This video says about itself:
Thousands of Iraqi demonstrators gathered throughout Sadr City in order to protest a proposed U.S.-Iraq pact which would keep American military forces in this region until 2011.
By Tom Eley in the USA:
Claiming “material support of terrorism”
FBI raids homes of antiwar activists
25 September 2010
The FBI has confirmed that it carried out at least eight raids on the homes and offices of antiwar activists in Minneapolis and Chicago at 7 a.m. on Friday.
The FBI claimed to the seeking “evidence relating to activities concerning support of terrorism.” Though no arrests were made in the raids, subpoenas were issued to those targeted ordering them to appear before a Chicago grand jury on October 12. Federal agents confiscated computers and cell phones, in addition to thousands of documents, books, and letters.
There are as yet unconfirmed reports that other raids also took place in Michigan and North Carolina.
The raids, carried out under the auspices of the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), are a transparent attempt to intimidate political opponents of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. They come on the heels of a Justice Department inspector general’s report revealing massive police infiltration and spying on antiwar groups and other political dissenters in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. (See: “Report whitewashes FBI political spying”)
Among the groups evidently targeted are the Twin Cities Anti-War Committee, Students for a Democratic Society, Colombia Action Network, the Palestine Solidarity Group, the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and possibly the Arab-American Action Network.
The FBI admitted the targeted individuals posed no danger and said it did not intend at this point to make arrests. “These were search warrants only,” said FBI agent Steve Warfield in Minneapolis. “We’re not anticipating any arrests at this time. They’re seeking evidence relating to activities concerning the material support of terrorism… There’s no imminent threat to the community.”
One of six warrants issued for raids in Minneapolis was used to invade the home of Mick Kelly, who said agents kicked his door down and entered with guns drawn Friday morning. The warrant cited as its rationale Kelly’s ability to “pay for his own travel” to Columbia and Palestine, positing possible links to “foreign terrorist organizations including but not limited to FARC, PFLP, and Hezbollah.”
Kelly lives above the Hard Times Cafe in Minneapolis’ Cedar-Riverside neighborhood.
…
The political nature of the raids was barely concealed. The warrant to raid Kelly’s home specifically cited his membership in a group calling itself socialist, the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO). Signed by US Magistrate Judge Susan Nelson at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, it allowed the FBI to take “documents, files, books, photographs, videos, souvenirs, war relics, notebooks, address books, diaries, journals, maps, or other evidence, including evidence in electronic form relating to Kelly’s travels to and from and presence and activities in Minnesota and other foreign countries, to which Kelly has traveled as part of his work for FRSO,” according to an attorney representing Kelly.
Kelly evidently spoke with the Associated Press as his home was being searched. The AP reported the interview in the following way: “‘The FBI is harassing anti-war organizers and leaders, folks who opposed US intervention in the Middle East and Latin America,’ Kelly said before agents confiscated his cell phone.” Kelly said he was “absolutely not” involved in any illegal activities.
Attorney Ted Dooley examined the search warrant used in the raid on Kelly’s apartment. “It’s a probe into the political beliefs of American citizens and to any organization anywhere that opposes the American imperial design,” he commented.
Also targeted in the raid of his apartment, according to Dooley, are all of “Kelly’s personal contacts in the United States and abroad, which means absolutely everybody that Kelly’s ever been in contact with, anywhere. I’d say it’s kind of unconstitutional and hideous, myself. It’s very broad. It’s disgusting.”
Jessica Sundin, whose apartment was also invaded, described what took place. “At about 7 o’clock, I heard a banging at the door, and the FBI came in with six or seven agents… They wanted papers, computers, my cell phone, pictures, CDs.” Sundin said her daughter was frightened by the raid.
The raids in Minnesota appeared to focus primarily on an organization called the Minnesota Anti-War Committee and its “opposition to US military aid to Colombia and Israel, as well as its opposition to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,” according to the AP. Numerous witnesses said that the office of the Anti-War Committee was also raided by the FBI.
Both Kelly and Sundin participated in organizing mass protests against the Republican National Convention held in St. Paul, Minnesota in 2008. Hundreds were arrested in police raids then, including eight anarchists who were charged with terrorism under Minnesota’s version of the Patriot Act (See: “Political dissent as terrorism: ‘Minnesota Patriot Act’ charges filed against RNC Eight”)
Also raided in Minneapolis early Friday were the homes of antiwar activists Meredith Aby and Anh Pham, as well as the home of Tracy Molm, a leader of Students for a Democratic Society at the University of Minnesota.
