[mobglob-discuss] The war on dissent - By NAOMI KLEIN

[Tom Childs]

http://globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20031125/CONAOMI25/TPComment/Columnists


The war on dissent
 
Heavy-handed police and propaganda tactics brought Baghdad to Miami
 
By NAOMI KLEIN
 
  Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2003 

In December, 1990, U.S. President George Bush Sr. travelled through
South America to sell the continent on a bold new dream: "a free-trade
system that links all of the Americas." Addressing the Argentine
congress, he said that the plan, later to be named the Free-Trade Area
of the Americas would be "our hemisphere's new declaration of
interdependence . . . the brilliant new dawn of a splendid new world."

Last week, Mr. Bush's two sons joined forces to try to usher in that
new world by holding the FTAA negotiations in friendly Florida. This is
the state that Governor Jeb Bush vowed to "deliver" to his brother
during the 2000 presidential elections, even if that meant keeping many
African-Americans from exercising their right to vote. Now Jeb Bush was
vowing to hand his brother the coveted trade deal, even if that meant
keeping thousands from exercising their right to protest.

And yet, despite the Bush brothers' best efforts, the dream of a
hemisphere united into a single free-market economy died last week. It
was killed not by demonstrators in Miami, but by the populations of
Brazil, Argentina, and Bolivia, which have let their politicians know
that if they sign away any more power to foreign multinationals, they
may as well not come home.

The Brazilians brokered a compromise that makes the agreement a
pick-and-choose affair, allowing governments to sign on to the parts
they like and refuse the ones they don't. Washington will, of course,
continue to try to bully individual countries and groups of nations into
sweeping trade contracts on the model of the North American free-trade
agreement, but there will be no single, unified deal.

Inside the Hotel Inter-Continental, it was being called "FTAA Lite."

Outside, we experienced something distinctly heavier: "War Lite." In
fact, the more control the U.S. trade representatives lost at the
negotiating table, the more raw power the police exerted on the
streets.

"Our goal was to drown you out," one Miami-Dade police officer
explained to me, and that's exactly what they did. Small, peaceful
demonstrations were attacked with extreme force; organizations were
infiltrated by undercover officers who then used stun guns on activists;
busses filled with union members were prevented from joining permitted
marches; dozens of young faces were smashed into concrete and beaten
bloody with batons; human rights activists had guns pointed at their
heads at military-style checkpoints.

Police violence outside of trade summits is not new, but what was
striking about Miami was how divorced the security response was from
anything resembling an actual threat. From an activist perspective, the
protests were disappointingly small and almost embarrassingly obedient,
an understandable response to weeks of police intimidation.

Listening to the incessant roar of helicopters and the march of police
boots, I couldn't shake the feeling that something new was going on. It
felt less like we were the targets of this operation than the target
practice, unwitting extras in an elaborate military drill.

The FTAA Summit in Miami represents the official homecoming of the "war
on terror." The latest tactical and propaganda techniques honed in Iraq
-- from a Hollywoodized military to a militarized media -- have now been
used on a grand scale in a major U.S. city. "This should be a model for
homeland defence," Miami Mayor Manny Diaz proudly said of the security
operation that brought together over 40 law-enforcement agencies, from
the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to the Department of Fish and
Wildlife.

But in order for the Miami Model to work, the police first had to
establish a connection between legitimate activists and dangerous
terrorists. Enter Miami Police Chief John Timoney, an avowed enemy of
activist "punks" who repeatedly classified FTAA opponents as "outsiders
coming in to terrorize and vandalize our city."

With the activists recast as dangerous aliens, Miami became eligible
for the open tap of public money irrigating the "war on terror." In
fact, $8.5-million spent on security during the FTAA meeting came
directly out of the $87-billion President Bush extracted from Congress
for Iraq last month -- a fact barely reported outside of the Miami
press.

But more was borrowed from the Iraq invasion than just money. Miami
police also invited reporters to "embed" with them in armoured vehicles
and helicopters. As in Iraq, most reporters embraced their role as
pseudo-soldiers with unsettling zeal, suiting up in ridiculous combat
helmets and brand-new camouflage flak jackets.

The resulting media coverage was the familiar wartime combination of
dramatic images and non-information. We know, thanks to an "embed" from
the Miami Herald, that Police Chief Timoney was working so hard hunting
down troublemakers that by 3:30 on Thursday, "he had eaten only a banana
and an oatmeal cookie since 6 a.m."

Local television stations didn't cover the protests so much as hover
over them. Their helicopters showed images of confrontations but instead
of hearing the voices on the streets -- voices of demonstrators pleading
with police to stop shooting and clearly following orders to disperse --
we heard only from senior police officials and perky news anchors
commiserating with the boys on the front line.

Meanwhile, independent journalists who dared to do their jobs and film
the police violence up close were actively targeted. "She's not with
us," one officer told another as they grabbed Ana Nogueira, a
correspondent with Pacifica Radio's Democracy Now! who was covering a
peaceful protest outside the Miami-Dade county jail. When the police
established that Ms. Nogueira was indeed "not with us" (i.e. neither an
embedded reporter nor an undercover cop) she was hauled away and
charged.

The Miami Model of dealing with dissent reaches far beyond a single
meeting. On Sunday, the New York Times reported on a leaked FBI bulletin
revealing "a co-ordinated, nationwide effort to collect intelligence" on
the U.S. anti-war movement. The memorandum singles out perfectly lawful
protest activities including non-violence training, videotaping of
police actions and Internet organizing. Anthony Romero, executive
director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said that the document
revealed that, "The FBI is dangerously targeting Americans who are
engaged in nothing more than lawful protest and dissent. The line
between terrorism and legitimate civil disobedience is blurred."

We can expect much more of these tactics on the homeland front. Just as
civil liberties violations escalated when Washington lost control over
the FTAA process, so will repression increase as the Bush crew faces the
ultimate threat: losing control over the White House.

Already, Jim Wilkinson, director of strategic communications at U.S.
Central Command in Doha, Qatar, (the operation that gave the world the
Jessica Lynch rescue), has moved to New York to head up media operations
for the Republican National Convention. "We're looking at embedding
reporters," he told the New York Observer of his plans to use some of
the Iraq tricks during the convention. "We're looking at new and
interesting camera angles."

The war is coming home.

Naomi Klein is the author of No Logo and Fences and Windows.


--
Tom Childs - Audio/Visual Resources
Douglas College Library
New Westminster, B.C. Canada
T: 604 527-5713 - Library
T: 604 524-9316 - Lulu Island
E: childst at douglas.bc.ca 
U: BCGEU Local 703
W: http://www.globaljustice.ca 
   
     "There's no way to delay, that trouble comin' everyday."
                                    --Frank Zappa