THE GLOBAL CRACKDOWN
By Jim Redden, author
Snitch Culture (Feral House, 2000)
10/19/01
The Global Surveillance State predicted in the December 2000 edition
of my book Snitch Culture is rising from the ashes of the September
11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.
It is being done under the guise of an international War on Terrorism
orchestrated by George W. Bush, the son of the former CIA director
who ran the illegal Iran-Contra supply network while he was Vice-
President.
With the nation still reeling from the apocalyptic attacks, Bush
declared war on terrorism in general and Saudi exile Osama bin Laden
in particular. Although only Congress has the power to declare war,
Capitol Hill simply rolled over and applauded the crusade, just like
they did in Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, Panama and the Balkans.
And just as they did in those conflicts, the mass media wrapped
itself in the flag, stifled all voices of dissent, and rushed to
embrace "America's New War," as CNN dubbed it in red, white and blue
letters. With the talking heads calling for the nation to rally
behind Bush, U.S. bombers were pounding Afghanistan - bin Laden's
assumed home base - by early October. Even as much of the Muslim
world rose up to oppose the strikes, the talking heads gushed
enthusiastically about the accuracy of satellite directed missiles
and "bunker buster" mega-bombs.
Meanwhile, Bush turned responsibility for securing the domestic front
over to Tom Ridge, the former Pennsylvania governor who oversaw the
violent suppression of civil rights during the 2000 Republican
National Convention in Philadelphia - including covert surveillance
of lawful political groups and the brutal arrest of protest leaders
on trumped-up charges. As head of the newly created Office of
Homeland Defense, Ridge is in charge of the anti-terrorism activities
of over 40 federal law enforcement agencies. An early estimate put
the cost of defending the country at $1.5 trillion over the next five
years.
If Bush and Ridge have their way, within a few years everyone will be
required to carry an official ID card that will include a computer
chip to allow the government to track their movements. Facial
recognition cameras will scan crowds at airports and other public
places, matching faces with vast databases that will include millions
of digital drivers' license photos. The FBI will plug its Carnivore
computers into the servers used by Internet Service Providers to
route e-mail traffic. All information collected by any government
agency will be shared with every police agency around the world.
More than that, the government is apparently preparing to round up
thousands of people. On October 4 the New York Post reported that the
Federal Bureau of Prisons had just issued requests for bids to build
two prisons to hold "criminal aliens" in Georgia, with three more
prisons in the Southwest deserts that can hold 1,500 detainees to be
built early next year. The article speculated that the Wackenhut
private security company could win the contracts because it has run
immigrant camps in Australian made out of converted military bases.
As U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor told a law school
audience in Manhattan on September 29, "[W]e're likely to experience
more restrictions on our personal freedom than has ever been the case
in our country."
Many of these invasive practices will be authorized by the first
major expansion of the Snitch Culture in the 21st Century, the so-
called USA Act of 2001 rushed through Congress with little debate
within weeks of the attacks on New York and Washington DC. Many of
the provisions enhance the power of domestic law enforcement agencies
to spy on Americans for "intelligence" as opposed to criminal
investigations. Among other things, the law:
* Creates the new crime of "Domestic Terrorism" that could be
interpreted to impose heavy penalties on political protest.
* As part of a crackdown on "Cyber-terrorism," computer hackers and
virus makers will face life imprisonment without the possibility of
parole, even if no one is ever harmed by their activities.
* Allows information obtained during criminal investigation to be
shared with the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security
Agency, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Secret
Service and the military without judicial review, and with no
restrictions on how these agencies can use the information.
* Authorizes covert "sneak and peak" searches where the government
can enter your home, office or other private place and search your
files, photograph your belongings, and download your computer hard
drive without telling you.
* Allows "forum shopping" where law enforcement agencies can use
friendly judges to obtain "single jurisdiction" search warrants to
use against suspects in other parts of the country, making it almost
impossible to challenge them.
* Allows the CIA to spy on American citizens and requires the FBI to
share its files with the spy agency, including those on law-abiding
American citizens.
* Allows indefinite detention of non-citizens, including legal
aliens, without meaningful judicial review.
* Requires colleges and universities to open student files to law
enforcement agencies.
* Expands wiretap authority by allowing police to obtain the
equivalent of "blank" warrants for any phone in the country.
* Widens the scope of subpoenas for records of electronic
communications to include evidence such as credit card receipts and
Internet accounts.
* Authorizes U.S. authorities to shire into about persons suspected
of terrorism or money laundering with financial institutions.
* Orders the Attorney General to explore the feasibility of an
integrated computer fingerprint identification system that can be
used at points of entry and US consulates.
"Most Americans do not recognize that Congress has just passed a bill
that would give the government expanded power to invade our privacy,
imprison people without due process and punish dissent," said Laura
W. Murphy, Director of the ACLU Washington National Office, said on
October 12.
