-Caveat Lector- >There are plenty of reasons to worry about the attorney general's >neighbor-against-neighbor approach, which harks back to Cold War days and >fear-mongering. Because untrained members of watch programs lack the >expertise to identify terrorists, it probably means they would snoop on >every Arab or Muslim in a given neighborhood. That's racial profiling in >the extreme, guaranteed to encourage ethnic scapegoating.
That's the least of it; I foresee these untrained people also using their position to get back at neighbors with whom they have problems... About 10 years ago the tenants' group (now defunct) where I live kicked around the idea of forming a sort of neighborhood watch for the complex; those of us proposing the idea only envisioned a program where people would make it a point to keep an eye out for what was going on around them, and a sort of 'phone tree' of others to call if a member saw something suspicious. This would require no extensive training, and even elderly ladies could easily take part... But then some guys started talking about the neighborhood watch group as if it would be some sort a paramilitary venture; where we originally were thinking of members taking strolls about the complex in the evening as a way to not only keep one's eye out, but to create a presence of neighbors socializing amongst themselves, these guys talked about forming armed patrols to specifically 'look for trouble', and started mentioning certain tenants they thought should be specifically watched...tenants who had no criminal history, who weren't a threat to anyone, but whose sole 'crime' was having a spat with one of these paramilitary-wannabees.... The idea of a neighborhood watch group was therefore abandoned, even though it was sorely needed and still is...a REAL neighborhood watch group, and NOT a paramilitary revenge group... So I agree that these Homeland Security "neighborhood watch groups" are fraught with danger, not only for those who may be racially profiled, but for ANYONE who may be unfortunate enough to not get along with one of the members of such a group and who will therefore find themselves targeted just out of spite...as will any person in the neighborhood is thought 'strange', a loner, etc. >In this war, President George W. Bush has even given children a role. To >find out what stories the White House is feeding your kids about what good >citizens are supposed to do to thwart terrorism, go to >www.whitehouse.gov/kids. There you'll meet Lydia, a Philadelphia woman who >foiled a sneak British attack -- we didn't call it terrorism then -- >against our country on Dec. 4, 1777. She overheard British military leaders >planning the assault when they were guests in her home. She mentioned this >to nobody, not even her husband. Instead, she crossed British lines to alert >Gen. George Washington's army. Arriving for what it had expected to be a >sneak attack at Valley Forge, the British Army canceled the operation after >finding Washington's men armed and waiting. > >One point of this story seems to be that all of us, youngsters included, >have a duty to spy on others for Uncle Sam. Another more disturbing message >seems to be that youngsters need not tell their parents what information >they have gathered to pass on to the government, just like Lydia. What is also disturbing is the Orwellian "doublespeak" spin the government puts on this incident... First off, in December of 1777 the rebellious colonials were what we would today deem 'terrorists', and the British were the rightful ruling power. Indeed the British considered the sniping they were subject to by certain rebelling colonials to be an act of terrorism on a par with murder, and not 'real fighting' as they had been trained to fight in a war... Therefore "Lydia" was guilty of treason against the rightful government of colonial America, and was guilty of consorting with a terrorist group, namely George Washington and his army... Conversely, if the government wishes to portray the British army as akin to terrorists, then Lydia and her husband were guilty of aiding and abetting terrorists, and under the current Homeland Security rules, would be deemed as guilty as the terrorists... <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. 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