An Overly Broad Use Of The Terrorism Label

Reports Suggest Justice May Use Broad Definition of 'Terrorism'

Shouldn't that headline read "OVERLY BROAD DEFINITION" rather than just "broad definition"? Those of us taking a serious look at national security, the "war on terror," the slow erosion of civil liberties and civil rights in all arenas and venues, as well as the all-out assault on civil liberties and human rights by the executive branch under the Bush banner, have recognized this trend all along. And now that trend has been shown to exist within state, county and local law enforcement (c.f. NYPD spying on peaceful protesters and civic organizations that oppose the fascism of the GOP and the Bush administration).

The federal government prosecuted international terrorism cases in 2006 at the lowest rate since the attacks of September 11, 2001. More significant, the number of prosecutions classified as "domestic terrorism" -- acts or plots such as the Oklahoma City bombing -- has remained relatively higher than the number of prosecutions for international terrorism -- acts or plots by foreign terrorist groups such as the attacks of 9/11.

The fact is the federal government's efforts to seek out and prosecute "terrorists" has been a major failure. In fact, the federal government cannot even track visitors to our nation, never mind those here illegally, or those here with intent to harm us:

Homeland Security Panel Demands Plan for Visitor Tracking Project

The House Homeland Security Committee demanded this week that the Homeland Security Department describe what system and technology will be used to determine when foreigners leave the country or overstay their visits.

In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, the lawmakers said they want a strategic plan by next Monday for the US-VISIT foreigner tracking system, including cost estimates and timelines for an exit component. The lawmakers said Congress has been waiting on the plan for almost two years, even though more than $1.3 billion has been spent on VISIT to date.

By law, the department is required to use biometric identifiers, such as digital fingerprints, to verify that foreigners leave the country. But building an exit component into VISIT has vexed the department since it was created four years ago.

But the fact remains that the federal government has great difficulty even identifying real threats to our nation. While we waste resources making citizens take off their shoes and dispose of hair gels at our airports, we are still not plugging the holes in our borders, or even effecting a decent and just immigration and visitation policy. On top of that, most of the cases brought under the umbrella of prosecuting "terrorism" have failed miserably, including those that were detained (imprisoned indefinitely) at Gitmo and elsewhere. Given that the vast majority of those released from Gitmo are found to be innocent of any crime by the nations to whom we release them, one would think that someone in the chain of leadership would get a hint, wake up and smell the coffee, or see the forest for the trees.

But we miss the real point... As long as our fears are being manipulated we are being led into sacrificing our first principles, values and ideals. As long as the fear mongers among us can reach down into our deepest depths and pull out the biggest, baddest bogeyman we fear, George W. and company can manipulate us like the fictional Freddy Krueger manipulated his victims in the Nightmare on Elm Street horror flicks... and use our own fears to justify violating our Constitution and our inherent rights.