Anti-Terrorism Tip: Quit Spying on Nonviolent Activists
CommonDreams.org
They're at it again.
FBI
agents in recent weeks have been visiting and interrogating dozens of
young activists believed to be planning or considering protests at the
Democratic and Republican conventions. The New York Times exposed the
FBI's home visits and intimidating interviews last week in a report
headlined “FBI Goes Knocking for Political Troublemakers” – those last
two words tell us more about Times bias than about the activists in
question.
With Al
Qaeda and similar terrorists bent on murdering as many ordinary
Americans as possible, why would the FBI divert resources and personnel
to protesters and nonviolent civil disobedients?
It's the
ultimate question. But it's not a new one: In the fall of 2001, with Al
Qaeda on the verge of attacking us, why was the FBI so passive about
leads that might have thwarted the attack — yet so aggressive in
hounding prostitutes in New Orleans and medical marijuana suppliers in
California?
Or going
further back: While Ku Klux Klansmen were murdering civil rights
activists in the South 40 years ago, why was the FBI deploying far more
resources and agents to monitor Martin Luther King, his associates and
sex partners than the Klan?
The
truth is that spying on political dissenters (or harassing prostitutes
and pot providers) is much easier than going after violent criminals
and terrorists. Political spying can make agents and cops feel
righteous about protecting the social order against “troublemakers.”
But mostly, it's safer. Send a spy into a Quaker group or the Ruckus
Society and the worst they'll endure is an endless meeting in search of
consensus. Send a spy into the Klan or Al Qaeda and it's a life or
death proposition.
While
the ideological subterfuge has changed from “anti-communism” in the
'50s to “law and order” in the '60s to “anti-terrorism,” the impulse to
spy on dissenters (especially on critics of the FBI or police) is
almost always about propping up the status quo and almost never about
preventing violence.
(more)
Blog For Iowa 
Thanks for posting this, Linda! This is a fantastic article – the best one I've read about FBI spying. Doesn't surprise me that the author used to work for FAIR (my personal favorite political advocacy group).
Bloggers – If you haven't already done so, read the whole article so you can explain to others why this may be one of the most STUPID moves in the “war” on terrorism. Far more STUPID than duct tape and politicized color-code alerts. And every bit as DANGEROUS to our security as the failure to secure loose nuclear materials in Russia, inspect cargo containers in our ports, or secure chemical plants.
Alta
altaprice@mailblocks.com
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