The War on Terrorism claimed many victims before the bill even
passed, however. As always, the first victim of this new war was the
truth. George Bush flatly told the nation that much of the
government's activities would be conducted in secret and might never
be disclosed. "Watch what you say," White House press spokesman Ari
Fleischer warned within days of the attacks. A short time later,
National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice personally told the heads
of all major television and cable networks to censor their newscasts -
and they agreed.
Al Cross, president of the Society of Professional Journalists, said
the restrictions are preventing reporters from doing their jobs.
"They're finding it increasingly difficult to fulfill their roles as
watchdogs," Cross said on October 13. "It just seems that things have
been done willy-nilly."
Other early victims included foreign visitors. Over 700 people -
mostly from the Middle East - were jailed in the early stages of the
investigation into the attack. Many were simply released after being
held in interrogated for weeks. A 20-year old student from Pakistan
said he was stripped and beaten in his cell by other inmates while
jail guards failed to intervene and denied him medical care. In three
midwestern states, U.S. immigration officials cut off all visits and
phone calls for detainees for a full week. Authorities refused to
tell San Diego attorney Randall Hamud where his three clients - Osama
Awadallah, Modhar Abdullah and Yazeem Al-Alsami - were even held.
But this new War on Terrorism is not just another domestic law
enforcement initiative. It is the excuse to create an international
surveillance society that will ultimately monitor everyone in the
world.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair carried the message to receptive
leaders throughout Europe. Dozens of other countries promptly signed
up, pledging all possible support. The United Nations quickly passed
a resolution requiring all member nations to cooperate by opening up
their banks to international inspectors - potentially affecting
billions of law-abiding citizens across the globe. The September 11
attacks allowed governments in Europe and the Middle East to round up
hundreds of political dissidents under the guise of cracking down on
terrorist networks.
History teaches us these new powers will be abused. President Abraham
Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus during the Civil War.
Foreign-born socialists and labor organizers were deported during
World War I. Japanese-Americans were interned during World War II.
The government spied on, harassed and even murdered political
protesters during the Vietnam War era.
As in the past, Americaıs New War will benefit the rich and powerful
at the expense of the poor. Multinational corporations facing growing
protests over their labor and environmental practices will find it
easier to do business. Fledgling labor movements in developing
countries will be shut down as terrorist organizations. Dissident
political organizations will have their bank accounts frozen and
their assets seized.
Meanwhile, the establishment press is ignoring many troubling
questions. Chief among them, what is the governmentıs real
relationship with bin Laden, the alleged mastermind behind the
September 11 attacks. The CIA admits that bin Laden was
an "intelligence asset" during Afghanistanıs war against the Soviets,
but insists he turned against America when the U.S. government turned
its back on him after the Cold War. Michel Chossudovsky, professor of
economics at University of Ottawa, insists the CIA never severed its
ties with him and other Muslim militants, however.
"Since the end of the Cold War, these covert intelligence links have
not only been maintained, they have become increasingly
sophisticated," Chossudovsky claims. "New undercover initiatives
financed by the Golden Crescent drug trade were set in motion in
Central Asia, the Caucasus and the Balkans. Pakistan's military and
intelligence apparatus (controlled by the CIA) essentially served as
a catalyst for the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the
emergence of six new Muslim republics in Central Asia."
This raises an obvious question about the September 11 attacks: What
did the government know when did they know it? Government agents
infiltrated such previous attacks as the Greensboro Massacre, the
1993 World Trade Center bombing and the 1995 bombing of the Oklahoma
City federal office building. Although intelligence officials
originally denied having any advance warning of the September 11
attacks, they were soon forced to admit that "lots of signs" pointed
to the plot, including warnings of an
impending "Hiroshima" on U.S. soil.
Three days after the attacks, Newsweek, the Washington Post and the
Knight Ridder newspapers reported that five of the hijackers were
trained at secure U.S. military installations during the 1990s. The
reports also claimed three of the terrorists had listed their address
as the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida, and had participated
in military exchange programs for foreign officers at the Pensacola
Naval Air Station in Florida.
The Pentagon denied the reports and the stories went away. But in
fact, the FBI raided the private Florida flight school where several
of the suicide pilots trained within hours of the attacks, proving
the government knew more far more about the terrorists than it is
admitting.
Likewise, the media is ignoring even bigger questions. Five Israeli
citizens were arrested and held in isolation after accusations
surfaced that nearly 4,000 Jews mysterious skipped work at the World
Trade Center. Who are they? George Bush Sr. is in business with bin
Laden's family through the Carlyle Group, a private Washington DC
equity firm that has essentially become the nation's largest defense
contractor. What is real relationship between these two powerful
families?
And what is the role of oil in the equation? According to published
reports, the U.S. and Pakistan decided to install a stable regime in
Afghanistan around 1994 to ensure the safety of a Unocal pipeline
project. Is Operation Enduring Freedom just the final step in this
effort to tap the region's oil reserves?
Don't look to the CNN or any other mainstream news outlet for the
answers. They are too busy playing their roles as cheerleaders for
the Snitch Culture, gleefully pumping the $5 million rewards offered
for what they dubbed, "The World's Most Wanted Terrorists."
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