The two reported Chicago raids targeted the homes of antiwar and gay rights activist Andy Thayer and Tom Burke of the Columbia Action Network. According to Fox News of Chicago, one of the raids invaded a house “that property records link to the director of the Arab-American Action Network.” Ross Rice, spokesman for the FBI, refused to provide details on what took place in Chicago.
“I’m really profoundly troubled by [the raids],” attorney Bruce Nestor told the St. Paul Pioneer Press. “Overwhelmingly they’re people who are doing public political organizing, so I think it’s shocking to have heavily armed federal agents show up at their homes.”
The federal law prohibiting “material support of terrorism” was established in 1996 and “has been interpreted so broadly to really endanger the rights of US citizens to oppose the military and foreign policies of the United States,” Nestor added. “This is a direct attack on people who are strong, dedicated advocates of freedom, of the right of people to be free from US domination. It is an attack upon anybody who organizes against US imperialism and US militarism abroad.”
Amy Goodman talks to anti-war activists targeted in FBI raids in Chicago and Minn.: here.
Activists Protest FBI Raids and Grand Jury Subpoenas: here.
An editorial in Monday’s New York Times ostensibly criticizing the FBI for spying on political groups makes no mention of Friday’s raids on antiwar activists in Chicago and Minneapolis: here.
Admin Seeks Easy Access to Americans’ Private Online Communications; Spying Powers Already Too Broad, Says ACLU: here.
Attorneys for four men charged with plotting to bomb two Jewish synagogues in New York City are currently cross-examining an FBI informant who specializes in entrapping Muslims in manufactured “terror” cases: here.
The New York Times carried a report Monday on widespread phone tapping by the US government, whose agencies routinely demand and receive private information on callers from the cell phone companies: here.
The FBI is going to great lengths to keep its secret files on animal rights activists a secret: here.
Related articles
- Antiwar.com Editor Demands FBI File Fix (theamericanconservative.com)
- Anti-war activists fight government secrecy on FBI raids (workers.org)
- The New Antiwar Release: “They can’t keep this stuff secret. Nothing is secret anymore.” (emptywheel.net)
- Stratfor hacker Jeremy Hammond sentenced to ten years in jail – RT (rt.com)
- The FBI Doesn’t Want You To Know Why It Won’t Tell You Its Secrets (huffingtonpost.com)
- FBI monitored anti-war website in error for six years, documents show (fromthetrenchesworldreport.com)
- How an ex-animal activist is forcing the FBI to tell him its secrets (theverge.com)
Dear Kitty. Some blog 
The International Action Center supports the call below from the Minnesota Antiwar Committee for Emergency Actions at federal buildings and FBI offices on Monday and Tuesday, September 28 and 29 to Support Anti-War and International Solidarity Activists and Stop FBI Raids and Harassment, and urges you to participate in one of the actions listed below or to organize an action in your city if one is not already planned.
In solidarity,
Sara Flounders and John Parker, Co-Directors, International Action Center
Emergency Actions to Support Anti-War and International Solidarity Activists
Stop FBI Raids and Harassment
We denounce the Federal Bureau of Investigation harassment of anti-war and solidarity activists. The FBI raided seven houses and an office in Chicago and Minneapolis on Friday, September 24, 2010. The FBI handed subpoenas to testify before a federal grand jury to eleven activists in Illinois, Minnesota, and Michigan. The FBI also attempted to intimidate activists in California and North Carolina.
This suppression of civil rights is aimed at those who dedicate their time and energy to supporting the struggles of the Palestinian and Colombian peoples against U.S. funded occupation and war. The FBI has indicated that the grand jury is investigating the activists for possible material support of terrorism charges.
The activists involved have done nothing wrong and are refusing to be pulled into conversations with the FBI about their political views or organizing against war and occupation. The activists are involved with many groups, including: the Twin Cities Anti-War Committee, the Palestine Solidarity Group, the Colombia Action Network, Students for a Democratic Society, and Freedom Road Socialist Organization. These activists came together with many others to organize the 2008 anti-war marches on the Republican National Convention in St. Paul.
We ask people of conscience to join us in fighting this political repression, as we continue working to build the movements against US war and occupation.
Take Action:
Call the U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder at 202-353-1555 or write an email to: AskDOJ@usdoj.gov.
Demand:
**Stop the repression against anti-war and international solidarity activists.
**Immediately return all confiscated materials: computers, cell phones, papers, documents, etc.
**End the grand jury proceedings against anti-war activists.
Plan and Support national days of protest at FBI offices or Federal Buildings, September 27 and 28th.
