70% of the population are under thirty and they blog against the leader with some impunity. The right wing clergy controlling the nation is drastically out of step with this youthful, politically active element. Iran is ripe for reform. If we simply attack her outright, or instigate attack by conceiving of this country as a monolithically fundamental country, we make a terrible error. We unite the people against us. Instead we should do what we do best, engage in blue-jean propaganda. We should speak of civil liberties, humanitarian reforms, and good education, which is what the people there want. They are sick of repressive regimes. Women want to cast off their veils instead of choking in the heat, and people want to view Islam based on the principles of life and love. The great majority reject terrorism outright. We can be friends with Iran and we are foolish for simply going to war. We can engage in diplomacy with the current leaders, while running a free speech campaign to the people via radio, ala WWII’s ‘Voice of Freedom,’ suggesting democratic initiatives and a better quality of life for all the people. We can inculcate a much desired democracy among the people. Why are we so eager to go to war with the country which could be our strongest ally, providing a possible anchor point for the Middle East?
The huge furor over the Mohammed cartoons has been played up by an extremist government out of touch with its people and by a fanatical Western media anxious to prove that terrorism is systemic to Islam. The two governments almost seem to co-ordinate efforts, though ours is probably playing theirs as they wish. This protest involved four hundred in a city of twelve million. The protest, destroying the Dutch embassy, was freely allowed by a government that is ridiculously repressive against even peaceful demonstrations. One must wonder why. The general mood of Iran is not so enraged or incensed as we have been led to believe. It is a select minority characterized as the majority. Viewing our own nation by this logic, we are all Branch Davidians. We all drank the kool-aid.
Ahamadinejad, the Iranian leader, is in fact mocked by his own people, on blogs, for his claim to be surrounded by a luminous light as he spoke before the UN. [1] He was elected on promises of progressive reform, promises he quickly abandoned. Perhaps we should allow the Iranian people the opportunity to speak their voice and change leadership during their 2009 elections. They look likely to shift sharply to the left. All other candidates speak of talks with the West and détente. Even words like partnership appear in the more progressive approaches.
Why would our administration not listen to their head of General Command, Marine General William Fallon? He resigned in protest over the war-like stance of the administration toward Iran. Another high-ranking General refused the position of Iraqi theater command on a similar basis. Instead of listening to our military experts, the administration has wrested $400 million in covert ops funding against Iran.
Even arch-conservative Pat Buchanan has come out against a war with Iran. Former National Security Advisor and Trilateral founder Zbigniew Brzezinski, in an outspoken criticism of the Iraq war, says, ‘…provocation in Iraq or a terrorist attack in the US blamed on Iran…’ could set the stage for a war with Iran. Many have noted the phrase ‘terrorist attack…blamed on Iran,’ a clear implication that Iran would not be the actual perpetrator. Political commentators have taken this to the undeniable conclusion of a (or another) false-flag attack by rogue sections of our own government.
Back at home, oil prices have undergone recent inflation of 70% per year since January, yet the strategic oil reserve is buying it at a record rate. They are tasked with breaking such cycles of speculation by releasing the reserves into the market. Why are they doing the opposite? Mobil, Exxon, Sunoco, and two other American oil conglomerates have been awarded no bid contracts to produce Iraqi oil. We have the right to demand an explanation for this. Has America destroyed Iraq only to privatize its sole national resource, thus robbing its people of any chance for economic recovery and imbuing them with a validated hatred of the U.S.?
America, it seems, is now a colonizing nation.
Some disturbing facts, if anyone bothers to take notice. The writ of habeas corpus was suspended by the Military Commissions Act of 2006. Yale law professor Bruce Ackerman says that the MCA can be applied to American citizens who can be seized as ‘enemy combatants.’ Law professor Marty Leiderman explains that the Pentagon can use whatever criteria they wish to label someone an enemy combatant. Once seized, the suspect can be thrown into a military prison for life and cannot expect even a military trial, much less any of the other normal protections of the Bill of Rights. Americans can be stripped of citizenship, taken off-shore, tortured, and secretly executed. Under section 802 of the Patriot Act, all misdemeanors are considered acts of terrorism. Section 806 allows the government to seize all assets before a trial of anyone who supports even the protestors committing an illegal act (ACLU).
