And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: From: *Noquisi* or Evergreen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: FBI Alert in Vermont From: Mike Cassidy ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) and Will Miller ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Date: 1.6.99 Greetings. We are writing to alert friends and members of the peace and social justice community about a recent incident involving the FBI. A supporter and member of the social justice community here in Vermont was recently contacted by an FBI agent from Rutland via telephone. This agent first asked "do you know why I'm calling you?" This is a typical law enforcement tactic which serves to intimidate the person being questioned. It is also an open invitation to get the person being questioned to offer any reasons they might think of which could spawn a call from the FBI or police. In this case, when the activist said "no," the agent inquired as to whether the person knew anything about an alleged arson involving a ski resort in Vail, Colorado. The agent further inquired as to whether the person knew anything about Earth First!, and whether Earth Firsters were violent. The agent also asked about any contacts the person might have had with Abenaki's. Due to the FBI's long history of undemocratic and unlawful counterintelligence activities against opponents of government foreign and domestic policies, we are very concerned to learn of any FBI inquiries made to a member of the local social justice community. If one person was contacted, it is very possible that other individuals may also have been contacted or will be contacted by the FBI. Further, this contact by the FBI indicates that there is some type of FBI activity or investigation going on here in Vermont looking at, looking for, or looking to make some connection between Vermont and whatever happened in Colorado. In light of this situation, we thought it important to share what happened with members of the community in order to prevent, counteract, or neutralize the types of harmful effects FBI counterintelligence activities have had in the past on the movement for social justice. It is a good time for all of us to review and reflect upon the history of the FBI's counterintelligence activities and their methods and goals of those activities. It is also an important time to think about ways we can respond to governmental domestic covert action, and even the threat of such action, in order to oppose it and to prevent any government attempts to discredit, disrupt and divert our efforts to build strong movements for social justice. A SHORT HISTORY OF FBI COINTELPRO Much of what follows was taken from Brian Glick's book "War At Home: Covert Action Against U.S. Activists and What We Can Do About It." This is an excellent source for detailed information on the history of domestic covert action. It also has very useful suggestions for dealing with such covert action in ways that minimize its harmful effects upon the movement for social change. We strongly recommend it. In early 1971, the FBI's domestic counterintelligence program (code named "COINTELPRO") was brought to light when a "Citizens Committee to Investigate the FBI" removed secret files from an FBI office in Media, PA and released them to the press. Agents began to resign from the Bureau and blow the whistle on covert operations. That same year, publication of the Pentagon Papers, the Pentagon's top-secret history of the Vietnam War, exposed years of systematic official lies about the war. Soon after it was discovered that a clandestine squad of White House "plumbers" broke into Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office in an effort to smear the former Pentagon staffer who leaked the top-secret papers to the press. The same "plumbers" were later caught burglarizing the Watergate offices of the Democratic National Committee. By the mid-1970's Senate and House committees launched formal and lengthy inquiries into government intelligence and covert activities. These investigations revealed extensive covert and illegal counterintelligence programs involving the FBI, CIA, U.S. Army intelligence, the White House, the Attorney General, and even local and state law enforcement directed against opponents of domestic and foreign policy. Since then, many more instances of these "dirty tricks" have been revealed. When congressional investigations, political trials and other traditional methods of legal modes of repression failed to counter the growing movements of the 1950's, 60's and 70's, and even helped fuel them, the FBI and police moved outside the law. They used secret and systematic methods of fraud and force, far beyond mere surveillance, to sabotage constitutionally protected political activity. In the FBI's own words, the purpose of the program was to "expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit and otherwise neutralize" specific groups and individuals. It's targets in this period included the American Indian Movement, the Communist Party, the Socialist Worker's Party, Black Nationalist groups, and many members of the New Left (SDS, and a broad range of anti-war, anti-racist, feminist, lesbian and gay, environmentalist and other groups). Many other groups and individuals seeking racial, gender and class justice were targets who came under attack, including Martin Luther King, Cesar Chavez, the NAACP, the National Lawyer's Guild, SANE-Freeze, American