A demonstration has been called at the Minneapolis FBI Office Monday, 4:30, September 27th (111 Washington Ave. S.).
In Solidarity, the Anti-War Committee – http://www.antiwarcommittee.org
The following is a list of the 19 planned protests that we have heard of so far, and the list is growing. Please participate in the one nearest you, or if there is not one in your city, organize one and let us know at iacenter@iacenter.org so we can publicize it and add it to the list:
Please be in touch with the Minnesota Anti-War Committee – http://www.antiwarcommittee.org
Monday 9/27:
Minneapolis, MN – 4:30, FBI Office Monday, 111 Washington Ave. S.
Chicago, IL – 4:30 Fedeeral Building, Federal Plaza.
Kalamazoo, MI – 4:30 Federal Building, 410 W Michigan Ave
Salt Lake City, Utah – 9 AM at Federal Building
Durham, NC – 12 noon Federal Building, 323 E Chapel Hill St
Buffalo, NY- 4:30 pm at FBI Building – Corner of So. Elmwood Ave. & Niagara St.
Gainesville, FL – Monday, 4:30 PM at FBI Building
Tuesday 9/28:
NYC, NY – 4:30 to 6pm Federal Building, 26 Federal Plaza,
Newark, NJ – 5 to 6pm Federal Building Broad Street
Philadelphia, PA – 4:30pm Federal Building, 6th & Market,
Washington DC – 4:30 – 5:30 FBI Building, 935 Pennsylvania Ave NW.
Boston, MA – 5 pm, JFK Federal Building
Detroit, MI – 4:30 pm McNamara Federal Building, Michigan Ave. at Cass
Raleigh, NC – 9 am. Federal Building, 310 New Bern Ave
Asheville, NC – 5 pm Federal Building,
Atlanta, GA – Noon, FBI Building
Los Angeles, CA – 5 pm, Downtown Federal Building, 300 N Los Angeles St
Tucson, AZ – 5 pm Federal Building
Wednesday 9/29:
Albany, NY – 5 to 6 pm Federal Building
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Labor Activists Condemn FBI Repression
September 28, 2010
We deplore FBI raids on antiwar and Palestinian rights activists that took place in several cities on Friday, September 24, 2010.
The FBI claims it is investigating support for “terrorism.” But why are these activists really being targeted?
–For organizing antiwar protests at the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota, at which hundreds were beaten and arrested.
–For expressing solidarity with labor and popular movements in Colombia, where U.S.-funded government death squads have systematically assassinated hundreds of trade unionists.
–For opposing U.S. support of Israeli apartheid, which faces growing international isolation following its brutal war against the people of Gaza.
One such activist is Hatem Abudayyeh, executive director of the Arab American Action Network in Chicago. While at the hospital where his mother is battling cancer, more than half a dozen FBI agents invaded his home and seized any document containing the word “Palestine.”
A remarkable number of the others are longtime labor activists:
*Joe Iosbaker, chief steward and executive board member of SEIU Local 73 in Chicago, where he has led struggles at the University of Illinois for employee rights and pay equity. He is a supporter of Labor for Palestine.
His wife, Stephanie Weiner, is a founding member and former executive board member and past member of the bargaining committee of AFSCME Local 3506 at Chicago City Colleges. She is a Palestine solidarity activist.
As Brother Iosbaker explained, FBI agents “systematically [went] through every room, our basement, our attic, our childrens’ rooms, and pored through not just all of our papers, but our music collection, our childrens’ artwork, my son’s poetry journal from high school — everything.”
*Tom Burke, former executive board member and union steward in SEIU Local 73 at the Oak Park River Forest public schools.
*Steff York and Jess Sundin, members of AFSCME Local 3800 and leaders of strikes at the University of Minnesota in 2004 and 2007.
*Tracy Molm, staff person for AFSCME Local 3800 in Minneapolis.
*Meredith Aby, member of Education Minnesota (NEA/AFT).
*Mick Kelly, member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
Such political witch-hunts against social justice activists — under both Democrats and Republicans — are nothing new for the FBI.
In the 1950s, it spearheaded McCarthyism.
In the 1960s, its infamous COINTELPRO campaign targeted leaders of the civil rights and antiwar movements, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Black Panther Party. It attacked the American Indian and Puerto Rican independence movements.
Until recently, even Nelson Mandela was on the U.S. government’s politically-determined “terrorism” list.
