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You Are All Suspects Now. What Are You Going to Do About It? - Peter Lemkin - 28-04-2012
You Are All Suspects Now. What Are You Going to Do About It?
Saturday, 28 April 2012 08:01
By John Pilger, Truthout | News Analysis
You are all potential terrorists. It matters not that you live in Britain, the United States, Australia or the Middle East. Citizenship is effectively abolished. Turn on your computer and the US Department of Homeland Security's National Operations Center may monitor whether you are typing not merely "al-Qaeda," but "exercise," "drill," "wave," "initiative" and "organization": all proscribed words. The British government's announcement that it intends to spy on every email and phone call is old hat. The satellite vacuum cleaner known as Echelon has been doing this for years. What has changed is that a state of permanent war has been launched by the United States and a police state is consuming Western democracy.
What are you going to do about it?
In Britain, on instructions from the CIA, secret courts are to deal with "terror suspects." Habeas Corpus is dying. The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that five men, including three British citizens, can be extradited to the US even though none except one has been charged with a crime. All have been imprisoned for years under the 2003 US/UK Extradition Treaty which was signed one month after the criminal invasion of Iraq. The European Court had condemned the treaty as likely to lead to "cruel and unusual punishment." One of the men, Babar Ahmad, was awarded 63,000 pounds compensation for 73 recorded injuries he sustained in the custody of the Metropolitan Police. Sexual abuse, the signature of fascism, was high on the list. Another man is a schizophrenic, who has suffered a complete mental collapse and is in Broadmoor secure hospital; another is a suicide risk. To the Land of the Free they go - along with young Richard O'Dwyer, who faces ten years in shackles and an orange jump suit because he allegedly infringed US copyright on the Internet.
As the law is politicized and Americanized, these travesties are not untypical. In upholding the conviction of a London university student, Mohammed Gul, for disseminating "terrorism" on the Internet, appeal court judges in London ruled that "acts ... against the armed forces of a state anywhere in the world which sought to influence a government and were made for political purposes" were now crimes. Call to the dock Thomas Paine, Aung San Suu Kyi, Nelson Mandela.
What are you going to do about it?
The prognosis is clear now: the malignancy that Norman Mailer called "pre fascist" has metastasized. The US Attorney General, Eric Holder, defends the "right" of his government to assassinate American citizens. Israel, the protégé, is allowed to aim its nukes at nukeless Iran. In this looking glass world, the lying is panoramic. The massacre of 17 Afghan civilians on 11 March, including at least nine children and four women, is attributed to a "rogue" American soldier. The "authenticity" of this was vouched by President Obama himself, who had "seen a video" and regarded it as "conclusive proof." An independent Afghan parliamentary investigation produced eyewitnesses who give detailed evidence of as many as 20 soldiers, aided by a helicopter, ravaging their villages, killing and raping: a standard, if marginally more murderous, US Special Forces "night raid."
Take away the videogame technology of killing - America's contribution to modernity - and the behavior is traditional. Immersed in comic-book righteousness, poorly or brutally trained, frequently racist, obese and led by a corrupt officer class, American forces transfer the homicide of home to faraway places whose impoverished struggles they cannot comprehend. A nation founded on the genocide of the native population never quite kicks the habit. Vietnam was "Indian country" and its "slits" and "gooks" were to be "blown away.
The blowing away of hundreds of mostly women and children in the Vietnamese village of My Lai in 1968 was also a "rogue" incident and, profanely, an "American tragedy" (the cover headline of Newsweek). Only one of 26 men prosecuted was convicted and he was let go by President Richard Nixon. My Lai is in Quang Ngai Province where, as I learned as a reporter, an estimated 50,000 people were killed by American troops, mostly in what they called "free fire zones." This was the model of modern warfare: industrial murder.
Like Iraq and Libya, Afghanistan is a theme park for the beneficiaries of America's new permanent war: NATO, the armaments and high-tech companies, the media and a "security" industry whose lucrative contamination is a contagion on everyday life. The conquest or "pacification" of territory is unimportant. What matters is the pacification of you, the cultivation of your indifference.
What are you going to do about it?
The descent into totalitarianism has landmarks. Any day now, the Supreme Court in London will decide whether WikiLeaks' editor, Julian Assange, is to be extradited to Sweden. Should this final appeal fail, the facilitator of truth-telling on an epic scale, who is charged with no crime, faces solitary confinement and interrogation on ludicrous sex allegations. Thanks to a secret deal between the US and Sweden, he can be "rendered" to the American gulag at any time. In his own country, Australia, Prime Minister Julia Gillard has conspired with those in Washington she calls her "true mates" to ensure her innocent fellow citizen is fitted for his orange jump suit just in case he should make it home. In February, her government wrote a "WikiLeaks Amendment" to the extradition treaty between Australia and the US that makes it easier for her "mates" to get their hands on him. She has even given them the power of approval over Freedom of Information searches - so that the world outside can be lied to, as is customary.
What are you going to do about it?
