- Dozens of previous articles addressed America's war on
Islam, discussing victims of America's war on terror for political advantage,
not for threatening national security or public safety.
-
- Repeatedly post-9/11, bogus threats were invented to
imprison innocent men and women for their faith, ethnicity, activism, prominence
or charity. Clearly, it's the wrong time to be Muslim in America, Washington's
target of choice to hype fear and enlist public support for imperial lawlessness,
no matter the cost in reckless spending and loss of personal freedoms.
Increasingly, everyone is now vulnerable for speaking out, voicing dissent,
and supporting equity and justify for unpopular victims.
-
- Against that backdrop, Obama's 9/11 address at the Pentagon
was an exercise in demagoguery and deceit, saying:
-
- "We will not sacrifice the liberties we cherish
or hunker down behind walls of suspicion and mistrust....The highest honor
we can pay those we lost (is keep doing) what our adversaries fear the
most. To stay true to who we are, as Americans; to renew our sense of common
purpose; to say that we define the character of our country, and we will
not let the acts of some small band of murderers who slaughter the innocent
and cower in caves distort who we are."
-
- In fact, for nearly two years, Obama continued the Bush
agenda. Besides looting the Treasury for Wall Street and other corporate
favorites, he systematically strips civil liberties, violates human rights,
wages imperial wars, targets dissent and democratic freedoms, and relentlessly
persecutes whistleblowers, Muslims and their supporters.
-
- In May, he designated homegrown terrorism one of the
nation's top priorities, his chief counterterrorism advisor, John Brennan,
saying:
-
- "We've seen an increasing number of individuals
here in the United States become captivated by extremist activities or
causes. The president's national security strategy explicitly recognizes
the threat to the United States posed by individuals radicalized here at
home."
-
- He cited "foot soldiers," planning attacks
on US soil. Obama's National Security Strategy (NSS) suggested new legal
possibilities to prosecute them in military and civilian courts. In addition,
new indefinite detentions procedures will be implemented to hold targets
who can't be charged or tried - police state justice in "the land
of the free." If ever earlier, for sure not now.
-
- The NSS said:
-
- "The increased risk of terrorism necessitates a
capacity to detain and interrogate suspected violent extremists, but that
framework must align with our laws to be effective and sustainable."
-
- Mo matter. Military commissions will be freely used,
denying targets judicial fairness, including the right to appeal even for
death sentences.
-
- "For detainees who cannot be prosecuted, but pose
a danger to the American people, we must have clear, defensible, and lawful
standards" to justify long-term detention without trials, despite
no US or international law permitting it.
-
- "The United States is waging a global campaign against
Al Qaeda and its terrorist affiliates," code language for war on Islam
at home and abroad. Brennan suggested targeting terrorism is self-defense,
saying they "bring death to our cities." As a result, effective
action against them is essential, he said - meaning preemptively against
innocent people for political advantage. "As our enemy adapts and
evolves their tactics, so must we constantly adapt and evolve ours...."
-
- Implied is that law and order no longer matter. Global
wars, homeland repression, and imperial dominance take precedence - America's
official agenda under both parties with full support from major media journalists,
transmitting whatever information official sources want published or reported
on air.
-
- In response, Professor Marc Lynch said "how can
they reconcile (the rule of law and its democratic commitment) with the
way drone strikes are (indiscriminately) used, (with) military commissions,
and so forth?"
-
- And by persecuting innocent Muslims, solely for political
advantage. It's been official policy for over nine years, including against
lawyers who defend unpopular clients too vigorously.
-
- Expect Worse Ahead
-
- Some will come on January 3 when the 112th Congress convenes.
Republicans will control the House and have more say in the Democrat-controlled
Senate. They plan to press their advantage, including for the war on terror.
-
- On December 16, New York Times writer Raymond Hernandez
headlined, "Muslim 'Radicalization' Is Focus of Planned Inquiry,"
saying:
-
- Rep. Peter King (R. NY), new House Homeland Security
Committee chairman, announced he's "planning to open a Congressional
inquiry into what he calls 'the radicalization' of the Muslim community
when his party takes over the House next year."
-
- On December 8, his web site outlined priorities, including:
-
- -- keeping Guantanamo open;
-
- -- preventing transfer of its detainees to America;
-
- -- trying them in military commissions, denying them
due process;
-
- -- holding hearings on the Fort Hood attack;
-
- -- improving passenger and cargo plane security;
-
- -- enacting tougher border security laws to curb illegal
immigration;
-
- -- protecting Americans from terrorist attacks (by eroding
more civil liberties);
-
- -- bolstering cybersecurity protections (by subverting
online freedom); and
-
- -- identifying and combatting "domestic radicalization,"
against Muslims, his designated target of choice.
-
- Like many other congressional members, King is a notorious
Islamophobe, espousing racist, hateful, malevolent, vengeful views. He
believes "Muslim leaders (don't) cooperate with investigations,"
and America has "too many mosques....We should be finding (new ways
to) infiltrate (them)....The Muslim community (represents) a real threat
here in this country."