In the wake of 9/11, the Bush administration — with bipartisan Congressional support — launched a new attack on civil liberties and immigrant rights, thereby promoting war abroad and fueling a wave of racism and anti-Muslim bigotry at home.
Today, the Obama administration similarly exploits the pretext of “terrorism” in an effort to silence growing opposition to U.S. wars and apartheid Israel.
Indeed, these raids came only four days after the Department of Justice Inspector General criticized the FBI for targeting domestic groups such as Greenpeace and the pacifist Thomas Merton Center.
Like Dr. King before us, we will not be silenced. Instead, we ask all members of the labor movement to join us in demanding:
1. Stop the repression against trade union, antiwar and international solidarity activists.
2. Immediately return all confiscated materials: computers, cell phones, papers, documents, personal belongings, etc.
3. End the Grand Jury proceedings and FBI raids against trade union, antiwar and international solidarity activists.
Further, we join with the San Francisco Labor Council, which on September 27 called on all labor bodies, including Change to Win and the AFL-CIO, to declare their support for these demands before, during and after the One Nation March in Washington, DC on October 2.
Initial Signers
(List in formation — ALL UNION BODIES LISTED FOR IDENTIFICATION ONLY. Endorse this statement:
Larry Adams, Former President, NPMHU L. 300; Co-Convener, New York City Labor Against the War; People’s Organization for Progress
Michael Letwin, Former President, ALAA/UAW L. 2325; Co-Convener, New York City Labor Against the War; Labor for Palestine; Al-Awda NY; International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network/Labor
Brenda Stokely, Former President, AFSCME DC 1707; Co-Convener, New York City Labor Against the War; Co-Chair, Million Worker March Movement
Monadel Herzallah, President, Arab American Union Members Council, California
Stanley Heller, AFT L. 1547, Delegate, CT Central Labor Council
Lee Sustar, NWU/UAW L. 1981
Anthony Arnove, NWU/UAW L. 1981, NYC
Andy Griggs, Retired Social Justice Teacher/Unionist
Emma Rosenthal, Retired Social Justice Teacher/Unionist; Cafe Intifada and LA-Palestine Labor Solidarity
Mike Gimbel, Retired Former Executive Board Member, AFSCME L. 375
Dave Welsh, Delegate, San Francisco Labor Council
Marty Goodman, Former Executive Bd. Member, TWU L. 100
Azalia Torres, Former Executive Bd. Member, ALAA/UAW L. 2325
Julie Fry, Vice-President, ALAA/UAW L. 2325
Steve Terry, ALAA/UAW L. 2325
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SIGN to Stop FBI Repression of Anti-War Activists NOW
Condemn the FBI Raids and Harassment of Anti-War and International Solidarity Activists!
Tell President Obama, Attorney General Holder, DOJ Inspector General Fine, the Senate and House Judiciary Committees, Congressional Leaders, U.N. Secy Gen Ban, and members of the media to STOP THE FBI CAMPAIGN OF REPRESSION AGAINST ANTI-WAR AND INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY ACTIVISTS NOW!
Sign the Petition Now: iacenter.org/stopfbi
**Stop the repression against anti-war and international solidarity activists.
**Immediately return all confiscated materials: computers, cell phones, papers, documents, etc.
**End the grand jury proceedings against anti-war activists.
Be part of the united opposition to this FBI campaign of harassment and intimidation. Make your voice heard!
The Committee to Stop FBI Repression ( stopfbi.net ) and the International Action Center urge you to sign the petition at iacenter.org/stopfbi demanding justice. Over a dozen activists across the country have already been raided. Only our united opposition will stop this harassment.
Your message will go to President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Attorney General Eric Holder, DOJ Inspector General Fine, Congressional leaders, the Senate and House Judiciary Committees, U.N. Secretary General Ban, along with Major media representatives.
We denounce the Federal Bureau of Investigation harassment of anti-war and solidarity activists. The FBI raided seven houses and an office in Chicago and Minneapolis on Friday, September 24, 2010. The FBI served subpoenas to testify before a federal grand jury to 13 activists in Illinois, Minnesota, and Michigan. The FBI also attempted to intimidate activists in Wisconsin, California and North Carolina.
The FBI confiscated computers, email and mailing lists, cell phones , cameras, videos, books, and passports. This is a dangerous attack on the constitutional rights of free speech of every social justice, antiwar and human rights activist and organization in the U.S. today. The right to speak, meet and write opinions is guaranteed under the constitution.
