[CTRL] Moving Toward A Police State or Have We Arrived?
http://www.antiwar.com/orig/ratner1.html Moving Toward A Police State or Have We Arrived? Secret Military Tribunals, Mass Arrests and Disappearances, Wiretapping Torture by Michael Ratner HumanRightsNow.org November 20, 2001 I live a few blocks from the World Trade Center. In New York, we are still mourning the loss of so many after the attacks on our city. We want to arrest and punish the terrorists, eliminate the terrorist network and prevent future attacks. But the government's declared war on terrorism, and many of the anti-terrorism measures, include a curtailment of freedom and constitutional rights that have many of us very worried. I wrote the above paragraph and much of the article that follows toward the end of October. At that time, the repressive machinery then being put into effect was already terrifying. Since that time the situation has gotten unimaginably worse; rights that we thought embedded in the constitution and protected by international law are in serious jeopardy or have already been eliminated. It is no exaggeration to say we are moving toward a police state. In this atmosphere, we should take nothing for granted. We will not be protected, nor will the courts, the congress, or the many liberals who are gleefully jumping on the bandwagon of repression guarantee our rights. We have no choice but too make our voices be heard; it is time to stand and be counted on the side of justice and against the antediluvian forces that have much of our country in a stranglehold. The domestic consequences of the war on terrorism include massive arrests and interrogation of immigrants, the possible use of torture to obtain information, the creation of a special new cabinet office of Homeland Security and the passage of legislation granting intelligence and law enforcement agencies much broader powers to intrude into the private lives of Americans. Recent new initiatives -- the wiretapping of attorney-client conversations and military commissions to try suspected terrorists -- undermine core constitutional protections and are reminiscent of inquisitorial practices. Although it is not discussed in this article, the war on terrorism also means pervasive government and media censorship of information, the silencing of dissent, and widespread ethnic and religious profiling of Muslims, Arabs and Asian people. It means creating a climate of fear where one suspects one's neighbors and people are afraid to speak out. The claimed necessity for this war at home is problematic. The legislation and other governmental actions are premised on the belief that the intelligence agencies failed to stop the September 11th attack because they lacked the spying capability to find and arrest the conspirators. Yet, neither the government nor the agencies have demonstrated that this is the reason. This war at home gives Americans a false sense of security, allowing us to believe that tighter borders, vastly empowered intelligence agencies, and increased surveillance will stop terrorism. The United States is not yet a police state. However, even a police state could not stop terrorists intent on doing us harm. In addition, the fantasy of Fortress America keeps us from examining the root causes of terrorism, and the consequences of decades of American foreign policy in the Middle East, Afghanistan and elsewhere. Unless some of the grievances against the United States are studied and addressed, terrorism will continue. MILITARY COMMISSIONS: THE PERUVIAN OPTION On November 13, President Bush signed an executive order establishing military commissions or tribunals to try suspected terrorists. Under this order non-citizens, whether from the United States or elsewhere, accused of aiding international terrorism, at the discretion of the President, can be tried before one of these commissions. These are not court-martials, which provide far more protections. The divergence from constitutional protections the executive order allows are breathtaking. Attorney General Ashcroft has explicitly stated that terrorists do not deserve constitutional protections. These are "courts" of conviction and not of justice. The Secretary of Defense will appoint the judges, most likely military officers, who will decide both questions of law and fact. Unlike federal judges who are appointed for life, these officers will have little independence and every reason to decide in favor of the prosecution. Normal rules of evidence, which provide some assurance of reliability, will not apply. Hearsay and even evidence obtained from torture will apparently be admissible. This is particularly frightening in light of the intimations from U.S. officials that torture of suspects may be an option. Rules of evidence help insure the innocent are spared, but also that law enforcement authorities adhere to what we thought were evolving standards of a civilized society. Unanimity among the judges is not required even to impose the death penalty.
