I. Profits in Danger After Russia had its communist revolution, the powers that be in the west were scared. What if American workers decided to overcome their ethnic, racial, religious and gender differences and join together in a massive movement modeled in the IWW or Wobblies, the only U.S. labor organization at the time that admitted women and minorities? What would happen to the privilege of the elite class? What would happen to their ability to make massive (obscene even) amounts of money from the sweat and tears of their employees? What would happen to the Morgans and the Rockefellers? The feds needed an excuse to shut down labor unions...
After Iran had its Muslim revolution and nationalized its oil, the powers that be in the west were scared. What if other oil producing Middle Eastern countries decided to nationalize their own oil reserves? What would happen to the elite at Exxon and Chevron? How would they be able to afford their jets and yachts and vacation homes if they could not make a fortune selling other people’s oil? What would happen to David Rockefeller's political clout? The feds needed an excuse to invade oil producing countries at will...
II. Congress and the President to the Rescue In 1918, Woodrow Wilson persuaded Congress to pass the Sedition Act.. It violated the 1st Amendment of the Constitution by restricting speech critical of the U.S. government during time of war.
Whoever, when the United States is at war, shall willfully utter, print, write or publish any disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language about the form of government of the United States or the Constitution...or the military or naval forces of the United States, or the flag..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedition_Act_of_1918Could be sent to jail for up to 20 years.
In 2001, Bush persuaded Congress to pass the US Patriot Act, which expanded government powers to search and seize and which expanded the definition of terrorism to include a wide variety of activities.
One section of the Act (section 805) prohibited "material support" for terrorists, and in particular included "expert advice or assistance"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA_PATRIOT_ActMore on the “material support” clause here:
David Cole, professor of law at Georgetown University, suggests that, “The reason material support laws have proven so popular with federal prosecutors is that … these laws do not require proof that an individual intended to further any terrorist activity.” He goes on to note, “Under this law it would be a crime for a Quaker to send a book on Gandhi’s theory of nonviolence -- a ‘physical asset’ -- to the leader of a terrorist organization in hopes of persuading him to forgo violence."
http://www.ombwatch.org/node/1592 III. Enemies of the (Corporate Fascist) State While the 1918 Sedition Act was supposed to be aimed at helping the war effort, it was used to shut down labor groups such as the IWW, which had long been a target of business interests and their lackeys in U.S. law enforcement.
The government used World War I as an opportunity to crush the IWW. In September 1917, U.S. Department of Justice agents made simultaneous raids on forty-eight IWW meeting halls across the country. In 1917, one hundred and sixty-five IWW leaders were arrested for conspiring to hinder the draft, encourage desertion, and intimidate others in connection with labor disputes, under the new Espionage Act; one hundred and one went on trial before Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis in 1918.
They were all convicted — even those who had not been members of the union for years — and given prison terms of up to twenty years
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_Workers_of_the_WorldTwenty years seems like a long time to spend in jail for criticizing the government. However, the IWW's real crime was threatening the profits of American business men.
In 2001, the federal government went after Holy Land Foundation, the largest Islamic charity in the U.S. After as investigation spanning years and two trials (the first ended in a mistrial) the group’s leaders were convicted of sending money to Hamas and sentenced to life in prison.
Prosecutors also named the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Islamic Society of North America, and the North American Islamic Trust as unindicted co-conspirators in the case
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Land_Foundation_for_Relief_and_Development While being listed as con-conspirator doesn't mean that CAIR has been charged with anything, the organization was concerned that the label will forever taint it.<49>
In response, National Association of Muslim Lawyers and National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers sent a letter to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, saying that the move to list the largest Muslim organizations in America as unindicted co-conspirators was an effort to smear the entire Muslim community. They also stated that the list breached the department’s own guidelines against releasing the names of unindicted co-conspirators.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_on_American-Islamic_RelationsA variety of U.S. businesses including Halliburton and Chevron gave money to Sadaam Hussein in violation of federal law. And the Reagan-Bush administration (with the help of Israel) supplied arms to Iran. Investigations into these activities were quashed. In the wake of the 9/11 attack, Saudi nationals with ties to Bin Lauden and Al Qaeda were flown out of the country. Since Al Qaeda, Iraq and Iran all pose greater threats to the U.S. than Hamas, a relatively small, weak organization, the purpose of the Holy Lands prosecution appears to have been an attempt by the federal government to discourage anyone in the U.S. from attempting to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people. Since the plight of the Palestinians is the number one recruitment tool used by Islam terror groups worldwide, the U.S. has (indirectly, deliberately) increased Islamic terror activity. Why? Because the Muslim scare (like the Red Scare) is good for business—especially if you can use it as grounds for spying on and harassing progressive groups.
Colorado activists. In March 2002, while representing a group working to stop police violence, the Colorado ACLU uncovered police “spy files” on local activists. Mayor Wellington Webb, a former civil rights activist, ordered the files purged after handing them over to the subjects for review. As the information became public, Colorado citizens learned that police had been spying on a wide range of organizations, including peace and environmental groups, American Indian advocates, and pro-gun groups. More than 200 organizations and 3,200 individuals were targeted.
http://www.ombwatch.org/node/1592 What do environmental groups have to do with terror? Nothing. What might a powerful environmental movement have accomplished in the U.S. under Bush/Cheney? For one thing, they might have prevented the BP Gulf Oil disaster. But that would have had the side effect of costing Bush oil buddies a lot of money.
Cheap labor, oil profits. These were the real motives for the Red Scare of the 1910s and the Muslim Scare of the 2000s. One day, the two will be listed together in our history books as examples of civil liberties violated for the sake of business profits.
All hail the almighty dollar. Amen.
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