Coming Soon:
Flying Fascism on Your Doorstep

New high-tech surveillance equipment revealed at the Redstone Arsenal's Weekly Arms Bazaar promises a dismal future for freedom-loving people of the world.

The Friendly Colonel has filed the latest report from the most recent arms show at the Redstone Arsenal, which has been shut down and is essentially used for storage. Housed in this facility are several thousands of the new modified urban control Humvees, equipped with 14.5 mm cannons as well as many aerials and satellite dishes. Some are camouflage in color, but most of them are dark matte gray. They looked like they were painted with a sealer coat of paint (primer paint), before the final coat is painted on depending on the theater of operation in which they will be used.

Of greater significance was the introduction of the new DCHD (Domestic Control Hover Drones), which were displayed and offered for sale. They're about a meter in diameter and probably weigh about twenty kilograms each. It looks like a life ring (life preserver) with a motor in the middle of it.

The Chinese and Russian arms dealers were interested in them, and evidently the British Government has been one of this device's primary buyers. Evidently we're not selling them to a lot of foreign countries at this time, but still building inventories for ourselves. Each of these DCHDs costs $178,000 a copy.

He met with an Iranian colonel who is some sort of an engineer, who was trying to explain to him what these things can do. The Friendly Colonel admitted that he didn't even know such technology even existed.

Here are some specs. They can hover to a maximum ceiling of 500 feet, although they're really meant to hover about 50 feet off the ground. They not only hover, but they can go forward and back. Their maximum speed is 50 miles an hour, and they can stay aloft for up to three hours at a time. There are counter-rotating rotors in the middle of the device with what appears to be an engine on top. All of the internal components appear to be made of some sort of super-advanced composite, like boron-graphite composite material that is very, very light, but is also very strong. The propellers are also made of this same material, and they weigh practically nothing.

There are two counter-rotating propellers, two propellers that rotate counter-synchronously, the way the Russians used to build turbo-prop airplanes like the TU-95s. The reason they do it that way is because it gives a much higher speed, lift and stability.

They're controlled electronically - either through satellites or through what they call Fixed or Mobile Relay Command Centers, built right into the Humvee. They showed how the two worked together.

The Friendly Colonel reports that inside this Humvee, which can control a certain quad of these things, it looked like the inside of a spaceship. The components and views screens, which appear to be holographic, and the technology are simply amazing -- "It's like nothing you ever saw."

The surveillance drones come in different color schemes -- a very dark black matte for night use or a two-tone matte white and sky blue top -- so it's hard to see them during the day.

They started one of these hover drones up, and he said it virtually makes no sound at all. Even if you're ten feet away, you couldn't hear the thing. That's how quiet they are.

They are fitted with what is purported to be one of the most-advanced micro-cameras ever invented by the US Government. Through satellites, their transmission capability is virtually limitless. Satellites can access its transmissions and give it directions, signals, codes, and tell it what to do.

They can be pre-programmed for certain flight paths, but the computer has the ability to think, so that if it acquires a target, it can deviate from a flight path. It also has sensors so it can get out of the way and not run into a tree or the side of a building. It also has infrared cameras and high-resolution night cameras with multiple neutral density filters.

They also have see-through capability -- with a thermal imaging sensor camera, which can actually see inside of buildings and see through walls. The device is meant to be used as a domestic control drone. It not only has cameras, but the most sensitive audio receivers that have ever been made. It can pick up a human conversation from five hundred feet away -- one human conversation. Not only can they photograph and relay still shots and real time video and transmit video, but they also have a "non-lethal" weapons capability, some sort of stun gun based on energy discharge technology. They're powered by what's known as a fusion power cell, which looks like a square pack of film. The power is produced through some sort of chemical reaction.

These drones can stop and detain people. Since they have a microphone, they can hover right in your face, while you're looking into the camera. It also has a transmitter, which can play pre-recorded messages, or someone can actually talk to you even though they're a thousand miles away.

During the demonstration, they hovered the thing around the room and then it came down in front of this Air Force captain's face, and it said, "Citizen, kindly present your national identification card."

Then a little telescoping plate comes out of it, and you're supposed to hold your national identification card in front of this plate. They wouldn't reveal all of its abilities of the drone because some of it was still classified. The manufacturer is the same company, located in Indiana, which makes other equipment for the NSA.

