FBI Raids Against Antiwar Activists Setting Dangerous Prescedent.

The Bush Administration established the pattern of "firing, intimidating and defaming anyone who has had the courage to tell the truth," coining the term, intimigate, in other words, treating dissent as treason. It appears the Obama administration is not only refusing to do anything about curbing this practice, they are taking it to a new level... dozens of US Citizens on Assassination List?

The recent arrests of of antiwar activists in the US by the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force concerning the "material support of terrorism" is setting the stage for a future crackdown on dissent. In fact,  It could be said the stage was set long ago with the introduction of "The Patriot Act", and this is the crackdown which is only going to accelerate. Why pick on peace activists? Because we the people have always mistrusted peace activists, therefore they're the perfect scapegoat to pave the way and condition the people for further attacks on dissent.

The "war on terror" is purposely vague and broadly defined as is the accusation of, "material support", thus allowing federal authorities to arbitrarily interpret our words and actions as they see fit.  Hence, if fostering peace = material support of terrorism,  then dissent = material support of terrorism. 

Key to this process of imposing control is making we the people feel as though, the preyed upon, deserve the "treatment", because there is something wrong with them, not with the system. And then if somehow that backfires, and the people see through the power agenda, layers of arbitrary and intricate bureaucracy exist to take the heat and camouflage the real perpetrators.

"And though the time is always right for an act of conscience, perhaps the best time of all is when the voices of power are howling that dissent is treason. A crowd marching for principle voices a different kind of power, saying what power itself doesn't want to hear: Americans have a right to dissent. Civil liberties are not a village that you save by destroying." -- Erika Munk, adjunct professor at the School of Drama, about her efforts to organize a protest march in her article "Saturday is the Time To Speak Truth to Power," Newsday (New York), March 20, 2003.

However,  closely examine  this "war on terror", and see if you don't start to wonder who is terrorizing who.  Especially when you consider the 32% civilian fatality rate in drone attacks since 2004. We're certainly not winning hearts and minds, and it's beginning to appear as if our government doesn't care about hearts and minds of anyone, either here or abroad.

The antagonism to U.S. policies in the region does not spring from general anti-American feelings. Almost three-quarters of the people in the tribal area said that their opinion of the United States would improve -- most by a great deal -- if the United States increased humanitarian aid and visas to work or study in the States. While hating the American drones above them, the people of FATA would welcome the chance to have the ground of America beneath their feet.

What is the purpose of policing the state? Who benefits? Well, if it's not obvious already, it's the people who profit from the war machine and those who reap the enormous rewards of corporate profits. Because when  over half  of what we pay in taxes funds the war machine and when corporate and Wall Street profits soar, while at the same time, we're constantly told that there is not enough money to fund health care; to fund unemployment;  that Social Security benefits need to be cut back or privatized; that  Medicare benefits need to be reduced; that the retirement age needs to be increased to 70; that states, who unlike the federal government, have to balance their budgets, are on their own; that Sarah Palin must slash state funding for a program benefiting teen mothers in need of a place to live...well, sooner or later, the "iron fist" will have to dispose of the velvet glove.

Links:

Political Dissent can bring federal agents to your door.

The War on Dissent Widens

Black Helicopters? The GOP's Police State.