Friends Service Committee, and many, many others. The public exposure of COINTELPRO and other government abuses resulted in a flurry of apparent reform in the 1970's, but domestic covert action did not end. It has persisted, and is a permanent feature of our government. Much of today's domestic covert action can also be kept concealed because of government secrecy that has been restored. The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), a source of major disclosures of COINTELPRO and other such activities, was drastically narrowed in the 1980's through administrative and judicial reinterpretation, as well as legislative amendment. While restoring such secrecy, the Reagan Administration also reinvigorated covert action, embracing its use at home and abroad. They endorsed it, sponsored it, and even legalized it to a great extent. Much of what was done outside the law under COINTELPRO has been legalized by Executive Order 12333 (12/4/81). There is every reason to believe that even what was not legalized is still going on as well. Lest we forget, Lt. Col. Oliver North funded and orchestrated from the White House basement break-ins and other "dirty tricks" to defeat congressional critics of U.S. policy in Central America and to neutralize grassroots protest. Special Prosecutor Walsh found evidence that North and Richard Secord (architect of the 1960's covert actions in Cambodia) used Iran-Contra funds to harass the Chrisitic Institute, a church-funded public interest group specializing in exposing government misconduct. North also helped other administration officials at the Federal Emergency Management Administration develop contingency plans for suspending the Constitution, establishing martial law, and holding political dissidents in concentration camps in the event of "national opposition against a U.S. military invasion abroad." There were reports of similar activities and preparations in response to the opposition to the Gulf War in 1991. Even today, there is pending litigation against the FBI involving alleged misconduct in connection with the near-fatal bombing of environmental activist Judi Bari. In short, there is only one safe assumption: full-scale covert operations continue underway to neutralize today's opposition and social justice movements before they reach the massive levels of the 1960's, early 1970's, and the 1980's. RESPONDING TO DOMESTIC COVERT ACTION It is impossible to stop domestic covert action completely. Covert repression will end only with the elimination of race, gender, class and global domination this kind of repression serves to uphold. To organize and sustain the movements needed for such fundamental social change, we need to learn how to deal with domestic covert action in ways that minimize its interference with our work. Although covert action will be adapted to changing social and technological conditions, only a limited number of methods exist. COINTELPRO revealed four basic approaches. First, there was infiltration. Agents and informers did not merely spy on political activists. The main purpose was to discredit and disrupt. Their presence served to undermine trust and scare off potential supporters. They also exploited this fear to smear genuine activists as agents. Second, there was psychological warfare from the outside. They planted false media stories and published bogus leaflets and other publications in the name of targeted groups. They forged correspondence, sent anonymous letters, and made anonymous telephone calls. They spread misinformation about meetings and events, set up pseudo movement groups run by agents, and manipulated or strong-armed parents, employers, landlords, school officials and others to cause trouble for activists. Third, there was harassment through the legal system, used to harass dissidents and make them appear to be criminals. Officers gave perjured testimony and presented fabricated evidence as a pretext for false arrests and wrongful imprisonment. They discriminatorily enforced tax laws and other government regulations and used conspicuous surveillance, "investigative" interviews, and grand jury subpoenas in an effort to intimidate activists and silence their supporters. Fourth and finally, there was extralegal force and violence. The FBI and police threatened, instigated and conducted break-ins, vandalism, assaults, and beatings. The object was to frighten dissidents and disrupt their movements. In the case of radical Black and Puerto Rican activists (and later Native Americans), these attack, including political assassinations, were so extensive, vicious, and calculated that they can only be accurately called a form of official "terrorism." Again, if you're interested in the nitty gritty details, along with lots of examples, of each of these four methods, we strongly encourage you to read Glick's well-documented and heavily footnoted "War At Home." -- Back To The Blanket Journal: http://www.angelfire.com/biz/BackToTheBlanket Heroine Mu Gui-Ying http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Pagoda/7111 <<<<=-=-=FREE LEONARD PELTIER=-=-=>>>> If you think you are too small to make a difference; try sleeping in a closed room with a mosquito.... African Proverb <<<<=-=http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ =-=>>>> IF it says: "PASS THIS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW...." Please Check it before you send it at: http://urbanlegends.miningco.com/library/blhoax.htm