Let's think about where this device could be used. How about South Central Los Angeles street corners? Using these devices, only Government-Authorized crack dealers would be able to sell their product. Crack dealers, not approved by the Government, could then be sanctioned -- or removed.

The exhibit hall had high-definition presentation screens around the room, which showed how these things could be used. It showed them moving down a darkened street at night, and then it showed what the cameras were seeing, pictures of the people and how they looked through an infra red camera and an ultra violet camera and how different images looked through different camera receptors. It looked like it was right out of Star Trek.

(Author's Note: Usually we wouldn't publish this information, which could be construed as conspiratorial in nature. However, since it came from a reliable source, actually present on site, we decided it was important for Al Martin Raw readers to know the facts.)

There was actually a computer generated voice simulator, which announced, "Base price starts at just $178,543 for the Class IV model." Then it proceeded to announce the prices for all the options and add-ons, which could bring the total price up to $350,000.

And who would be most interested in buying these items? As the Friendly Colonel pointed out, as usual, there were a lot of Russian and Chinese arms dealers there - but you never really know their ultimate clients. And there were some military officers (they had staff patches) who appeared to be from the Office of Homeland Security, although they don't have military designation insignia yet.

These surveillance drones could be used in Small Town America -- to cruise down the streets to seek out those who are potential threats to the security of the State - those who are "disloyal," those who are "different," and those who have already been deemed to be suspicious by Neighborhood Watch Groups, following the new protocols and reported to the newly created Civilian Defense Force.

At any rate, it was a very slick and very well done presentation. They had the giant Australian prawns, lightly fried in a light batter and served with an oriental plum sauce. The Friendly Colonel says they were just out of this world -- and there was an open bar, of course. He said there's nothing like having taxpayer-funded prime rib and shrimp.

Coming soon to your neighborhood - sci-fi fascism. People already understand that this advanced technology exists, and the government has not denied that they are using miniaturized fusion power cells. The reason they're not making a big deal out of it is because people would say, "let's replace the oil industry with fusion power." And that is something that even I understand could not be done - without massive economic dislocation, of course.

Meanwhile, the war in Afghanistan goes on. Referring to the Afghan fighters who were "Clueless in Guantanamo" (See column 47), Rumsfeld reminded us "these are highly dangerous people tough well trained fighters who fought our forces tooth and nail in Afghanistan." Then they showed a clip made by the Department of Defense that was called "A Typical Offensive Operation Against Taliban Positions." It showed the Special Forces laying back about a mile from the forward position of the Taliban. The next thing you hear is the roar of a dozen B-52s, which carpet bomb the entire Taliban position. And he said, "Here's our B-52s involved in a pulverizing operation of the Taliban positions" Then they wait for all the dust and smoke to settle down and they move the Special Forces in. The few who are still alive of "the tough well trained Taliban fighters that fought us tooth and nail" have by now dropped their weapons. They're walking around in circles, mumbling to themselves, blood coming out of their ears and noses from the concussive effects of being carpet-bombed. The Marines just go up to them and grab them by the back of the turban and march them away. And these guys are still shaking and mumbling to themsleves. Then the Marine just asks the guy, "Well Mr. Raghead, do you know what century it is?"

(The new Department of Defense regulations say that everyone needs to be treated with "respect" so now all US military personnel must address their prisoners, as "Mr. Raghead," and not just, "Yo, Raghead.")

After being carpet-bombed the guy says that we in the Special Forces only consider them "dangerous" if they can answer the question, "What century is this?"

Just as Arthur Andersen has fallen on its sword, now Kenneth Lay has done the same. What's being built here is a mutual web of protection to shield the Republican Party. It gives you an idea of how much exposure the Bushites and other Republicans must have in this operation -- to allow a major accounting firm to effectively to fall down, in which people are going to serve jail time, to force Ken Lay or get him to agree to leave the country.

It has also been discovered that Kenneth Lay, the former Chairman of Enron, has very quietly bought a piece of property in Switzerland under the name of some Swiss investment trust that he formed. If you're a Republican, it's only "prudent" to have a Swiss chalet in Switzerland -- for the time when you may have to take up residence in a country to avoid extradition on a fraud warrant).

