NORTHCOM

The United States Northern Command, known as NORTHCOM, was established in 2002 by the President to do two jobs -- coordinate Defense Department homeland defense efforts and provide military support to civilian agencies.

Rep. Silvestre Reyes: What's Wrong With Bush's Militarize-the-Border Theatrics 2008

At the time, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld called NORTHCOM's launch "the most sweeping set of changes since the unified command system was set up in 1946."

Shining Light In Dark Corners 2008

Defense Secretary Rumsfeld called NORTHCOM's launch "the most sweeping set of changes since the unified command system was set up in 1946."

- 911truth.org 2008

At the time, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld called NORTHCOM's launch "the most sweeping set of changes since the unified command system was set up in 1946."

Suzie-Q 2008

The command's “Civil Authority Information Support Element,” or CAISE, is meant “to save lives and mitigate human suffering and property damage,” says John Cornelio, a spokesman for both NORTHCOM and NORAD, the North American Air Defense folks.

Pentagon unit has dual mission: domestic psy-ops, disaster aid 2010

NORTHCOM officials insist that when the planes are launched domestically, their mission will be only to assist in a dire emergency -- either natural (hurricanes, vast floods) or military (a mass-casualty attack on the U.S. with a nuclear, chemical, biological or radiological weapon).

Pentagon unit has dual mission: domestic psy-ops, disaster aid 2010

“One section of the Air Force job description said the influence operations specialist was to coordinate with the Army's 4th Psychological Operations Group (POG), as well as with NORTHCOM public affairs, ‘deception planners’ and other agencies,” wrote Rood.

Pentagon unit has dual mission: domestic psy-ops, disaster aid 2010

Dimly lit faces of men and women at the State Department, Coast Guard, NORTHCOM and others, cover a wall.

President Obama's nighthawks: Top officials charged with guarding the nation's safety story Laura Blumenfeld • photos by Melina Mara in dead of night 2010

In 2004, for example, a Congressional Quarterly Homeland Security reporter, Justin Rood, stumbled across an employment opening for a NORTHCOM “influence operations specialist” that seemed to blur the lines between civil relief aid and propaganda operations.

Pentagon unit has dual mission: domestic psy-ops, disaster aid 2010

Occasionally, however, information surfaces to suggest that NORTHCOM has co-mingled civil defense and domestic psychological warfare functions, raising Orwellian suspicions among some.

Pentagon unit has dual mission: domestic psy-ops, disaster aid 2010