ogukuo72
11-25-2003, 09:09 AM
US civil rights groups accuse Bush govt of engaging in Orwellian tactics
By Simon Marks, Channel NewsAsia's US Bureau Chief
WASHINGTON : Civil rights groups in the United States are accusing the Bush administration of engaging in Orwellian tactics, after a leading American newspaper revealed that the FBI has been spying extensively on the country's anti-war movement.
According to the New York Times, the 'Big Brother' is watching - in the form of FBI agents who are reportedly collecting data on America's anti-war movement in a bid to keep tabs on what the agency describes as anarchists and "extremist elements".
It is an intelligence gathering effort that is also utilising the resources of local police departments all over the country, said the report.
They have been urged to report any suspicious activity to the bureau's anti-terrorism squad, and many of them have done so.
Allan Lichtman, a professor of History at the American University, said: "If this report is true, I shudder for the future of this country."
"This country is great because we tolerate diversity, we tolerate dissent, we are a pluralistic country. We don't use the police as a means of controlling our politics," he said.
The move by the FBI appears to have been sparked in part by the violence four years ago at a World Trade Organisation meeting in Seattle.
The city's police were almost over-run by anti-globalisation demonstrators who for the first time had organised in advance by using the Internet to their advantage.
Now, the Internet is in the FBI's sights.
The bureau is said to be monitoring Web pages that serve only to recruit protesters to attend lawful demonstrations against US government policies.
For many, the monitoring is an echo of a former time in Washington.
"The raw harsh unpleasant fact is that Communism is an issue," said Senator Joseph McCarthy on November 24, 1953.
It was exactly 50 years ago when Senator Joseph McCarthy engaged in a witch-hunt against Communists and others accused of "un-American" activities.
But today's FBI does have its defenders here.
The Heritage Foundation's Paul Rosenzweig said: "The FBI can appropriately investigate people who destroy property, injure people and potentially are terrorists cloaked in the mantle of protest groups, while at the same time, respecting First Amendment liberties. I think we can do both."
This isn't the first time the Bush administration has been accused of playing fast-and-loose with America's constitutionally-guaranteed liberties.
The American left has long been convinced that President George W Bush has used the attacks of September 11th as an excuse to crack down on freedoms in USA.
The latest report by the New York Times, coming at the start of the US presidential election campaign, could provide Mr Bush's Democratic Party opponents with an issue to turn on the White House. - CNA
An interesting bit of news from my local TV news, quoting the New York Times. Note the use of that very 'cultured' term "Orwellian tactics". Seriously, how many people still talk like that nowadays?
I would like to make two points:
First, during the days of the civil rights struggle by Martin Luther King and the anti-colonial struggle by Gandhi, the protesters were peacful. They chose to break unjust laws, and were fully prepared to be arrested, beaten or much worse. They were brave men and women.
The protesters nowadays are noisy, but they want to play the game without following the rules. They are like spoilt children who behaved badly but fully expect the adults to let them off with only a light slap. They seem to believe that the police should let them do whatever they please, and they should be allowed to do whatever they want. There's three words they should learn: "Adult supervision required."
Second, Joe McCarthy was a blackguard. But that doesn't mean that the FBI investigation into left-wing activities in the 1950's was wrong. One thing has nothing to do with the other. As it turned out, according to the VERONA signals, some of those investigated by the FBI and who had their careers ruined, really were Soviet agents.
By Simon Marks, Channel NewsAsia's US Bureau Chief
WASHINGTON : Civil rights groups in the United States are accusing the Bush administration of engaging in Orwellian tactics, after a leading American newspaper revealed that the FBI has been spying extensively on the country's anti-war movement.
According to the New York Times, the 'Big Brother' is watching - in the form of FBI agents who are reportedly collecting data on America's anti-war movement in a bid to keep tabs on what the agency describes as anarchists and "extremist elements".
It is an intelligence gathering effort that is also utilising the resources of local police departments all over the country, said the report.
They have been urged to report any suspicious activity to the bureau's anti-terrorism squad, and many of them have done so.
Allan Lichtman, a professor of History at the American University, said: "If this report is true, I shudder for the future of this country."
"This country is great because we tolerate diversity, we tolerate dissent, we are a pluralistic country. We don't use the police as a means of controlling our politics," he said.
The move by the FBI appears to have been sparked in part by the violence four years ago at a World Trade Organisation meeting in Seattle.
The city's police were almost over-run by anti-globalisation demonstrators who for the first time had organised in advance by using the Internet to their advantage.
Now, the Internet is in the FBI's sights.
The bureau is said to be monitoring Web pages that serve only to recruit protesters to attend lawful demonstrations against US government policies.
For many, the monitoring is an echo of a former time in Washington.
"The raw harsh unpleasant fact is that Communism is an issue," said Senator Joseph McCarthy on November 24, 1953.
It was exactly 50 years ago when Senator Joseph McCarthy engaged in a witch-hunt against Communists and others accused of "un-American" activities.
But today's FBI does have its defenders here.
The Heritage Foundation's Paul Rosenzweig said: "The FBI can appropriately investigate people who destroy property, injure people and potentially are terrorists cloaked in the mantle of protest groups, while at the same time, respecting First Amendment liberties. I think we can do both."
This isn't the first time the Bush administration has been accused of playing fast-and-loose with America's constitutionally-guaranteed liberties.
The American left has long been convinced that President George W Bush has used the attacks of September 11th as an excuse to crack down on freedoms in USA.
The latest report by the New York Times, coming at the start of the US presidential election campaign, could provide Mr Bush's Democratic Party opponents with an issue to turn on the White House. - CNA
An interesting bit of news from my local TV news, quoting the New York Times. Note the use of that very 'cultured' term "Orwellian tactics". Seriously, how many people still talk like that nowadays?
I would like to make two points:
First, during the days of the civil rights struggle by Martin Luther King and the anti-colonial struggle by Gandhi, the protesters were peacful. They chose to break unjust laws, and were fully prepared to be arrested, beaten or much worse. They were brave men and women.
The protesters nowadays are noisy, but they want to play the game without following the rules. They are like spoilt children who behaved badly but fully expect the adults to let them off with only a light slap. They seem to believe that the police should let them do whatever they please, and they should be allowed to do whatever they want. There's three words they should learn: "Adult supervision required."
Second, Joe McCarthy was a blackguard. But that doesn't mean that the FBI investigation into left-wing activities in the 1950's was wrong. One thing has nothing to do with the other. As it turned out, according to the VERONA signals, some of those investigated by the FBI and who had their careers ruined, really were Soviet agents.