This suppression of civil rights is aimed at those who dedicate their time and energy to supporting the struggles of the Palestinian and Colombian peoples against U.S. funded occupation and war. Grand Jury subpoenas investigating material support of terrorism are being used to silence highly respected and well known human rights activists. This is dangerous national effort to shut down growing opposition to U.S. wars. It cannot be allowed.
The FBI and the Grand Jury are threatening courageous individuals who have written and spoken publicly to broaden understanding of social justice issues of war and occupation. The activists are involved with many groups, including: the Twin Cities Anti-War Committee, the Palestine Solidarity Group, the Colombia Action Network, Students for a Democratic Society, and Freedom Road Socialist Organization. These activists came together with many others to organize the 2008 anti-war marches on the Republican National Convention in St. Paul.
We ask people of conscience to join us in fighting this political repression, as we continue working to build the movements against US war and occupation.
Sign the Petition Now: iacenter.org/stopfbi
Petition text:
To: President Barack Obama, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder
cc: Vice President Biden, DOJ Inspector General Fine, the Senate and House Judiciary Committees, Congressional Leaders, the Congressional Black Caucus, U.N. Secy Gen Ban, and members of the media
** Stop the repression against anti-war and international solidarity activists.
** Immediately return all confiscated materials: computers, cell phones, papers, documents, etc.
** End the grand jury proceedings against anti-war activists.
I am writing to demand justice and an end to the FBI’s continued harassment of antiwar and international solidarity activists, activists who are guilty of no crime but opposition to U.S. foreign policy. On Friday, September 24, 2010 the FBI raided seven houses and an office in Chicago and Minneapolis. The FBI served subpoenas to testify before a federal grand jury to eleven activists in Illinois, Minnesota, and Michigan. The FBI also attempted to intimidate activists in California, Wisconsin and North Carolina. This is not the action of a lone prosecutor. The raids were coordinated nationally, spanned several cities, and many other activists have been visited and personally threatened by the FBI.
The FBI confiscated computers, email and mailing lists, cell phones , cameras, videos, books, and passports. This is a dangerous attack on the constitutional rights of free speech of every social justice, antiwar and human rights activist and organization in the U.S. today. The right to speak, meet and write opinions is guaranteed under the constitution.
This suppression of civil rights is aimed at those who dedicate their time and energy to supporting the struggles of the Palestinian and Colombian peoples against U.S. funded occupation and war. Grand Jury subpoenas investigating material support of terrorism are being used to silence highly respected and well known human rights activists. This is a dangerous national effort to shut down growing opposition to U.S. wars. It cannot be allowed.
The FBI and the Grand Jury are threatening courageous individuals who have written and spoken publicly to broaden understanding of social justice issues of war and occupation. The activists are involved with many groups, including: the Twin Cities Anti-War Committee, the Palestine Solidarity Group, the Colombia Action Network, Students for a Democratic Society, and Freedom Road Socialist Organization. These activists came together with many others to organize the 2008 anti-war marches on the Republican National Convention in St. Paul.
The FBI and the U.S. government must end this campaign of intimidation against anti-war and international solidarity activists. I am outraged at this disrespect of democratic rights. I ask that you intervene immediately to:
** Stop the repression against anti-war and international solidarity activists.
** Immediately return all confiscated materials: computers, cell phones, papers, documents, etc.
** End the grand jury proceedings against anti-war activists.
Sincerely
(your signature here)
Sign the Petition Now: iacenter.org/stopfbi
You can also call the U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder at 202-353l-1555 or write an email to: AskDOJ@usdoj.gov demanding an end to the FBI raids, return of all confiscated materials and an end to the Grand Jury witchhunt.
Contact the Committee to Stop FBI Repression
at stopfbi.net
ANTI-RAID DEMONSTRATIONS TAKING PLACE NATIONWIDE IN 31 CITIES
The following cities are acting:
Monday 9/27:
Minneapolis; Duluth, Minn.; Chicago; Kalamazoo, Mich.; Kansas City, Mo.; Salt Lake City, Utah; Durham, N.C; Buffalo, N.Y; Boston; Gainesville, Fla.; Houston
Tuesday 9/28:
New York City , N.Y.; Newark, N.J.; Philadelphia; Pittsburgh, Penn.; Washington D.C.; Richmond, Va.; Hartford, Conn.; Columbus, Ohio; Cleveland; Detroit; Raleigh, N.C.; Asheville, N.C.; Atlanta; Tucson, Ariz.; Los Angeles; San Francisco
Wednesday 9/29: Albany, N.Y.
