(Peoples History) Iran/Contra shows just how important hegemony in Central America was to the ‘Shadow Government’.
They were willing to break domestic and international law and even push weapons in America to increase funding. But there was a moment during the Iran/Contra affair that gave us a glimpse into something even deeper.
The hearings with Oliver North brought up a classified document that shows, to an exceptionally frightening extent, just how serious the CIA, FEMA and the rest of the institutions that constitute the ‘Deep State’ were about keeping their role of dominance in Central America and beyond.
Congressman Jack Brooks: Colonel North, in your work at the N.S.C. were you not assigned, at one time, to work on plans for the continuity of government in the event of a major disaster?
Brendan Sullivan [North’s lawyer, agitatedly]: Mr. Chairman?
Senator Daniel Inouye: I believe that question touches upon a highly sensitive and classified area so may I request that you not touch upon that?
Brooks: I was particularly concerned, Mr. Chairman, because I read in Miami papers, and several others, that there had been a plan developed, by that same agency, a contingency plan in the event of emergency, that would suspend the American constitution. And I was deeply concerned about it and wondered if that was an area in which he had worked. I believe that it was and I wanted to get his confirmation.
Inouye: May I most respectfully request that that matter not be touched upon at this stage. If we wish to get into this, I’m certain arrangements can be made for an executive session.
We get it: Highly classified. This exchange is the first and last time that the plans would be discussed on Congressional record.
The document, titled ‘Rex 84’, short for Readiness Exercise 1984, detailed a response scenario where the constitution would be suspended, martial law would be declared, military commanders placed in charge of State and local governance.
Because of the very nature of the secrecy of Rex 84, there aren’t any primary documents to link to, but various publications and institutions were able to glean more information, and a subsequent congressional investigation confirmed the information.
The journal Spotlight published the first story on Rex 84, and cited information from “two trustworthy confidential sources, patriotic career Army officers, stationed at Ft. Benning, Georgia, and Ft. Chaffee, Arkansas that a closely guarded objective of Rex 84 was “to apply so-called “C&C” (“capture and custody”) measures against political opponents, resisters or even outspoken critics whom the administration considers dangerous’.”
Spotlight was known to have issues with anti-semitism and white supremacy views, so its information cannot be taken at face value. However, more mainstream publications followed up on the story through their own interviews and freedom of information act requests and found it to be largely accurate.
For example, the Miami Herald wrote:
“Some of President Reagan’s top advisers have operated a virtual parallel government outside the traditional Cabinet departments and agencies almost from the day Reagan took office, congressional investigators and administration officials have concluded.”
“Reagan did know of or approve at least some of the actions of the secret group, according to previous accounts by aides, friends and high-ranking foreign officials.”
You should really read the whole Herald article linked, it is fascinating. They suggest that the secret group that set up Rex 84 was organized before the 1980 elections, and actively sabotaged Carters campaign, such as the theft of briefing books shortly before a debate.
The reporter for the Herald wrote that he expected Rex 84 to be a primary topic during the Congressional Hearings with Oliver North, though as the transcript at the beginning of this article shows, that is not the case.
There are a few things to put in perspective here, the first being how easy it would have been to institute martial law, even before legislation like the Patriot Act and the enactment of Continuity of Government by George Bush during the 9/11 attacks.
The second that the ‘Deep State’ behind Rex 84 operated to some extent without the knowledge or consent of the President.
Some food for thought: if this is how seriously the ‘Deep State’ took their operations in Central America, what type of planning is going on behind the scenes today? How has Rex 84 grown in the last two decades, and will they put such an operation into effect if civil unrest becomes widespread, possibly due to further, grander NSA revelations or perhaps a war of aggression against Iran?
It is no use being afraid of operations such as Rex 84, it simply means that activism should be directed intelligently. The focus should be on mass education and ‘starving the beast’, also known as ‘voting with your wallet’. In the future I will have some grand ‘solutions’ page I can link to instead of vague conclusion paragraphs such as this one.
Keep on informing yourself of information such as Rex 84 and then inform others.
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