(This is the final part of the
three-part series. Click here to read Part One
Part Two]
In the last
ten years we have seen a steady erosion of the fundamental rights and civil
liberties, all in the name of national security. The FBI
is now investigating domestic peace activists and under the cover of
studying "violent radicalization," the already-fluid definition of
"terrorism" is being broadened to encompass political activity and
protest by dissident groups.
Mother
Jones reports that after years of emphasizing informant recruiting as a key
task for its agents, the FBI now maintains a roster of 15,000 spies -- many of
them tasked with infiltrating Muslim communities in the United States.
Not surprisingly, the Associated Press reveals that
the New York City Police Department have carried out covert surveillance
on Muslims with the help of the CIA.
FBI now investigating
domestic peace activists
In the
early morning of Sept. 24, 2010, the FBI agents raided homes of peace activists
in Chicago and Minneapolis,
issued subpoenas to 14 activists, and tried to question others around the
country, including prominent antiwar organizers in North
Carolina and California.
The raids
were conducted under the pretext of investigating potential "material
support" and "terrorism" charges. The targeted individuals
included leaders of the Arab American Action Network, the Colombia Action
Network, and the Twin-Cities Anti-War Committee. The FBI has said no arrests
have been made, and there was there no "imminent danger" to the public.
Instead it has claimed it is currently looking for evidence in an ongoing
investigation for possible "material support" for terrorism.
Authorities
haven't revealed the targets of the investigation or its exact nature, other
than to say it involves activities concerning the material support of
terrorism. However, The FBI documents were found on April 30 at the Minneapolis home of
longtime anti-war activist Mick Kelly whose home was among those raided by the
FBI in September. Huffington Post quoted the FBI spokesman Steve Warfield as
saying that most of the papers appeared to be legitimate FBI documents and were
left behind by mistake.
The
documents, which are not labeled as classified, suggest that activists'
involvement with people in Colombia
sparked the investigation.
"The
captioned case was initially predicated on the activities of Meredith Aby and
Jessica Rae Sundin in support of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
(FARC), a U.S. State Department designated foreign terrorist organization (FTO),
to include their previous travel to FARC-controlled territory," one
document says. "Since opening the original investigations, an additional
16 Subjects in six FBI Field Divisions have been identified."
The
document goes on to say that people in the Minneapolis, Chicago, Phoenix,
Detroit, Los Angeles and Charlotte, N.C., divisions have "provided and/or
conspired to provide material support to the FARC and/or the Popular Front for
the Liberation of Palestine, also a U.S. State Department designated FTO."
The
documents given to the AP also include a strategic plan for the FBI's raid, a
subpoena, and a list of questions that agents would presumably use in an
interview. The subpoena, which was made
public previously, orders Kelly to appear before a grand jury and bring
information relating to any trips to Colombia, the Palestinian territories,
Jordan, Syria or Israel. It also commands him to bring records relating to the
Middle East and Colombia.
The
documents include a list of over 100 questions.
The top of the list says the questions "pertain to a terrorism
investigation." Many deal with activities of the Freedom Road Socialist
Organization, to which Kelly and Sundin both belong.
Former
Reagan official Paul Craig Roberts believes that the US government by raiding the homes
of anti-war activists is establishing in the mind of the public that anyone who
criticizes the War on Terror is aligned with terrorists. He further argues that
under the rubric of terror the government has stripped Americans of their civil
liberties.
To borrow
Kristen Boyd Johnson, there are two sides of the terror coin, after all: the
people who want to kill you and the people who dislike the United States being at war all the
time. Keep tabs on them both. Hell, just keep tabs on everyone. Everyone is now
a terrorist.
Top Secret America
On July 19,
2010, the Washington Post published the first installment of its Top Secret
America project, a two-year investigation into the national security buildup in
the United States
that followed the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