You Are All Suspects Now. What Are You Going to Do About It? - Carsten Wiethoff - 09-10-2012
From http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19853903
Quote:Five terror suspects, including the radical cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri, are on their way to face charges in the US after extradition from the UK.
One of two aircraft carrying the suspects arrived in the state of Connecticut in the early hours of Saturday. The other is bound for New York state.
Abu Hamza is thought to be on the second plane.
The men were deported after UK High Court judges dismissed a final appeal.
They said the five men, Abu Hamza, Babar Ahmad, Syed Talha Ahsan, Adel Abdul Bary and Khaled al-Fawwaz, did not show "new and compelling" reasons to stay in the UK.
Abu Hamza faces 11 charges in the US relating to hostage taking, conspiracy to establish a militant training camp and calling for holy war in Afghanistan.
Once he lands he is set to appear in front of a judge within 24 hours in an open hearing.
Mr al-Fawwaz and Mr Bary are accused of being aides to Osama Bin Laden in London. Babar Ahmad and Talha Ahsan face charges in connection with the alleged running of a pro-jihad website.
The case of Babar Ahmad is more detailed here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babar_Ahmad
You Are All Suspects Now. What Are You Going to Do About It? - Peter Lemkin - 09-10-2012
Carsten Wiethoff Wrote:From http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19853903
Quote:Five terror suspects, including the radical cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri, are on their way to face charges in the US after extradition from the UK.
One of two aircraft carrying the suspects arrived in the state of Connecticut in the early hours of Saturday. The other is bound for New York state.
Abu Hamza is thought to be on the second plane.
The men were deported after UK High Court judges dismissed a final appeal.
They said the five men, Abu Hamza, Babar Ahmad, Syed Talha Ahsan, Adel Abdul Bary and Khaled al-Fawwaz, did not show "new and compelling" reasons to stay in the UK.
Abu Hamza faces 11 charges in the US relating to hostage taking, conspiracy to establish a militant training camp and calling for holy war in Afghanistan.
Once he lands he is set to appear in front of a judge within 24 hours in an open hearing.
Mr al-Fawwaz and Mr Bary are accused of being aides to Osama Bin Laden in London. Babar Ahmad and Talha Ahsan face charges in connection with the alleged running of a pro-jihad website.
The case of Babar Ahmad is more detailed here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babar_Ahmad
Originally, the USA was going to put them all in Gitmo and give them military tribunals...but a deal was cut so they would promise not to.....but justice will not be fair...only not as brutal.....no waterboarding...maybe. And what if, as yet unproven, they were - or some were - in contact with OBL - so was the CIA, the DOD and the Bush family, as well as many others....maybe THEY TOO should be hauled in for possible terrorism on 9/11, Cole incident, Embassy bombings and many others......not to mention Crimes Against Humanity for their genocidal and aggressive imperialistic wars for power and black gold, drugs, arm sales and other such lovely motives - wars all based on lies and deception - before and during.
You Are All Suspects Now. What Are You Going to Do About It? - Carsten Wiethoff - 10-10-2012
Especially in the case of Babar Ahmad the scandal is (in my view) the complete sellout of any European law to the Americans. Babar Ahmad ran a website with questionable content. OK. He was never charged for that (or for anything else) by the British law system, which normally should be perfectly capable of dealing with suspected supporters of terrorism. He is physically abused and put into jail for 8 years, without charge, by the British law system. Nobody can call that "justice", whatever you may think about the suspect or his alleged deeds. And on top of that he is now extradited to the US, without any evidence presented that could have lead to a prosecution in Britain. Just on the base of an extradition law that is a crime in itself, in the view of many.
The scandal in all this lies more in the shocking nakedness of the British law system than in the arrogant world police attitude of the US, which is well known for a long time.
If it can happen in Britain, it can happen anywhere. Today a US president decides for every person on this planet, if they will live or die, and a US attorney decides, if they will travel to the US or not.
You Are All Suspects Now. What Are You Going to Do About It? - Peter Lemkin - 10-10-2012
Carsten Wiethoff Wrote:Especially in the case of Babar Ahmad the scandal is (in my view) the complete sellout of any European law to the Americans. Babar Ahmad ran a website with questionable content. OK. He was never charged for that (or for anything else) by the British law system, which normally should be perfectly capable of dealing with suspected supporters of terrorism. He is physically abused and put into jail for 8 years, without charge, by the British law system. Nobody can call that "justice", whatever you may think about the suspect or his alleged deeds. And on top of that he is now extradited to the US, without any evidence presented that could have lead to a prosecution in Britain. Just on the base of an extradition law that is a crime in itself, in the view of many.
The scandal in all this lies more in the shocking nakedness of the British law system than in the arrogant world police attitude of the US, which is well known for a long time.
