Daniel McGowan - Another "War on Terrorism" Victim

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Daniel McGowan, Another "War on Terrorism" Victim - by Stephen Lendman

Of so-called "eco-terrorism" in his case, a term believed coined by Ron Arnold, executive director of the Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise (CDFE), a radical right wing group established on July 4, 1976 "to continue (the) Revolution of liberty, free enterprise and individual initiative....without hindrance by government."

According to Sourcewatch:

"Arnold blurred the boundaries between nonviolent civil disobedience and more contentious tactics such as vandalism and sabotage," (mostly rejected by environmentalists) by equating property damage to "terrorism as a societal threat."

More recently, he linked up with self-styled "eco-terrorism" expert Barry Clausen and Nick Nichols, retired chairman of the PR firm Nichols-Dezenhall. They were instrumental in initiating the (stalled in committees) 2004 Ecoterrorism Prevention Act that led to the passage of the 2006 Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA). In broad and vague language, it criminalizes First Amendment activities advocating for animal rights like peaceful protests, leafleting, undercover investigations, whistleblowing and boycotts, and made it easier to call civil disobedience "eco-terrorism" with far stiffer penalties for comparable offenses under other laws.

In the late 1980s, Arnold also founded the so-called Wise Use movement - a pro-business funded anti-environmentalist group, mainly involved with western timber and mining issues.

In December 1991, he told New York Times reporter Tim Egan: "We want to destroy environmentalists by taking away their money and members." Days later, to Toronto Star writer Katherine Long, he said "Our goal is to destroy, to eradicate the environmental movement. We're mad as hell. We're not going to take it anymore. We're dead serious, we're going to destroy them. We want to be able to exploit the environment for private gain...."

Environmental studies professor Bron Taylor contends that "Radical environmentalism is best understood as a new religious movement that views environmental degradation as an assault on a sacred, natural world." Nonetheless, he concluded in a 1998 Terrorism and Political Violence journal paper that:

"there is, even after 18 years of radical environmental action, little evidence that radical environmentalists intend to maim and kill their adversaries or foster 'terror' among the general population."

Fronting for corporate America, right wing groups like the Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise, Wise Use, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and their lobbyists and PR flacks claim otherwise in their relentless war on the greens, backed by federal and state authorities calling saving the earth "eco-terrorism" and managing to get activists like Daniel McGowan sent to prison.

Some Brief Background on McGowan

Born in Queens, New York, he was active in sports in high school, then attended the State University of New York (SUNY), Buffalo where he received a BA in business administration and Southeast Asian studies. After several months in Asia, he worked in New York as a paid and volunteer for various environmental and non-profit organizations, then in 1998 relocated to the Pacific Northwest to continue his environmental and social justice work.

Back home in 2002, he worked as a web and office administrator for Rainforest Foundation US and became active in projects for rainforest preservation, national forest protection, and biodiversity.

In 2005, he entered a Tri-State College of Acupuncture graduate program to become a healing practitioner, to be able to offer it free or at low cost to make it affordable for everyone. At the same time, he worked for Womenslaw.org, a non-profit organization helping battered women through legal recourse. His activism also included support for political prisoners, human rights, social justice, and involvement in numerous local events, dedicated to helping people.

Those who know him say he's one of "the most wonderful, expressive, caring, thoughtful and compassionate people in this world" - yet Bush prosecutors targeted, incarcerated, and made him a political prisoner through a gross miscarriage of justice.

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I am a 72 year old, retired, progressive small businessman concerned about all the major national and world issues, committed to speak out and write about them.

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