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Terrorists? The Japanese and Japanese-Americans forced into internment camps in World War II weren't even terrorists by the biggest stretch of the imagination. They were contributing citizens of their country who were suddenly rounded up and forced into what were basically concentration camps. It was for the good of the country, many argue today. Tell me another one. Lt. General John L. de Witt, the head of the relocation program, had this to say about the people he was relocating in testimony to Congress: "A Jap's a Jap. We must worry about the Japanese all the time until he is wiped off the map." If it wasn't about race, they would've rounded up German-Americans in predominantly German areas where German language newsletters openly circulated, praising Hitler and criticizing American policy toward him. During the War, 400,000 German POWs were held in the U.S., working in fields, factories and construction and mingling among the general population while under guard. An account at the time tells of an incredulous African-American veteran who was disabled in the War, watching as Nazi soldiers--who had fought in a war that had taken the lives of over 6 million Jews and 5 million other victims in death camps--drank from a fountain labeled "Whites Only." The black vet, who had fought for his country and been injured had to use the "Colored Only" water fountain. Despite his service and sacrifice, he was still a second class citizen to foreign soldiers that represented an army that had committed horrific genocide.
Things haven't changed much since then. Since 9/11, we've been paralyzed in fear of the brown terrorist. There have been quite a bunch of them. Major Nidal Hasan, the Ft. Hood shooter. Richard Reed, the Shoe Bomber. The dead serious, but laughably incompetent Times Square and Underwear Bombers. The list of notables goes on and on.
Many of the notables, however, like the Liberty Seven, seemed to be more into a game than an actual plot. Many in even federal circles have started to complain about an FBI specialty unit that goes around investigating terrorist plots and has uncovered many and turned in over a hundred suspected terrorists. In many cases, they concentrated on "chatting up" various Moslem youths and keeping at them for months, leading them on with carefully worded phrases and fantasy scenarios, pouncing on them when they would finally crack and make some unguarded statement. In one case a federal judge looked at a young man being brought in front of his bench and at the FBI dossier in his hands and groaned, "Oh, no. Not those damn idiots again." Many of the complaints seem to draw on the fact that the so-called plots are more on the line of thought exercises.
Speaking of thought exercises, consider the treatment of Jose Padilla, the "Dirty Bomber" and Michael Fortier, one of the co-conspirators in the Oklahoma City Bombings.
Face it, Jose Padilla wasn't the Poster Boy for good behavior to begin with. He was a gangbanger who had been in prison already for killing another gangmember he'd kicked in the head during a fight as a juvenile. After serving his last jail sentence, he converted to Islam. In 2002, he was arrested for conspiring with Al-Qaeda and providing material support for terrorists. It was alleged that he'd been trained in the construction and employment of radiological weapons--dirty bombs. To make a long, long story short, he was held as an enemy combatant without charges and with disregard to habeas corpus. It's been alleged by his legal team and human rights observers that he was tortured almost the entire three years and eight months he was under unlawful detention. He was kept in isolation, suffered sleep deprivation, never-ending sensory blackout, continuous noise disruption, ice cold room temperatures, stress positions and then,in the morning, the incessant daily interrogations would resume. He has been diagnosed with not only severe PTSD, but with brain injury. But, did Padilla ever really commit any real crime? Can any "confession" he made be considered valid in view of the way it was obtained? No evidence was ever found connecting him to any conspiracy and his so-called confessions, obtained after years of imprisonment, seem disjointed and bizarrely disconnected to any real plot that could possibly work outside the realm of sheer fantasy.
Contrast that with the treatment of Michael Fortier and his wife Lori, two of the co-conspirators in the Oklahoma City Bombing. Timothy McVeigh, as we all know, was executed for his part as the main conspirator. Terry Nichols received life in prison. Mike Fortier cased the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building for the best place to park the moving van. Lori Fortier forged IDs for Timothy McVeigh to use in case he needed entrance into the building or escape from police after the bombing. Lori never got time in jail for co-operating in testimony. Michael Fortier, who also co-operated with authorities, got twelve years and was released after ten years and five months for good behavior. He was under the Federal Witness Protection Program while under incarceration and upon leaving prison, he and his wife entered the program as well. How's that for justice? Practically coddled in prison and living protected and secure off our federal dollars after knowing and abetting the second largest mass terrorist murder in our country's history. I keep seeing the picture of the dead baby in the fireman's arms. Michael and Lori could have prevented that.
Nowadays, terrorism by white supremacists reigns greater than that by any Islamist group. Ever hear of William J. Krar? How about James G. Cummings? Or Kevin William Hardham? These three men were all arrested for having weapons of mass destruction that they planned to use. Krar went to prison for only five years, refusing stubbornly to say who his accomplices were. Cummings was shot by his wife in a domestic dispute. Hardham was arrested after his backpack was found along the marching route of a Martin Luther King Walk. White Supremacist groups and militia groups that want the violent overthrow of the government far outnumber Islamic terrorist groups. The KKK membership has swelled since the election of a black president. 300 militia groups have grown in the last year alone. There have been two incidences of police killings by militia and white supremacists groups in the last two years and a plot was uncovered by a third to do the same. But, the media has been strangely silent about terrorist plots and violence by these groups. They carried the Hutaree story for a couple of days (except Fox, of course) but not as long as they did with Islamic terrorists who held media attention for days and days.
It is what it is. I guess that for the early American settlers, the Native Americans were the terrorists. But, go listen to Fox News. They can find them behind every tree.
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