The Terror War at Home

by Morpheus

Amid all the saber rattling over Iraq and the GOP blitzkrieg into Congress, a rather important incident near slipped under the radar. Several weeks ago in the northern portion of the nation of Yemen, situated on the Arabian peninsula just shy of the Horn of Africa, a CIA, unmanned Predator drone fired a Hellfire missile at a car of Al-Queda “suspects,” killing all six of the “suspects” within.

One of these “suspects” was supposedly Qaed Salim Sinan al-Harethi who is “suspected” of being involved in the 2000 bombing of the US Cole destroyer, an attack in which 17 U.S. sailors died. The operation against the “suspects,” carried out by the CIA with the blessings of the Yemeni government, was hailed as a success against terrorism. To paraphrase warlord Donald Rumsfeld, these “suspects” were put out of business. And if you haven’t guessed it yet, the key root word for today is “suspect.”

While the Bush Jr. Junta hailed this as a victory in their Terror War, alarm bells were sounded worldwide amid renewed bouts of America-phobia. The attack triggered outrage in some quarters of the world and forced U.S. officials into the difficult position of defending a tactic it has criticized Israel for using: outright assassination. Though of course no one is naïve enough to believe the US doesn’t kill off enemies when it feels like it, this deadly incident went beyond the pale.

For one, those killed were “suspects.” Last time I checked international law, “suspects” are supposed to be captured, brought to justice and given a trial. “Suspects” aren’t supposed to be guilty from the jump. But under the Bush Jr.-Wolfowitz doctrine of pre-emptive strikes, the US has decided to sidestep that particular moral/legal statute. Under the auspices of the CIA, America now plays the part of police, prosecutor, jury, judge and executioner. I guess like the famous line from Shakespeare’s Henry VI, “kill all the lawyers.”

Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lundh was the first foreign official to publicly criticize the Yemen attack. "If the U.S.A. is behind this with Yemen's consent, it is nevertheless a summary execution that violates human rights," she said. "Even terrorists must be treated according to international law. Otherwise, any country can start executing those whom they consider terrorists."

Of course the US response to this has been that the “suspects” weren’t American, and so did not deserve the rights of American laws. This speaks volumes for what many have always claimed was US hypocrisy: boasting about its democratic ideals and insisting everyone else follow them, but yet not practicing democracy outside its borders.

Secondly, there was the boldness of the attacks. As I said, no one is going to believe the CIA’s hands aren’t already dripping with the blood of the guilty, the innocent and those in between. But such operations usually take place in the shadowy realm of international intrigue and espionage. This murder-assassination was done in front of the world with little care or concern. There was literal glee as US officials discussed the deadly attack. Though at first not actually all-out claiming responsibility, they have now stated that such “Yemen-styled” strikes are planned in numerous countries around the globe. American citizens should wonder if one of those countries might one day include the one they live in.

Third, there was the absolute “certainty” the US espoused over these attacks with nary a care that mistakes could be made. Is US intelligence now so infallible that it can afford to kill those who are deemed “suspects?” For those who quickly say yes, just remember that failed US intelligence about an attack within its borders is the reason this whole Terror War is up and running to begin with---ahem! There was similar bungling in this case.

Proud boasting turned to stupefied expressions when Yemeni officials claimed to find evidence that a US national was among one of the “suspects” killed. The CIA seemed blissfully ignorant of this possibility, and now admits that US citizen Kamal Derwish was one of those executed. They charge that they had him labeled as a co-conspirator in another terror plot. This means an American “suspect” was murdered before ever being taken into custody. Gives a whole new meaning to due process. It is on the “good faith” of the CIA that we are to believe Derwish was killed by “accident.”

And let’s keep in mind again that these were “suspects.” Similar “suspects” have been placed in a US detention camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Just recently two of these “suspects” were released and sent home. After months of captivity, claimed beatings and interrogation, it was found out the “suspects” had nothing to do with Al-Queda or even the Taliban. They were “suspects” who turned out to be wholly innocent. I would ponder the guilt or innocence of the “suspects” in that car driving through Northern Yemen. But as they’re blown to bits and already dead, the point seems rather moot.

Now don’t mistake my criticism of US policy as a soft spot in my heart for terrorists, Islamic, Christian, Jewish, Hindu or otherwise. Long before September 11^th I followed Bin-Laden’s bombings in Tanzania and Kenya that left hundreds of Africans dead. So I could really care less what happens to Al-Queda or the Saudi playboy turned fanatic. My issue lies with giving the CIA over-arching broad powers and jurisdiction to do as it wishes, all in the name of national security and a Terror War. That’s like giving the Italian Mafia free reign to rid you of your pesky Crips and Bloods problem.

