Archive for May, 2011

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Bin Laden

May 4, 2011

It seems these government officials just can’t resist the urge to lie about military operations. Initially, we were told that Bin Laden took part in a firefight with the Navy Seals and that he used his wife as a “human shield”. The government now admits that never happened. Moreover, we are now told that Bin Laden was unarmed. If it is true that the Seals were to try take Bin Laden alive, then their killing him has to be considered a blunder.

Bin Laden was an evil man, and he caused nothing but suffering in the world. Some have pointed out that the U.S. military have killed more people than Bin Laden did. This is true, but it was Bin Laden who provided them with a convenient excuse to carry out their wars. Without the September 11th attacks, it would have been a lot harder for the U.S. government to persuade people to support the invasion of Iraq. Of course, that is what Bin Laden wanted: the U.S. sending its troops into Muslim countries. No doubt he derived satisfaction from this, though the only people who have benefited have been corporate CEO’s.

Will this change anything? The Arab revolutions have made Al Qaida largely irrelevant. With Bin Laden’s death, however, the emotional justification for the U.S.’s interventions in the Muslim world is gone. I have heard a number of people say that the U.S. should leave Afghanistan now. The Stratfor website has speculated that Obama may start pulling troops out of Afghanistan soon. I hope that they are right, though I fear that the government will find some other excuse to continue the occupation.

Posted in Capitalism, Imperialism, Middle East | 2 Comments »

COINTELPRO

May 2, 2011

I recently saw the film, COINTELPRO 101. As the title suggests, the film is meant as an introductory work, rather than an in-depth examination of the FBI’s secret war on left groups. The film is only 56 minutes long, presumably so it can be shown in classes. While I respect the producers’ intentions, it seems to me that the film should provide more details. For example, it gives the impression that COINTELPRO began in 1960. It actually began in 1956, and its intended target was the Communist Party. I think it is important for people to know this, so they are aware of the historical continuity between the government’s suppression of the CP and the attacks on left groups during the 1960’s and 1970’s.

One thing I did like about the film was that it talked about the FBI’s persecution of Puerto Rican nationalists, a topic that usually doesn’t get as much attention as it deserves. It also talked about the FBI’s attacks on the American Indian Movement and the framing of Leonard Peltier for the killings of two FBI agents. There is a lengthy discussion of the FBI’s efforts to destroy the Black Panther Party.

One thing I found questionable was a section devoted to the murder of the Chicano activist, Ricardo Falcon. I couldn’t see the reason for including this, since the film offered no evidence that the FBI were involved. (And I don’t know that there is any evidence that they were.)

The film could have instead discussed the FBI’s attempts to undermine the Socialist Workers Party. This story at least has a happy ending of sorts, since the SWP eventually successfully sued the FBI for its harassment. The late Peter Camejo reported that when he ran for president on the SWP ticket in 1976, the FBI had sixty-six informants working in his campaign. This shows you the lengths they were willing to go to try to quash any political movement outside the two party duopoly.

At the screening I went to, Chuck Hunt, who was an anti-war activist during the 1960’s, got up to talk after the film was over. He pointed out that many of the illegal activities that the FBI carried out under COINTELPRO are now legal thanks to the USA Patriot Act.

Posted in Police | 1 Comment »

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