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Nearly seventy years have passed since the internment of US citizens at the hands of our government. The time lapse, however, doesn't make the secrets that are being revealed any less painful. On Tuesday, May 24, 2011, David Savage of the McClatchy-Tribune News reported that Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal came clean about the US government's round up of more than 100,000 US citizens for placement into "internment camps."
Stating that his WWII counterpart, Charles Fahy, appointed by FDR, withheld vital information and findings by the Office of Naval Intelligence from the Supreme Court, Katyal fesses up to the egregious actions of the US government in removing the US citizens from their homes and forcing them to relocate.
Survivor Sam Ozaki talked with Gary Franchi about the internment of his family all those years ago in the William Lewis/Gary Franchi film Camp FEMA: American Lockdown. A child at the time, Ozaki recalls being relocated, and even talks about the fact that internees, while having been denied the rights to pursue their own financial security and happiness, were forced to provide "slave labor" for the government. He even talks about how many of the parents at the time were so ashamed that they never told their children they had been rounded up. In some of his last words to viewers of the film, Ozaki says, "And you have to be alert, because it can happen again."
The Lewis/Franchi film has drawn considerable scrutiny from the Southern Poverty Law Center for pointing out this and other reprehensible behavior by our federal government over the years. The SPLC went so far as to say the film was racist when, in actuality, the film points out the racist nature of our government in the past; from the internment of American citizens of Japanese decent, as well as American Germans and Italians, during WWII to the alleged 1970 plans to round up Black Americans, should there be a uprising in the United States.
This new evidence lends credence to concerns by many in the United States about false accusations and the subsequent "rounding up" of scores of the population who question government actions. Couple that with the now-infamous MIAC Report and the US population has every right to be concerned. The MIAC Report in question, also covered in Camp FEMA, is from February 2009 and advises law enforcement that people who pose potential threats now include those who believe in the right to own guns, those who are concerned about abortions, illegal immigrants, the income tax and radio frequency ID (RFID), those who support third party candidates like Chuck Baldwin or Michael Badnarik, or even Republican candidate Ron Paul, and more.
This new evidence is a slap in the face for those who, over the course of years, have been trying to get the American public to take notice of the illegal and unconstitutional actions of our federal government.
The book "Personal Justice Denied", available online from, believe it or not, the National Park Service, sheds light on the fact that the General De Witt, charged with relocating these American citizens felt the "policy was bizarre and utterly impractical." They were being moved because they posed a threat of "sabotage and espionage." De Witt felt if they were such a big threat on the coast, why were some of these dangerous citizens being allowed to be "left at large in the interior where there were, of course, innumerable dams, power lines, bridges and war industries to be spied upon or disrupted," according to the book. Only Charles Fahy and FDR can answer that.
The notion that our government officials disregard our freedoms and liberties is nothing new. Showcased in the new film Blood of Patriots is the fact that, from shortly after the ratification of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, our government has sought more and more control and has manipulated intel and information on a grand scale to suppress the rights of the population.
Suffice it to say, there is more than enough evidence that we, the United States population, need to be ever vigilant with regards to the powers our government uses and their blatant disregard for our rights and freedoms. What happened to American citizens during WWII was a disgrace, yet it set a precedent with regards to what our government might do again, if it feels the need to suppress us farther. Please do not let the sacrifice of those who have fought and died for our freedoms be in vane. Get to know your freedoms and strive to do your part to protect what you can.
Endnotes:
For more information on the films referenced in this article, please visit www.WilliamLewisFilms.com
U.S. hid evidence to detain Japanese-Americans, official says
http://www.cleveland.com/nation/index.ssf/2011/05/us_hid_evidence_to_detain_japa.html
Solicitor General Laments Predecessors Conduct in WWII
The truth about WWII internment
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-internment-20110527,0,7422843.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fnews%2Fopinion+%28Los+Angeles+Times+-+Opinion%29
Executive Order 9066: The President Authorizes Japanese Relocation
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