This is the CIA we’re talking about here. These are the guys who aided brutal dictators in the name of fighting communism. These are the guys who have been involved in countless assassinations of democratically elected figures throughout the world. These are the guys who topple legitimate governments. These are the guys who whipped up Islamic fundamentalism as a weapon against the Soviets in Afghanistan (see where that got us). These are the guys who used cocaine and opium sales as revenue to finance death squads in Central America and who knows what else. This is the same CIA that was so out of control in the Cold War that it had to be reined in. Now, like a pack of mad and hungry dogs, they’ve been let loose again---all for our “safety” we’re told. If there is any rule to questionable foreign policy, it is that it is usually accompanied with near equal questionable domestic policy. Enter the other front in the Terror War, Homeland Security.

It was not long after the sniper “suspects” John Muhammad and Lee Malvo were revealed that every black person in the US probably groaned inwardly, followed by that of every Muslim. I suppose if one were black and Muslim, that groan would have been doubly so. We after all know the double standard. If one is white and Christian like Timothy McVeigh, no one is talking about Huggenot Massacres or Caucasian pathology. But if one is black and Muslim, well an entire race and religion must be dissected and discussed.

As I watched the media fascination with the two, I noticed the continued interest in their possible religious affiliations and the careful manner in which race was skirted about, but nevertheless touched upon---even if only in the most subtle manner possible. First the Nation of Islam was cited as a probable influence. Then the 5% Nation of Gods and Earths were implicated, down to spin off groups of Wu-Tang (namely Killa Army). Articles in major newspapers soon appeared about the possible links of black Islamic separatist militancy and violence. This all made me think about something I had noticed even earlier, about the Terror War.

Anybody decided to sit back and take stock of some of the folks they’ve been arresting? First there was Zacharias Moussaui, the brotha from Morocco that looks like Suge Knight in that orange jumpsuit, that has been labeled the “22^nd hijacker.” Then there was Richard Reid the alleged “shoe-bomber,” a man of partial black heritage. Reid’s father claims he was led to Islamic extremism due to racial bigotry and alienation. In early October an entire alleged cell of Al-Queda suspects were rounded up in Orgeon, all but one of which were black. If you ain’t peeped it yet, while most arrested terror “suspects” on the screen are usually Arabic or Middle-Eastern men and women, more than a significant portion of the high profile figures are in some shape, form or fashion, black. The arrest of claimed terror suspect Jose Padilla it seemed finally brought these thoughts to light.

Padilla is a Brooklyn born citizen of Puerto Rican descent charged by the US government of working as a foot soldier for Al-Queda. More specifically, it is claimed he plotted a terror strike with a radioactive “dirty” bomb (as opposed to legal “dirty” bombs like the Cohen neutron bomb, of which the US still has over 350). What raised my attention was where it was said this ex-gang member came in contact with Islamic extremism: prison. And from Malcolm X to Oz, when the words “Muslim” and “US prison system” enter minds they usually conjure up visions of black males.

So expectedly, soon after the Padilla story broke there were several media reports debating the possibility that prisons are breeding grounds for Al-Queda. If you need an interpretation, prisons = places with a lot of angry black males itching for vengeance on whitey’s world. Online articles put forth that the disaffected and poor could be fertile recruits for terrorists. Translation: those people the mainstream society has let slip through the cracks might get an offer from Al-Queda they can’t refuse. On television the images on the screen during these stories flashed between glimpses of the hood and black inner city youths, to Al-Queda training camps in Afghanistan. Translation: what if all those gun-wielding thugs suddenly found religious fanaticism?

Most popularly highlighted was the Al-Rukyn street gang of Chicago. In the 1980s they were charged and convicted by federal officials with conspiring to commit terrorist acts on behalf of the Libyan government for $2.5 million dollars. One gang member was said to have actually bought a hand-held rocket launcher from undercover federal agents. Translation: what’s that kid with corn rows and a bleak smile sitting across from you on the sub way really got under his jacket?

This idea of gangs and prisons as possible sources of Al-Queda styled terrorism returned (if it had ever really gone anywhere) with the arrest of John Muhammad and Lee Malvo. It wasn’t broadcast loudly but instead hovered just under the surface of coded speech. Race was hardly ever mentioned specifically. Rather discussions centered around the sniper suspects links to the Nation of Islam, the Million Man March, the 5% and even obscure Hip Hop verses. In this way links to race are made without ever saying the word (race). On one major news channel, questions of “where the hate comes from” flashed between pictures of Muhammad , Malvo, Al-Queda, Palestinian Intifadah youth, numerous clips of the Black Panther Party and other deemed “Black militants.” Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to get the hint.