If it can happen in Britain, it can happen anywhere. Today a US president decides for every person on this planet, if they will live or die, and a US attorney decides, if they will travel to the US or not.
i agree totally with your assessment. I'm sure J. Assange and his legal team have noted all this with interest - as will have many others. It was however, let us not forget, the false-flag op of 911 and the subsequent worldwide war of [on] terror that has created this lawlessness and obsequiousness on the part of most governments and their legal systems. Now, from the moment one is accused one can at times expect imprisonment for years, sometimes rendition and torture, inhuman treatment of various sorts, lack of international legal protections and ultimately a monkey trial which are looking increasingly like the trials that went on during the Third Reich....we are not yet there...but headed in that direction. Worst of all, there seems to be no great outcry anywhere. As they say, "911 changed everything".
You Are All Suspects Now. What Are You Going to Do About It? - Carsten Wiethoff - 10-10-2012
Peter Lemkin Wrote:Now, from the moment one is accused one can at times expect imprisonment for years, sometimes rendition and torture, inhuman treatment of various sorts, lack of international legal protections and ultimately a monkey trial which are looking increasingly like the trials that went on during the Third Reich....we are not yet there...but headed in that direction. Worst of all, there seems to be no great outcry anywhere. As they say, "911 changed everything".
Even in the Third Reich, as far as I am aware of it, the German injustice system was restricted to the direct German sphere of influence. No British citizen would have been extradited anywhere, let alone to Germany. Looking at today's situation one must conclude that with the exception of Russia, China and Iran the whole planet earth is the direct US sphere of influence. That is, 330 million people "policing" roughly 6 billion. If that is democracy, I am the Tooth Fairie. Eric Holder is a serial psychopathic criminal and not somebody having any jurisdictional authority outside the state boundaries of the United States of America.:darthvader:
Edit: Of course many of the 330 million US citizens are victims of their own injustice system as well, as were many Germans during the Third Reich. And the British citizens are responsible for the failure of their own justice system and their complete sellout, as are the German citizens for their's.
You Are All Suspects Now. What Are You Going to Do About It? - Peter Lemkin - 10-10-2012
Carsten Wiethoff Wrote:Peter Lemkin Wrote:Now, from the moment one is accused one can at times expect imprisonment for years, sometimes rendition and torture, inhuman treatment of various sorts, lack of international legal protections and ultimately a monkey trial which are looking increasingly like the trials that went on during the Third Reich....we are not yet there...but headed in that direction. Worst of all, there seems to be no great outcry anywhere. As they say, "911 changed everything".
Even in the Third Reich, as far as I am aware of it, the German injustice system was restricted to the direct German sphere of influence. No British citizen would have been extradited anywhere, let alone to Germany. Looking at today's situation one must conclude that with the exception of Russia, China and Iran the whole planet earth is the direct US sphere of influence. That is, 330 million people "policing" roughly 6 billion. If that is democracy, I am the Tooth Fairie. Eric Holder is a serial psychopathic criminal and not somebody having any jurisdictional authority outside the state boundaries of the United States of America.:darthvader:
Edit: Of course many of the 330 million US citizens are victims of their own injustice system as well, as were many Germans during the Third Reich. And the British citizens are responsible for the failure of their own justice system and their complete sellout, as are the German citizens for their's.
Yes, you are correct that even in the Third Reich the Courts only dealt with in-country persons and events. What I meant was the outcome of the trials were pre-determined by politics and pressure on the Courts [as well as who was appointed/vetted to be Judges]. Well, under the very old system of Empire [though which one is in charge, come and go....], it is the Imperial capitol that tells the outlying districts what to do and how to do it...or else. Democracy.....how quaint and old-fashioned an idea! It does have its theoretical pluses - sadly, it is out of vogue now....just not in style any more and seems to be on the decline everywhere.
We can only hope AND WORK to restore it and tame the Imperialist/Bankster and neo-fascist Beast, as well as all the anti-democratic measures it has foisted on its own people and increasingly on much of the rest of the World.
[NATO and I'm beginning to believe the EU are part of the plot......the World Bank and other such institutions long have been]. Well, it certainly is a kind of 'globalization' in that we are now all in the same sinking boat....if that doesn't bring us all together, then nothing will!As Pilger asks, "What are you [really we] going to do about it?!"
You Are All Suspects Now. What Are You Going to Do About It? - Magda Hassan - 10-10-2012
Carsten Wiethoff Wrote:Even in the Third Reich, as far as I am aware of it, the German injustice system was restricted to the direct German sphere of influence. No British citizen would have been extradited anywhere, let alone to Germany.......
Off topic for the thread but I thought I would just respond to this. Just last night I was watching some thing on TV about the Jersey Island. It was about an archaeological dig on the German military fortresses they built there during the Nazi occupation. And on this particular subject they also interviewed some of the older locals who remembered what happened. There was the importation of 100's maybe even a few thousand slave labourers from the captured Soviet prisoners of war. Also some local garden variety common criminals were sent off to the German concentration and prison camps in Germany. It was all new to me too. http://www.abc.net.au/tv/guide/abc1/201210/programs/ZX6389A005D2012-10-09T180412.htm