Guest guest Posted August 4, 2004 Report Share Posted August 4, 2004 Search AlterNet: Enter any text to search.Advanced Search » Stop Human Rights Abuses in IraqRecently released photos of American soldiers abusing and torturing Iraqi prisoners have shocked the world, provoking a global backlash. Join the call from Amnesty International and other groups for an independent, impartial and public investigation into all allegations of torture.Tell Them Where You Stand on the Patriot ActThe Bill of Rights Defense Committee has put together a voter education packet to help citizens engage candidates for local, state, and national office about the USA PATRIOT Act and other government policy that threaten the Bill of Rights. The packet includes links to laws that currently restrict civil liberties; instructions and a timeline for preparing candidate questionnaires and publicizing the results: sample questions to pose to candidates: and links to online voter information resources.AboutRights & Liberties is dedicated to documenting, reporting, and reflecting on the increasingly restrictive climate for civil liberties and human rights. Our goal is to alert and inform, provide passionate analysis and opinion, and offer concrete tools for action.BACKGROUNDRevenge of the Patriot ActThe Bush Administration is preparing Patriot Act II, which will give the government sweeping new powers of domestic intelligence-gathering and surveillance and and will decrease legal rights and public access to information. The Center for Public Integrity has available the full text of the legislation.The National Network for Immigrant and Refugee RightsNNIRR provides educational, activist, and legal resources on immigration, migration, and refugee rights in the United States.New ACLU Report Say Surveillance Society Becoming RealityThe United States has now reached the point where a total"surveillance society" has become a realistic possibility, the American Civil Liberties Union warned in a report released this week.RECOMMENDED SITESThe National Coalition to Repeal the Patriot ActFind information, flyers, petitions, and like-minded people at the site of the National Coalition to Repeal the Patriot Act.Free Expression Policy ProjectConcerned about copyright and intellectual property law? The Free Expression Policy Project covers the basics of intellectual property questions and some of the disturbing concerns about copyright law -- without using legal jargon.Civil LibertiesA collection of writings by Cato Institute scholars on civil liberties with respect to the war on terrorism.10 Ways to Fight HateTake action to stop violence and prejudice against groups and individuals because of race, religion, disability, or sexual orientation.Civil Liberties on the HillKeep up to date on what civil liberties issues are being discussed in Congress.Justice and Human RightsAmnesty International's resource page on post-9/11 violations of rights of citizens both within and outside the United States. Fabricating Terror By William Rivers Pitt, TruthOut.com. Posted August 3, 2004. A three-year-old blizzard of warnings about looming terror attacks, gathered on the Internet, was delivered to the American people in tones of doom, as if the hammer were about to fall at any moment. Story Tools EMAIL PRINT BUY ALSO IN RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES Is This America?Jim Hightower Nice Words on Immigration, But No ActionRoberto Lovato An Apology, Forty Years OverdueMargaret Kimberly An Affront to the First AmendmentMichael Avery Teaching TortureDoug Ireland More stories by William Rivers Pitt Let me get this straight. Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge came barnstorming out on Sunday with a blizzard of warnings about looming terror attacks against targets in New York, New Jersey and Washington DC. Our nifty color-coded alert system was raised to Orange, or High. Headlines from coast to coast blared the bad news, and the stock market began Monday by giving itself a sound beating. Late Monday night, however, had articles popping up on the Washington Post and the New York Times. This was the Post's midnight take: "Most of the al-Qaeda surveillance of five financial institutions that led to a new terrorism alert Sunday was conducted before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and authorities are not sure whether the casing of the buildings has continued, numerous intelligence and law enforcement officials said yesterday...'There is nothing right now that we're hearing that is new,' said one senior law enforcement official who was briefed on the alert. 'Why did we go to this level? I still don't know that.'" The data was three years old. Tom Ridge, in his Sunday remarks, said, "President Bush has told you, and I have reiterated the promise, that when we have specific credible information, that we will share it. Now this afternoon, we do have new and unusually specific information about where al-Qaeda would like to attack." The data was three years old. "The quality of this intelligence," said Ridge on Sunday, "based on multiple reporting streams in multiple locations, is rarely seen and it is alarming in both the amount and specificity of the information." The data was three years old. "As of now," said Ridge on Sunday, "this is what we know: reports indicate that al-Qaeda is targeting several specific buildings, including the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in the District of Columbia; Prudential Financial in Northern New Jersey; and Citigroup buildings and the New York Stock Exchange in New York." The data was three years old. "I certainly realize that this is sobering news," said Ridge on Sunday, "not just about the intent of our enemies, but of their specific plans and a glimpse into their methods." The data was three years old. "But we must understand," said Ridge on Sunday, "that the kind of information available to us today is the result of the President's leadership in the war against terror." The data was three years old. Furthermore, according to the Washington Post, "Several officials also said that much of the information compiled by terrorist operatives about the buildings in Washington, New York and Newark was obtained through the Internet or other 'open sources' available to the general public, including some floor plans." The data was three years old, gathered on the Internet, and delivered to the American people in tones of doom, as if the hammer were about to fall at any moment. As reported on the Bloomberg newswire, Laura Bush and the daughters Barbara and Jenna Bush held a photo-op at the Citigroup Center in New York City on Monday, the first day of Ridge's new Orange alert. This was one of the target buildings, according to Ridge. George W. Bush sent his entire family to the very place that was supposedly about to be blown to smithereens? I don't think so. George W. Bush and his administration officials are using terrorism – the fear of it, the fight against it – to manipulate domestic American politics. They are, as they have every day for almost three years now, using September 11 against their own people. They are also getting stumblingly obvious about it. We are being lied to, clumsily, again. Do you doubt it? Recall, if you will, the report in July by John Judis, Spencer Ackerman, and Massoud Ansari of the New Republic titled 'July Surprise.' The report read, "This spring, the administration significantly increased its pressure on Pakistan to kill or capture Osama bin Laden, his deputy, Ayman Al Zawahiri, or the Taliban's Mullah Mohammed Omar, all of whom are believed to be hiding in the lawless tribal areas of Pakistan. "A succession of high-level American officials – from outgoing CIA Director George Tenet to Secretary of State Colin Powell to Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca to State Department counterterrorism chief Cofer Black to a top CIA South Asia official – have visited Pakistan in recent months to urge General Pervez Musharraf's government to do more in the war on terrorism." The kicker appears in the next paragraph: "A third source, an official who works under ISI's director, Lieutenant General Ehsan ul-Haq, informed TNR that the Pakistanis 'have been told at every level that apprehension or killing of HVTs (High Value Targets) before [the] election is [an] absolute must.' What's more, this source claims that Bush administration officials have told their Pakistani counterparts they have a date in mind for announcing this achievement: 'The last ten days of July deadline has been given repeatedly by visitors to Islamabad and during [ul-Haq's] meetings in Washington.'... But according to this ISI official, a White House aide told ul-Haq last spring that 'it would be best if the arrest or killing of [any] HVT were announced on twenty-six, twenty-seven, or twenty-eight July' – the first three days of the Democratic National Convention in Boston." « Rights and Liberties Story Tools: EMAIL PRINT BUY Home Top Stories Special Coverage Columnists Discuss Donate Syndication About Us Reproduction of material from any AlterNet pages without written permission is strictly prohibited.© 2004 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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