This blow back of the Terror War on black America, even subtly, shouldn’t come as any surprise. History has shown that when white America gets frightened, blind rage soon follows. Democracy is thrown out of the window and a consuming need for security is all that is left. Don’t believe me? Let’s make a brief stop at a prior moment in US history.

In April of 1899 a black laborer named Sam Hose, thinking himself duped out of wages, approached his white employer, planter Alfred Cranford, to obtain what was owed him. Cranford refused and a brief argument ensued. The next day, while Hose was chopping wood, Cranford approached him to resume the argument—with a drawn pistol in hand and deadly threats. It seemed the very act of Hose standing up for himself struck such fear in Cranford that he had to ensure his security in the surest way possible. Before Cranford could fire, Hose flung his ax in self-defense. Cranford was struck in the head and killed instantly. By the time the local media and officials got a hold of the story, it had changed slightly. Hose had suddenly been turned into a rapist. According to news reports he had not only killed Alfred Cranford out of cold-blood, but he had supposedly raped Ms. Cranford repeatedly. The fact that she was nowhere near her husband at his death seemed to make little difference. Fear and paranoia took over and security was demanded. Innocence, guilt or the particulars of Hose’s situation were of no consequence in an error where the claim of “black rapist” was much like “terrorist” today. In very little time police, judge, jury and executioner became one in the same.

Some two thousand white men, women and children gathered on Sunday afternoon, promptly after church, near Newman, Georgia. None wore masks but boldly set about their deed. Without a trial, the “suspect” Hose was captured, stripped of his clothes and chained to a tree where his body was soaked in oil while kerosene-saturated wood was stacked high all around. The mob cut off his ears, fingers, and genitals, and skinned his face. Some eagerly plunged knives into his still living body, ignoring his screams and pleads for mercy. Hose was eventually set ablaze and the self-appointed executioners shouted in glee as his eyes began to bulge out of his head. When he somehow managed to break free of his bonds, he was soaked in oil and set afire again until it was certain he was dead. Before Hose’s body had even cooled, his heart and liver were removed and cut into several parts while his bones were crushed into a fine powder. Small pieces of bones went for 25 cents. Strips of the “crisply cooked” liver sold for 10 cents.

Readers may ask what the events of a century prior have to do with Terror Wars both home and abroad in the present day. Well first off there’s a matter of having seen this type of thing before. When the US blows up “suspects” in some far off country and says they have the right to play executioner, an alarm bell should go off in black minds. Yes terrorists kill black people and yes, black people, as all people, should fight terrorism. But black America has seen what happens when fear takes over. There’s a personal relationship to such things. White fear turned quickly into white rage in the past as the need for security took precedence over all else. Perhaps because of that, black America has a moral obligation to make certain vigilante justice doesn’t take the place of law and order again. Of all people, black America should know best the inherent dangers of giving over to paranoia.

And there’s a second reason the Terror War should be scrutinized intensely by Black America. Every time an Al-Rukyn street gang, a John Muhammad or any other dark face is linked---however spuriously---with terrorism, you can bet that somebody somewhere is making a profile. Of course you don’t have to believe that. We can just take it on good faith that 9-11 and Eminem’s 8 Mile made American racism disappear in a poof of social justice, populist sentiment and shared tragedy. Hey, the Neptunes and The Clipse make songs with Justin Timberlake. Racism must be over…right? We can secure ourselves in the belief (however delusional) that the Terror War will only go after foreigners from the Middle East or “suspicious” looking locals.

There are some however who are a bit more skeptical, and justifiably so. And these cautious minds understand that if we notice the race of terror “suspects,” those trained to search for such “patterns” have surely caught it as well.

This Terror War might be in far off lands at the moment. It may be happening to “other” people and thus may seem none of our concern. But it has the potential to arrive at a hood near you---that is, if it hasn’t done so already. I understand everyone wants ‘Homeland Security,’ but at what price? If any cautionary voice should be heard most clearly and most critically at this time, it should be that of black America who always manages to get the shortest end of the stick when white America gets panicky.

When Hitler attacked the Jews I was not a Jew, therefore I was not concerned. And when Hitler attacked the Catholics, I was not a Catholic, and therefore, I was not concerned. And when Hitler attacked the unions and the industrialists, I was not a member of the unions and I was not concerned. Then Hitler attacked me and the Protestant church — and there was nobody left to be concerned.” - Pastor Martin Niemöller

 

MORPHEUS- Exposin Fake Shyt

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