Security through InSecurity Increase the level of paranoia.....bombs in the metro.....bombs in Oklahoma......bombs in the World Trade Center.....bombs in Mururoa..... Who are the real terrorists? Edam Salem, who was a key witness in the so called NYC terrorist conspiracy, was a paid informant for the FBI (and was also working with the FBI before the bombing of the WTC). Salem was the one who set up a hidden video camera and taped a "bomb making class" thereby entrapping the participants when the secret tape was used as damning evidence, claiming that the fertilizer and fuel oil bomb they were cooking up was meant for the U.N., the Lincoln and Holland Tunnels, and the Federal Building in Lower Manhattan. Even though no bombs ever went off in any of those locations, all were found guilty of sedition (through an obsure, 19th century law not invoked since the American Civil War)....Muslim Fundamentalist Terrorists.....that was the catchy phrase. Enough to inspire fear in the public....enough to convince them that the new "anti-terrorist" laws are meant to "protect" them. Was the US government (or at least the FBI) complicit in the so called terrorist bombings? If so, their strategy seems to be working. The new anti-terrorist laws recently passed seriously erode civil liberties and bring the US closer to a police state. The new laws provide increased police powers, surveillance of the general population through use and development of technology and tactical training for a growing number of police and military, in preparation for urban warfare and counter terrorism operations. What happened to the US Constitution? How did the government get the general public to accept greater police control over their lives without provoking large-scale revolt? Create fear of terrorism and identify a defined enemy, and the general public will give up privacy and civil liberties in favor of "security". Wheather the bombs are in the metro, Oklahoma, or in the Pacific atolls of Polynesia--the bombs themselves merely fuel the real weapon: FEAR. A fear that the ordinary suddenly becomes deadly....a fear which provokes irrationality....a fear which begs for protection....at any cost. The message of the state: create a State of Insecurity in order to establish Security--by any means. Ask yourselves--is this what you want? Paul Garrin New York City November 3, 1995 --- # distributed via nettime-l : no commercial use without permission # is a closed moderated mailinglist for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: majordomo@is.in-berlin.de and "info nettime" in the msg body # URL: http://www.desk.nl/nettime/ contact: nettime-owner@is.in-berlin.de