Patriot II or the Domestic Security Enhancement Act, not yet passed, is heinous. I don’t use the word lightly, but it gives the government dictatorial powers under any examination. Go to: http://www.infowars.com/articles/ps/patriot2_hitler_powers_bush.htm for the ugly truth. Remember, the breaking of virtually any law can be labeled an act of terrorism. It is the blueprint for tyranny:
- Removal of court-ordered prohibitions against police agencies spying on domestic groups.
- The FBI would be granted powers to conduct searches and surveillance based on intelligence gathered in foreign countries without first obtaining a court order.
- Creation of a DNA database of suspected terrorists.
- Prohibition of any public disclosure of the names of alleged terrorists including those who have been arrested.
- Exemptions from civil liability for people and businesses who voluntarily turn private information over to the government.
- Criminalization of the use of encryption to conceal incriminating communications.
- Automatic denial of bail for persons accused of terrorism-related crimes, reversing the ordinary common law burden of proof principle. All alleged terrorists would be required to demonstrate why they should be released on bail rather than the government being required to demonstrate why they should be held.
- Expansion of the list of crimes eligible for the death penalty.
- The United States Environmental Protection Agency would be prevented from releasing "worst case scenario" information to the public about chemical plants.
- United States citizens whom the government finds to be either members of, or providing material support to, terrorist groups could have their US citizenship revoked and be deported to foreign countries. (from Wikipedia, a white-wash interpretation.)
Former attorney General Alberto Gonzales has said that the Constitution does not guarantee the right of habeas corpus, it only disallows its suspension. This sort of double-speak is illogical and dangerous. The law further allows the military judge to prevent testimony of defense witnesses, allow evidence obtained illegally, and through coercion. The defendant can even be excluded from his own trial for security reasons. This, even though the sixth amendment guarantees the right to a fair trial.
Op-Ed News reports on a military officer, a whistleblower with information on 911, who is in prison in Georgia denied the rights of Habeas Corpus. Ecological activists have been prosecuted as terrorists despite their clear policy of never taking life. This act repeals 800 years of the basic human rights presented by the Magna Carta in 1215. Civilized nations have held this principle since the Middle Ages, yet bafflingly, the United States cannot. The Military Commissions Act was found unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, but there are many cases (Guantanamo, for example) of this administration dismissing Supreme Court decisions with no concern. The Supreme Court has no power to uphold their decision save the Constitution, but according to our President, “The Constitution is just a goddamned piece of paper.”
I hope you disagree with him.
Armed guards with machine guns are on permanent station outside the houses of Congress. The streets have been redesigned to fold up into barricades. Senator Dennis Kucinich, sponsoring a bill for impeachment, has said that though Senators support the bill, they are intimidated by this type of presence. Is it really to defend against terrorism?
The FBI has issued over 150,000 National Security Letters, or gag orders, since 9/11. This is 100 times the number of any previous administration. These require a citizen to turn over business, medical, or personal records of his clients, associates, neighbors, friends, and family while preventing any disclosure of even having received the letter to anyone. Violation can result in up to six years imprisonment. There are stories of librarians, internet service providers, and others having their lives turned into paranoid nightmares where they cannot discuss this disgusting violation of their human decency with even their own spouse. Most doubt if the suspects are terrorists.
In 2005, Senator Sensenbrenner (R-WI) introduced HR 1528 which mandates a citizen to inform on any criminal activity he uncovers within 24 hours. If your friend leaves a message about white powder and you fail to report him, you can be arrested. If your neighbor is a suspected drug dealer, you can be forced to wear a wire or go to prison for up to ten years. Your property can be seized by the state. Thankfully, the bill did not pass, but the fact that it made it out of sub-committee is terrifying enough. Another may be on the way.
The CIA is operating secret prisons in a number of countries. The Salt Mine in Afghanistan is the largest confirmed one. Other of these prisons are known to exist but their location is uncertain. Terrorist suspects are not given even the right to a military tribunal. These are suspects and have not been proven guilty. If the constitution is not upheld honorably to others, then what does our noble history mean? Can we expect it to hold forever, or even much longer, for our own rights?
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