Who's the Terrorist Now?
From the moment Bush, Ashcroft and Co. began their attacks upon civil
liberties in the aftermath of September 11, many on the left issued
warnings as to the extent to the definition of terrorists could be
construed. After all, as King George said himself, anyone not with him
was against him, and, therefore, equated with being a terrorist. Forget
the fact that definition encompased the majority of the peoples and nations
of the world. Especially hand picked among nations was that obvious
triumvirate of allies North Korea, Iraq and Iran, to which Cuba, Libya and
Syria were posthastly added. Any question as to the foresight and wisdom
of George W. was instantly quashed in this single moment of greatness.
Most Americans, however, seemed to acquiece on these issues as it was
apparently necessary to forego certain rights and privileges for the sake
of 'national security.' Besides, they would not arrest innocent Americans,
let alone foreigners. Unless, of course, you look Arabic – at least, to
some degree, or if you have relatives in Samolia, to whom you are sending
moneys (it must be a front!), or you just look plain suspicious.
Now it turns out that all the warnings issued by those damned leftists and
liberals, who just can't seem to leave well enough alone, are proving to be
true. Direct from the FBI comes a document presented to the Senate Select
Committee on Intelligence on February 6, 2002, titled, “The Terrorist
Threat Confronting the United States.”
Specifically, according to this document, the United States faces not only
the threat of state-sponsored terrorism and of terrorist organizations, but
also of domestic terrorists. This sounds reasonable until we get down into
the fine print describing which organizations the FBI characterizes as
being terrorist.
From the outset you might expect al Queda or some other groupings to be
mentioned first, but in fact first mention belongs to the Animal Liberation
Front and the Earth Liberation Front. These two organizations are
specifically characterized as “domestic terrorist organizations” as they
implicated in having “committed approximately 600 criminal acts...
resulting in damages in excess of 42 million dollars.” Interestingly
enough, not a single anti-abortion organization is mentioned in the entire
document – organizations and individuals who have entailed as much if not
more costs in damages, all the more vilifying in terms of the number of
human lives they have destroyed. Only one anti-abortion individual is
mentioned – Clayton Waagner. It should be noted that ALF and ELF's
activities have not resulted in the death of any individuals, which they
have admittedly striven for by carefully planning their operations. Anti-
abortionists have on many occasions singled out individuals or clinics
consciously aware that their actions may result in human loss.
The document characterizes those right-wing organizations that present a
terrorist threat. This is justified alone by the bombings that have
occurred over the last decade or more, which were directly linked to right-
wing organizations and individuals (Oklahoma City Federal Building, the
recent mailbox bombings). In his report FBI Executive Assistant Director
of Counterterrorism and Counterintelligence, Dale Watson then proceeds to
outline left-wing organizations that present a terrorist threat. Verbatim:
“The second category of domestic terrorists, left-wing groups, generally
profess a revolutionary socialist doctrine and view themselves as
protectors of the people against the "dehumanizing effects" of capitalism
and imperialism. They aim to bring about change in the United States and
believe that this change can be realized through revolution rather than
through the established political process.” Certainly not forgotten in
this terrorist web are grouping such as the anarchists. Specific merit is
even given to the Worker's World Party. These later groupings are singled
out due to their organizing the Reclaim the Streets and Carnival Against
Capitalism actions. This, along with their “international presence,” he
points out will “at times also represent a potential threat in the United
States.”
The fact of the matter is, revolutionary socialists, like myself, have now
been deemed 'domestic terrorists'. Although given who this is coming from
one might make this their banner, the issue is that the attacks upon the
rights of individuals and organizations has been extended further. Not
only as socialist or anarchist have we direct attacked by the government
that is supposed to represent us, just as we foresaw, but even as
individuals and organizations that do not align themselves with socialist
or anarchist politics. The question is becoming more and more relevent -
When do we cease to remain silent?
liberties in the aftermath of September 11, many on the left issued
warnings as to the extent to the definition of terrorists could be
construed. After all, as King George said himself, anyone not with him
was against him, and, therefore, equated with being a terrorist. Forget
the fact that definition encompased the majority of the peoples and nations
of the world. Especially hand picked among nations was that obvious
triumvirate of allies North Korea, Iraq and Iran, to which Cuba, Libya and
Syria were posthastly added. Any question as to the foresight and wisdom
of George W. was instantly quashed in this single moment of greatness.
Most Americans, however, seemed to acquiece on these issues as it was
apparently necessary to forego certain rights and privileges for the sake
of 'national security.' Besides, they would not arrest innocent Americans,
let alone foreigners. Unless, of course, you look Arabic – at least, to
some degree, or if you have relatives in Samolia, to whom you are sending
moneys (it must be a front!), or you just look plain suspicious.
Now it turns out that all the warnings issued by those damned leftists and
liberals, who just can't seem to leave well enough alone, are proving to be
true. Direct from the FBI comes a document presented to the Senate Select
Committee on Intelligence on February 6, 2002, titled, “The Terrorist
Threat Confronting the United States.”
Specifically, according to this document, the United States faces not only
the threat of state-sponsored terrorism and of terrorist organizations, but
also of domestic terrorists. This sounds reasonable until we get down into
the fine print describing which organizations the FBI characterizes as
being terrorist.
From the outset you might expect al Queda or some other groupings to be
mentioned first, but in fact first mention belongs to the Animal Liberation
Front and the Earth Liberation Front. These two organizations are
specifically characterized as “domestic terrorist organizations” as they
implicated in having “committed approximately 600 criminal acts...
resulting in damages in excess of 42 million dollars.” Interestingly
enough, not a single anti-abortion organization is mentioned in the entire
document – organizations and individuals who have entailed as much if not
more costs in damages, all the more vilifying in terms of the number of
human lives they have destroyed. Only one anti-abortion individual is
mentioned – Clayton Waagner. It should be noted that ALF and ELF's
activities have not resulted in the death of any individuals, which they
have admittedly striven for by carefully planning their operations. Anti-
abortionists have on many occasions singled out individuals or clinics
consciously aware that their actions may result in human loss.
The document characterizes those right-wing organizations that present a
terrorist threat. This is justified alone by the bombings that have
occurred over the last decade or more, which were directly linked to right-
wing organizations and individuals (Oklahoma City Federal Building, the
recent mailbox bombings). In his report FBI Executive Assistant Director
of Counterterrorism and Counterintelligence, Dale Watson then proceeds to
outline left-wing organizations that present a terrorist threat. Verbatim:
“The second category of domestic terrorists, left-wing groups, generally
profess a revolutionary socialist doctrine and view themselves as
protectors of the people against the "dehumanizing effects" of capitalism
and imperialism. They aim to bring about change in the United States and
believe that this change can be realized through revolution rather than
through the established political process.” Certainly not forgotten in
this terrorist web are grouping such as the anarchists. Specific merit is
even given to the Worker's World Party. These later groupings are singled
out due to their organizing the Reclaim the Streets and Carnival Against
Capitalism actions. This, along with their “international presence,” he
points out will “at times also represent a potential threat in the United
States.”
The fact of the matter is, revolutionary socialists, like myself, have now
been deemed 'domestic terrorists'. Although given who this is coming from
one might make this their banner, the issue is that the attacks upon the
rights of individuals and organizations has been extended further. Not
only as socialist or anarchist have we direct attacked by the government
that is supposed to represent us, just as we foresaw, but even as
individuals and organizations that do not align themselves with socialist
or anarchist politics. The question is becoming more and more relevent -
When do we cease to remain silent?
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