War on Terror Update

First, Let There Be No Corporate Terrorism

While the U.S. government pumps millions into the “war on terror” and suspends our civil liberties with the Patriot Act, many Americans console themselves with the thought that this all results in a safer America.

Hmm.

These are times that arouse our suspicions—and not without due cause. June 12th, just another day to most of us, was for some the “International Day of Action and Solidarity with Jeff Luers.”

In June of 2001, Luers went on trial for burning three SUVs at a Eugene, Oregon, car dealership as a protest against global warming. Luers, just 23 years old, was sentenced to 22 years and 8 months in prison for causing $40,000 in damages to cars that were later resold. Although Luers’ protest came before the so-called “war on terror,” the severity of his sentence—the harshest ever handed down for eco-terrorism—underlines the policy objectives of this current justice department. The FBI recently stated that they regard ecological and animal rights extremists as the greatest domestic terror threat to the country.

Second, Let All Gunslingers Roam Free

Much of this skewed thinking can, of course, be attributed to the priorities of Attorney General John Ashcroft. After September 11th he ordered that all government records, including voter registration, immigration and driver's license lists, be checked for links to terrorists. All government lists, that is, except one: “[Ashcroft] specifically prohibited the FBI from examining background checks on gun purchasers,” according to Paul Krugman, writing for The New York Times. Krugman also notes that Ashcroft ordered that “records of background checks on gun buyers be destroyed after only one business day.”

Third, Investigate Americans Anonymously

In an attempt to fight the penetrating eye of the Patriot Act, the ACLU has filed a lawsuit on behalf of the unnamed president (known only as John Doe) of an anonymous Internet Service Provider (ISP).

The ACLU is fighting the provision of the Patriot Act that currently allows the FBI to conduct surveillance through the use of National Security Letters. NSLs give the FBI the authority to issue subpoenas compelling businesses—including libraries, credit card companies and ISPs—to turn over information about their clients, including bank transactions, telephone records and e-mail logs. NSLs supersede the authority of the courts—no application to a court is necessary and the individuals targeted never have any knowledge of the investigation unless they are ultimately arrested or detained.

"I believe that the government may be abusing its power by targeting people with unpopular views," said Doe as reported by Elaine Cassel in Counterpunch.org. "I am challenging the constitutionality of the NSL provision in an effort to protect all of my clients' interests."

Last year the Bush administration and several republican senators sought to extend the use of NSLs to the CIA and the Pentagon, but the move was quashed in the Senate.

As the law currently stands, the FBI can now obtain personal information without anyone questioning how arbitrary the request might be.

That’s All, Folks

I don’t want to overtax either you or myself with too much news, so that’s it for today. But I’ll leave you with one final suggestion: Go check out both The Corporation and The Control Room—Michael Moore isn’t the only one out there fighting the good fight via the political documentary. --A.M. McNary