Notes & Sources

4. The United States of BOO!

George W. Bush, with a straight face, explained to us that the terrorists hated our democratically elected leaders on September 20, 2001. The speech was Bush's formal announcement that the two nouns "freedom" and "fear" were at war. A full transcript can be found through www.whitehouse.gov.

Cheney's views on our "new normalcy" a condition that "will become permanent in American life," are well documented, but for a little more information on this normalcy, check out "Barricades cover their muscle with warmth," Renee Tawa, Los Angeles Times, November 8, 2001 - a report on the attempts to make concrete barricades more "elegant."

Statistics used to determine one's chance of dying in a terrorist incident are taken from the Population Estimates Program and Populations Projections Program of the Census Bureau report "Annual Projections of the Total Resident Population as of July 1. Middle, Lowest, Highest, and Zero International Migration Series, 1999 -2100" on www.census.gov. Statistics on dying from flu, pneumonia, suicide, being a homicide victim, or in a car accident come from The Centers For Disease Control National Vital Statistics Reports: "Deaths: Preliminary Data for 2001", March 14, 2003.

For FBI terror alerts and information about shoe bombs and security on transportation go to www.fbi.gov. Articles on terrorism and counterfeit goods can be found in The International Herald Tribune "Terrorist groups sell Sham Consumer Goods to Raise Money, Interpol Head Says," David Johnston, July 18, 2003; Congressional Testimony, Senate Governmental Affairs, Terrorism Financing, July 31, 2003; "Hearing of the House International Relations Committee," Federal News Service, July 16, 2003; Judd Slivka, "Terrorists planned to set wildfires, FBI memo warned," Arizona Republic, July 13, 2003; Amber Mobley, "A conspicuous terror target is called hard to topple," New York Times, June 20, 2003; Rhonda Bell, "Suspicious package on porch a false alarm," Times-Picayune (New Orleans), October 13, 2001.

For information about the Project for the New American Century, visit www. newamericancentury.org. For more on Bush's doctrine of permanent war, and the immediate use of September 11 to set the stage for attacking even more countries, see: John Diamond, "Bush puts focus on protracted war with global goals," Chicago Tribune, September 14, 2001; "Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz discusses the course of action the U.S. may take after Tuesday's attacks," NPR's All Things Considered, September 14, 2001; Christopher Dickey, et al., "Votes in Congress," New York Times, May 25, 2003; Maureen Dowd, "Neocon coup at the Department d'Etat," New York Times, August 6, 2003.

Rumsfeld's promise of permanent war was made October 4, 2001. It can be found at www.defenselink.mil.

Information on Russell Feingold (D-Wisconsin) and his lone vote against the Patriot Act, see: Nick Anderson, "His 'No' vote on the Terror Bill earns respect," Los Angeles Times, October 31, 2001; Emily Pierce, "Feingold defiant over vote against anti-terrorism bill," Congressional Quarterly, November 2, 2001; Judy Mann, "Speeches and symbolism do little to solve our problems," Washington Post, October 31, 2001. Matthew Rothschild, "Russ Feingold," The Progressive, May 2002. Russ Feingold's entire statement in opposition to the Patriot Act can be found at his Web site, www. russfeingold.org. For more on the Patriot Act, and the text of the act itself, visit the Electronic Privacy Information Center at www.epic.org/ privacy/terrorism/usapatriot. Also visit the ACLU at www.aclu.org and the American Library Association at www.ala.org. For more on the White House pushing the act through Congress, and Congress not reading the final version before voting on it, check out Steven Brill's After: Rebuilding and Defending America in the September 12 Era, Simon & Schuster, 2003, and "Surveillance under the 'USA/Patriot Act,'" ACLU, 2002.

For specifics of the bill, refer to the Senate Judiciary hearings of October 9, 2002; "How the anti-terrorism bill puts financial privacy at risk," ACLU, October 23, 2001; "Imbalance of Power," Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, September 2002-March 2003; Nat Hentoff, "No 'sneak and peak,'" Washington Times, August 4, 2003.

Dan Eggen and Robert O'Harrow Jr. reported on Ashcroft's "emergency" warrants and non-emergency warrants in the March 24, 2003, edition of the Washington Post, "U.S. steps up secret surveillance." Also see, Anne Gearan, "Supreme Court rejects attempt to appeal cases testing scope of secret spy court," Associated Press, March 24, 2003; Curt Anderson, "Ashcroft accelerates use of emergency spy warrants in antiterror fight," Associated Press, March 24, 2003; Evelyn Nieves, "Local officials rise up to defy the Patriot Act," Washington Post, April 21, 2003; Jerry Seper, "Congressmen seek clarifications of Patriot Act powers," Washington Times, April 3, 2003.

If you would like to read the Justice Department's report on detainees, "U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General: Report to Congress on Implementation of Section 1001 of the USA Patriot Act," July 17, 2003, check www.findlaw.com.

You can view the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Web site at www.darpa. mil. For more about Poindexter, DARPA, and the Policy Analysis Market, see Floyd Norris, "Betting on Terror: What Markets Can Reveal," New York Times, August 3, 2003; Stephen J. Hedges, "Poindexter to quit over terror futures plan," Chicago Tribune, August 1, 2003; Peter Behr, "U.S. files new Enron complaints," Washington Post, March 13, 2003; and Allison Stevens, "Senators want 'Terrorism' futures market closed," Congressional Quarterly Daily Monitor, July 28, 2003.

If you would like to learn more about the situation at Guantanamo Bay, see "Imbalance of Power," Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, as well as Matthew Hay Brown, "At Camp Iquana, the enemies are children," Hartford Courant, July 20, 2003; Paisley Dodds, --> "Detainees giving information for incentives, general says," Chicago Tribune, July 25, 2003.

Reports on government abuses under the Patriot Act can be found in Philip Shenon, "Report on U.S. antiterrorism law alleges violations of civil rights," New York Times, July 21, 2003; "Code-red cartoonists," USA Today, July 24, 2003; and Tom Brune, "Rights abuses probed," Newsday, July 22, 2003.

John Clarke recounted his story of interrogation as he tried to reenter America from Canada in "Interrogation at the U.S. border," Counterpunch, February 25, 2002; Many of the other stories of a government out of control come from Neil Mackay, "Rage. Mistrust. Hatred. Fear. Uncle Sam's enemies within," Sunday Herald, June 29, 2003. Also see, "Judge steps down after admitting ethnic slur," Associated Press, June 18, 2003; "Six French journalists stopped in L .A., refused admission to U.S.," Associated Press, May 21, 2003; "Cop photographs class projects during 1:30 AM visit," Associated Press, May 5, 2003; Matthew Rothschild, "Enforced conformity," The Progressive, July 1, 2003; Dave Lindorff, "The Government's air passenger blacklist," New Haven Advocate; Matthew Norman, "Comment & Analysis," The Guardian, March 19, 2002; "Show doesn't make evil man sympathetic," USA Today, May 18, 2003; "Principal bans Oscar winning documentary," Hartford Courant, April 6, 2003. Ari Fleischer's Big Brother admonition to Americans can be found at www. whitehouse.gov, and was widely reported.

For more on the INS visas for terrorists debacle, see Bill Saporito, et al., "Deporting the INS: Granting visas for terrorists after 9/11 could be the last gaffe for the Immigration Service," Time Magazine, March 25, 2002.