-
- Last December, he said "100% of the Islamic terrorists
are Muslims," a combination of racism and clear ignorance, suggesting
a difference between the two. Either way, he wants Muslims profiled, targeted,
put on no-fly lists, and denied civil rights. Not all he said, just bad
ones, implying they're all suspect.
-
- Responding, the American Arab Forum's Dr. Afef Assaf
said:
-
- "King's Islamophobia represents a persistent pattern
involving unrelenting attacks by self-appointed Arab or Muslim experts
permeating the airwaves, media, and schools. In 2004, King claimed the
vast majority of American Muslim community leaders are 'an enemy living
amongst us,' and that 'no (American) Muslims' cooperate in the war on terror,"
adding:
-
- "I would say (that) 80 - 85% of mosques in this
country are controlled by Islamic fundamentalists. Those who are in control.
The average Muslim (doesn't) come forward. They don't tell the police (anything
about fellow Muslims)."
-
- He claimed he could prove his assertions, citing fellow
Islamophobe/hatemongers, Steve Emerson and Daniel Pipes, figures with no
credibility whatever.
-
- Responding further, Assaf added:
-
- "It is pure hate speech and defamatory rhetoric
when an elected official speaks so suspiciously of America's Muslim leaders
and ordinary Muslims, including those in his own district. Furthermore,
the media silence about such virulent rhetoric filters, or better, refracts
through the prejudice of bigots in the media audience, who seek to turn
the war against terror into a war against all of Islam and thus against
all American Muslims...Ignorance can no longer justify hate speech and
bigotry....(It should) never....avariciously enrich (and empower) a hateful
Congressman," nor anyone, including top administration officials.
-
- With King again heading the House Homeland Security Committee,
Muslim leaders expressed strong opposition to his plan, calling it unfair
racial profiling against an entire group.
-
- Abed Ayoub, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
Legal Director said King ignored Muslim leadership efforts against homegrown
terrorism, adding:
-
- "We are disturbed that this representative who is
in a leadership position does not have the understanding and knowledge
of what the realities are on the ground." Clearly his proposal "has
bigoted intentions."
-
- Salam al-Marayati, Muslim Public Affairs Council Executive
Director also expressed alarm saying:
-
- "He basically wants to treat the Muslim-American
community as a suspect community," and by so doing, he's undermining
community/law enforcement relations as well as spreading hate and bigotry
to inflame public opinion, making it easier to unfairly target Muslims.
-
- Unfortunately, King has plenty of congressional support
on both sides of the isle. As a result, expect witch-hunt 2011 hearings,
inflammatory media reports highlighting them, and more innocent Muslims
unfairly targeted. Moreover, America's war on terror will keep raging out-of-control,
flaunting the rule of law and democratic freedoms, ones fast eroding in
America for everyone.
-
- Before he died, Gandhi explained the "Seven Blunders
of the World." Number seven was "Politics without principle,"
a character flaw afflicting most public officials, all senior ones, right
wing courts, and nearly all congressional members, especially those on
the extreme right from both parties.
-
- Culpable also are supporters wealth and power over popular
need, imperial wars for global dominance, and innocent Americans targeted
for political advantage and personal gain. Post-9/11, it's been so extreme,
it's practically become the national sport.
-
- A Final Comment
-
- The October 2001 USA Patriot Act's Section 802 created
the crime of "domestic terrorism," used also against environmental
and animal rights activists. Earlier articles addressed numerous victims,
including Marie Mason, targeted for her outspokenness against destructive
genetic engineering and forestry practices. A discussion of her case can
be accessed through the following link:
-
- http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2010/07/marie-mason-victimized-by-green-scare.html
-
- In February 2009, she was sentenced to 21 years, 10 months
in federal prison, the longest ever for a Green Scare/ecoterrorism target.
She appealed for re-sentencing, but on December 16 was denied, a lawless
court supporting a lawless administration to treat her harshly.
-
- Eric McDavid was also victimized, his case discussed
in an article accessed through the link below:
-
- http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2010/09/eric-mcdavid-victimized-by-green-scare.html
-
- Entrapped on bogus ecoterrorism charges, he received
19 years in prison in May 2008, despite committing no crime. His lawyer,
Mark Reichel was appalled, saying:
-
- "There has never been (been a case before) involv(ing)
this much entrapment, this much pushing by an informant, by the US government
and by the FBI behind it" to imprison an innocent man.
-
- He also appealed for an en banc (full appeals court)
rehearing to no avail, despite an open and shut case on his behalf. No
matter. On December 8, he was denied. Apparently the full court found no
merit in a case involving a gross miscarriage of justice.
-
- It's more proof that everyone in America is vulnerable
for supporting right over wrong when it opposes official policy, a sad
testimony to America gone off the rails.
-
- Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at
lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com
and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the
Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays
at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs
are archived for easy listening.
-
- http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.
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