General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsPicture taken at #natgat
Pic taken from #natgat tweet stream taken by Kenneth Lipp
Yeah, right -- we're the terrorists. Jesus.
Fire Walk With Me
(38,893 posts)The ACLU learned of this training and on June 10, 2009 sent a letter to Gail McGinn, Acting Under-Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, objecting to their training all DoD personnel that the exercise of First Amendment rights constitutes "low-level terrorism."
For those who have worried about a trend - evident, for example, in the USA PATRIOT Act, the universal and ongoing government surveillance of all of Americans' electronic communications that began in February of 2001 (seven months before 9/11), the global war on a tactic (terrorism), therefore making this war unending, the unprecedented pre-emptive arrests of protestors at the 2008 Republican National Convention with those protesters being charged as "domestic terrorists," the justifications for torture, pre-emptive wars of aggression, ongoing occupations, American gulags such as Bagram, suspension of habeas corpus, and "prolonged detention" for acts someone might commit, not what they have done, FBI et al infiltration of protest groups and the government's acknowledged use of undercover agents (agents provocateurs) in said infiltration, thus giving the government under the rubric of fighting domestic terrorism unrestrained and unsupervisable power to suppress legitimate political activities, the unleashing and justifications for Christian fascists to murder those they do not like (such as the assassination of Dr. George Tiller and the killing at the Holocaust Museum a few days ago) - this news adds further fuel to the fire.
http://open.salon.com/blog/dennis_loo/2009/06/14/dod_training_manual_protests_are_low-level_terrorism
Fire Walk With Me
(38,893 posts)or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political and social objectives."
(28 C.F.R. Section 0.85).
The FBI Divides Terrorist-Related Activities into Two Categories:
*A terrorist incident is a violent act or an act dangerous to human life, in violation of the criminal laws of the United States, or of any state, to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.
*A terrorism prevention is a documented instance in which a violent act by a known or suspected terrorist group or individual with the means and a proven propensity for violence is successfully interdicted through investigative activity.
FBI Guidelines, 2005
http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/terrorism-2002-2005
xchrom
(108,903 posts)Fire Walk With Me
(38,893 posts)Of course. If you want to sell drones and para-military hardware inside the US to expand your arms dealing profits, you have to create a visible enemy to guarantee a permanent war budget. Let the money flow! Treasure bath!
Yay capitalism.
coalition_unwilling
(14,180 posts)safe
xchrom
(108,903 posts)Presense of CT - did they get OT, how much was the bill?
It's easy to see the symbol - but real dollars are involved with these phony security maneuvers - all while we lectures on shared sacrifice and growing the ranks of the poor.
eppur_se_muova
(36,289 posts)MH1
(17,600 posts)I don't think it's uncommon to have "counter terrorism" police squads there. Maybe not always visible. But it's certainly considered a high profile potential terrorist target.
Just sayin' those guys might be keeping an eye on Occupy, but that's not why they're there.