Friday, 10/1: Dallas, Springfield, MA
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Press Statement
October 5, 2010
ILPS CONDEMNS RISE OF FASCIST CURRENT IN THE US
AND URGES THE AMERICAN PEOPLE TO FIGHT BACK
By Prof. Jose Maria Sison
Chairperson, International League of Peoples’ Struggle
At the center of the world capitalist system, the current of fascism is running high. It is whipping up the terrorism scare, racism, xenophobia, anti-migrant prejudices and religious bigotry. The Republican and Democratic parties keep moving towards the Right, egged on by ultra-Rightist groups and sections of the corporate mass media.
The finance oligarchy and the military-industrial complex are deliberately generating the fascist current and its various ingredients in order to conceal the root cause of the financial and economic crisis, to cover up their criminal culpability, to shift the burden of crisis to the proletariat and the people and to scapegoat the anti-imperialist and peace activists, the immigrants, the people of color, the Arabs and Muslims.
The fascist current took a new ugly turn when on Friday, September 24, 2010 the FBI raided at least six houses in Chicago and Minneapolis and began a US-wide intimidation campaign of activists who work with organizations such as the Palestine Solidarity Group, Students for a Democratic Society, the Twin-Cities Anti-War Committee, the Colombia Action Network, the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and the National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera (a Colombian political prisoner).
As revealed by the warrants and line of questioning by the FBI agents, the activists are being targeted and pilloried for their solidarity work with the people’s struggles for national self-determination abroad as well as for their work within the US to build a movement to oppose US imperialism, crisis and war. The intimidation campaign has included FBI raids, visits and Grand Jury subpoenas. It is obviously inspired by the reactionary ruling of the US Supreme Court in Holder vs. Humanitarian Law Project on June 22, 2010.
The said Supreme Court ruling has made it a crime to provide support, including humanitarian aid, literature distribution, legal advice, and political advocacy to any entity that the government has designated as a foreign terrorist organization, even when such support is intended solely to promote the lawful and non-violent activities of a designated organization.
Civil rights advocates and a section of the mainstream media have condemned the Supreme Court ruling and have denounced the decision as violative of the US constitution by criminalizing free speech and imposing guilt by association. On July 26, the Washington Post began publishing an investigative series critical of the extensive counterterrorism and intelligence network put up by the US government in reaction to the 9/11/2001 attacks.
In an interview on Democracy Now, the Washington Post reporters discussed how the top-secret world of US intelligence agencies has become ?so large, so unwieldy and so secretive that no one knows how much money it costs, how many people it employs, how many programs exist within it or exactly how many agencies do the same work?. Among the findings: about 854,000 people hold top-secret security clearances; and more than 1,200 government organizations and nearly 2,000 private companies work on programs related to counter-terrorism, homeland security and intelligence in 10,000 locations. The US has practically become the biggest police state in the world.
The Obama administration is not any more gentle and kind than the Bush administration. On September 24 (same day as the FBI raids), it filed a court motion urging a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union and Center for Constitutional Rights against the assertion that the US can assassinate US citizens anywhere in the world, without any clear criteria about who can be assassinated. The Obama administration cited an act on state secrets, prohibiting the public revelation of information prejudicial to national security, as the cover for assassinations.
The US is increasingly applying on its own citizens and other residents in the US the same viciousness and brutality it has applied on entire peoples outside of its national borders. An imperialist power that holds captive and brutalizes other peoples is ever inclined to oppress the people within its borders. Since September 21, 2001, US imperialism has unleashed wars of aggression and has whipped up state terrorism through its allies and puppets abroad. At the same time, it has enacted the USA PATRIOT Act in order to curtail and suppress the democratic rights and freedoms of the people in the US.
We firmly stand in solidarity with all the people in the US and vigorously support their struggle against US imperialism and all its ruthless policies and acts to exploit and oppress. We call on all the member-organizations and allies of the ILPS in the US to contribute the most that they can in arousing, organizing and mobilizing the people of various nationalities in the US to uphold, defend and advance their democratic rights and to resist the latest FBI raids and all other oppressive and exploitative acts of the imperialist state.
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Oslo wants US spy claims probed
NORWAY: Oslo has asked the US to clarify its surveillance activities in the country after a TV report suggested that it may have violated Norwegian law.
Norway’s TV2 claimed that the US set up a surveillance unit in 2000 which systematically monitored Norwegian residents deemed potential risks to US interests.
Norwegian government officials said they were unaware of the US operations.
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/
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