Though his homes in Houston have been sold, his place in Colorado has evidently not been sold. But Lay could have very easily borrowed 120% of what the place was worth. With his contacts, somebody could have easily done him a favor.

How many times have I seen Richard Secord do that -- or even Jeb Bush? In order to get rid of some piece of property, some "friendly" bank would lend him 120%, foreclose on it, then simply sell it off for a loss. There have got to be others who want to see Lay out of the country and who would be doing everything they could to aid his departure.

Dick Cheney had the most bizarre interview with Tom Brokaw, in which they didn't show his face. It turns out that he is not only the Vice President, but a debt collector for Enron. I think you'll find that he's much more involved in Enron that what is commonly presumed at this time. It was very strange the way they did this interview. It's like they're getting ready to cut Cheney loose or something. It looks like they're setting him up to move him out.

According to CNBC, when the US prosecutors' office in Houston became interested in Enron, every single member (all thirty-two of them) had to recuse themselves from the case because of connections to Enron. And that's the problem. Even the SEC announced that 78 of its people had to be recused in the Enron investigation.

Another Enron fact - the seventeen top executives, in the six months before the Enron collapse, sold a total of $1.1 billion worth of Enron stock. At the same time, they had all issued public pronouncements that the stock was going higher. The entire world was enamored with Enron at $83 a share.

Then there was the "suicide" of former Vice Chairman of Enron, Cliff Baxter, who just resigned last May. It was suspected that Mr. Baxter has documentation concerning offshore Enron accounts and individuals within the Bush Administration. However, upon a thorough search of Mr. Baxter's home, no files were found. Informed sources expect to see more Enron "suicides."

The "disappearance" of Kenneth Lay last week has also been solved. Evidently, Lay was in the United States at the SEC office in Washington, where according to unnamed sources in the SEC, he is being "very helpful."

There is a feeling among the Republicans in Washington that if this Enron fraud really falls apart and everything comes out -- it could once and for all put an end to the great and all-powerful Military-Industrial Complex and the right wing political cabal that it has supported.

If all the Republican fraud that was committed with Enron were to come to light, then people might begin to realize the truth - that the very term "Republican" is synonymous with fraud. When you have 20,000 people who lost all their IRA or 401K money, this is fuel for the Democrats.

In a confirmation of a previous story on Al Martin Raw ("Citizen Can I See Your ID, column 37), CNN reports that the Bush Administration has finally admitted that "Internal Security checkpoints and other substantial restrictions on the free movement of American citizens within the United States" is coming, And that is quite simply "the price we have to pay for freedom."

But remember -- and take heart -- it costs America $9 million for every "Taliban/ Terrorist" killed and about $3 million for every "Taliban/ Terrorist" captured. At this rate, the United States can not continue this war effort throughout the world. At the end of Bush's proposed 20 year "anti-terrorist war," for example, the United States would be one quadrillion dollars in debt. By 2021, 92% of the gross domestic product of the United States would be consumed in debt service, whereupon the United States would effectively become a third world nation. The country is literally falling apart and Bush is making it happen.

* * *

AL MARTIN is America's foremost whistleblower on government fraud and corruption. A retired US Navy Lt. Commander and former officer in the Office of Naval Intelligence, he has testified before Congress (the Kerry Committee and the Alexander Committee) regarding Iran-Contra. Al Martin is the author of "The Conspirators: Secrets of an Iran Contra Insider" (2001, National Liberty Press, $19.95; Toll FREE order line: 1-866-317-1390) He lives at an undisclosed location, since the criminals named in his book have been returned to national power and prominence. His column "Behind the Scenes in the Beltway" is published regularly on Al Martin Raw: Criminal Govt Conspiracy ( http://www.almartinraw.com)

I thought advertising and plugs weren't meant to be put on indymedia. Also, someone who posts as many links to Christian Fundie and Far Right militia movement sites as you do should use the word fascist sparingly

I dont think it was me who pasted the article in. I usually on post the link because I find the original is usually far more restful on the eyes that an endless column of reposted plain text, and the visitors can then click around the site and decide for themselves whether it's dubious or not.
Can't be more unfascist than that.