. 28, 2004) http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2004/9/27/154617.shtml


* * * * *
     In his speech on Sept. 26, 2004, Senator Kennedy said the war in Iraq had "created a new breeding ground for terrorists, distracted from efforts to eliminate al-Qaida, alienated America's allies, and allowed North Korea and Iran to pursue nuclear weapons."

"The war in Iraq has made the mushroom cloud more likely, not less likely."

No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manner of thine own
Or of thine friend's were.
Each man's death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.

       John Donne, (1597-1631).


"Intifada Death Toll." (Sept. 29, 2004) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3694350.stm

"Iraq Body Count." (View database for details).
http://www.iraqbodycount.net/

"U.S. and Iraqi Forces Scour Samarra for Holdouts." (Oct. 3, 2004).
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Iraq.html?oref=login&hp


     As I write this, the headlines read: "'Scores killed' in Samarra raid," and "More Israeli tanks head into Gaza." Two movements; two countries; one energy. A basic appreciation of synchronicity at least when it comes to our individual lives, might alert us to the possibility that something similar could operate on the world scale, relating these two events of an almost identical nature, though the inner relationship is hidden.

      The events in Gaza and in Samarra are not consciously related. The governments in question in all likelihood did not consult with each other. But they are energetically related, in terms of the energies that operate as motivations for each invasion.

     What does it mean to be "energetically related"? It is something that we, increasingly, need to know about if we are to understand the world. It means that within the life of the world as within our individual lives, there are broad energies and motivational patterns that cause nations and the leaders who govern them to act in certain ways. The similarity between Samarra and Gaza is based on the same justification in both places for the destruction of a stronghold of resistance that had not previously given way, a stronghold that presented obstacles to greater control. If asked, 'control of what'?, both Israel and the United States would say control over its own security - in Israel, over the security of the civilian population, in Iraq, over the security of the military and police in certain areas, needed to insure a credible basis for holding national elections.

      This would be the justification. But what does it 'feel like' to us? We are seeing, today, a big push forward in both Israel and Iraq, with many lives that are lost, injured, or put at grave risk. There is an energy behind this, an energy to 'making war'. There is an energy behind the violence that knowingly takes life, especially the lives of those who are innocent - who are not directly involved in the armed conflict. It may disguise itself as the energy of protection, or of liberation, or of pursuing freedom, but this is often a cover for a different purpose - a purpose often hidden even from the conscious awareness of those who authorize and participate in the military engagement. For the latter, military engagement may represent the fulfillment of cherished ideals.

     Energies of aggression and of the desire for power seek their own ends. Energies of arrogance and superiority seek their own ends. Energies of contempt seek their own ends. All three can fuel the drives within a human personality or within a group of persons so that they operate behind the scenes, even while lip service is being given in the public arena to more noble motives.

    Unfortunately, we have seen this countless times - some that we would rather not remember. What many such previous examples partake of are the justification of violence perpetrated against an- 'other' population, in order to maintain and protect the ideals within one's own population.

     This is a dangerous pattern. As we hear the cries of those who are dying in Samarra and Gaza, or the cries of the mothers who, just a few days ago, watched their children run toward American soldiers in order to be given sweets, just as a car bomb exploded killing many of them - we know that there are individual lives at stake, and often the lives of children. We hear, we feel, we see. There are people crying everywhere.

      Today, we must learn to distinguish between 'true' idealism and 'false' idealism, especially in the presence of seductive words that may be offered to us. True idealism does not require or allow for the taking of life. It has no destructive component. False idealism, is based on the philosophy that "the end justifies the means." It allows for wrong action in the service of a 'right' goal or aim.

      It is time for us to be very careful about how we view the events before us. The 'scores' who are killed in Samarra are 'us'. The children and adults who run from and are shot down by Israeli tanks are 'us'. We are the earth, we are the 'other', and we are all who, today, suffer and mourn.


* * * * *


Oct. 3rd:

     As of today, accelerated air and land attacks in Samarra and Fallujah have taken place with the goal of wiping out previously inaccessible strongholds of 'insurgency' so that national elections can take place in January. This, according to American military strategists and the Interior Minister of the Iraqi Provisional Government. Yet, we have to wonder which elections are at issue here. If the present administration can show before the November election that former strongholds of insurgency are under U.S. control and that Iraq is ready for its first free election since Saddam Hussein, then it will be a 'victory' for President Bush and for the administration's justification of the Iraqi war. It will not, however, be a victory for the families of those who died in the process.

     Please note that the Omega website has changed its name to http://www.lightomega.org. Typing in either the new name or using the older link to http://www.omegastar.org will take you to the Home page for the website. This change is a consequence of a change in the scope and direction of Julie's work. Omega Star-Child Seminars, established in 1990, will now be called Light Omega, in keeping with the purposes of the newsletter and with its mission to the world.



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The purpose of Light Omega is to bring us all into greater planetary consciousness with awareness of the suffering of others and with a willingness to remain awake to the challenges, dangers, and possibilities we face today.

     Julie Redstone