Re: [CTRL] Moving toward a police state
-Caveat Lector- In a message dated 1/26/99 9:47:23 PM Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: An impeached president is leading America ever closer toward the reality of a police state, and there's been hardly a peep from the civil liberties establishment. In fact, those who dare address such issues are quickly denounced as paranoid "extremists." We'll never get to stopping them if we continue to look for ONE person to blame this on. The gravitization toward a police state will not end merely by booting Clinton. DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substancenot soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
Re: [CTRL] Moving toward a police state
-Caveat Lector- Live Free or Die! ditto DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substancenot soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
[CTRL] Moving toward a police state
-Caveat Lector- Moving toward a police state by Joseph Farah Jan. 26, 99 Executive orders ... national emergencies ... a domestic "commander-in-chief" ... the threat of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. An impeached president is leading America ever closer toward the reality of a police state, and there's been hardly a peep from the civil liberties establishment. In fact, those who dare address such issues are quickly denounced as paranoid "extremists." But let's look at the facts -- coldly, objectively and rationally. President Clinton has declared more "states of national emergency" than any of his predecessors. And he's done it in an era he boasts about as the freest, most peaceful and most prosperous time in recent American history. President Clinton has issued more executive orders than any of his predecessors. His top aides have even boasted of using them as a political strategy to go over the heads of the legislative branch of government. "Stroke of the pen, law of the land," boasted Paul Begala of the plan. "Pretty cool, huh?" Few of the executive orders have even been challenged by a Congress controlled by the opposition party. Few of them have even been read by a sleeping press establishment. And now President Clinton tells the nation that terrorism is such a threat to America that we need to consider establishing a "commander-in-chief for the defense of the continental United States." But don't worry about the civil liberties implications of any of this, the president tells us. "If there's a question, bring it to me," he says, like any good monarch would. Sure, that will solve the problem. Clinton himself will be the arbiter of whether his policies are an assault on our fundamental freedoms. Sounds fair, huh? Keep in mind, folks, that this is the same president who has: used FBI files to attack his political enemies; employed Internal Revenue Service audits to punish his critics; at the moment of his highest triumph, his re-election as president in 1996, warned he would attack his adversaries ruthlessly and cut them out of the body politick "like a cancer"; used at least one federal employee as a sex toy, using Marine officers to chauffeur her to the White House, then wielded all the power at his disposal to cover up the scandal through perjury and obstruction of justice; accepted illegal campaign contributions from powers hostile to the United States and then offered them previously forbidden high-technology transfers; used taxpayer resources to malign the character of anyone who offered a political challenge to his authority; abused his power to step on and over anyone who got in his way; I could go on and on. But you get the point. The kinds of powers under discussion would be unacceptable in the hands of the most ethical, honorable, virtuous leader, but in the hands of a man with no character, a man whose only motivation is the accumulation and preservation of his own authority, the mere discussion of such powers should be anathema to every American. Yet, I don't hear the outrage. I don't hear expressions of real concern. I don't hear anyone warning of impending tyranny. Let me, then, be the first. America is not slouching toward totalitarianism, it is rushing headlong toward it. It is disregarding more than 200 years of historical lessons, the prophetic cautions of the geniuses who invented this country. It is forgetting what made America great -- its Constitution, its acceptance of freedom and responsibility and its commitment to a morality etched in men's hearts from the beginning and defined in words beginning with the Ten Commandments. How can we then trust a man who treads on the Constitution, insults the Founding Fathers, limits freedom daily with new initiatives empowering government, encourages irrepsonsibility in others and breaks nearly every one of the Ten Commandments with no credible regrets or contritition? Tell me, America: Are you ready to let Bill Clinton completely redefine and rewrite the contract between the people and the government? Are you willing to permit him to be the judge and jury of that new covenant? Or, are you ready to trade in your liberty for a promise of security from a man who is himself a proven coward, rogue and ego-maniac? Or, are you ready to open your eyes and see what this man is trying to take from you, your children and grandchildren? A daily radio broadcast adaptation of Joseph Farah's commentaries can be heard at http://www.ktkz.com/ "And so a lot of people say there's too much personal freedom. When personal freedom's being abused, you have to move to limit it." -President Bill Clinton, 3-22-94, on MTV's "Enough is Enough" ** [EMAIL PROTECTED] The Patriot Resource Center: http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/6627/ **Live Free or Die!** DECLARATION DISCLAIMER
