How the War on Terror has become a war on civil liberties

September 11th, 2001 shall be a day that lives in infamy; not the same as the attack on Pearl Harbor which became a day of infamy as well. For in that day of infamy; December 7^th, 1941, the US went to war against Japan in the Pacific theater. On September 11th, 2001, the World Trade Center was attacked according to most, by terrorists directed by Osama Bin Laden in two separate attacks using commercial jets. Some dispute this, mainly on the grounds of the mysterious collapse of tower seven several hours later despite the fact that there were only a few minor fires and that it was never hit, even by major debris falling from the collapse of towers one and two. Surrounding buildings that were never struck by planes and not a part of the World Trade Center sustained much more damage from falling debris, but did not collapse, despite their greater age. Thus there are questions surrounding exactly what went on at the World Trade Center. Thousands of people trapped in towers one and two died when they imploded and collapsed. In addition, the strike on the Pentagon was suspicious as no heavy jet engines were found at the site of the impact and the hole left was too small to fit the commercial jet that allegedly flew and crashed into it. Other anomalies abound and have fed a lot of questions and ideas of what exactly occurred. Out of this was born a movement; the 911 Truth Organization. Despite the questions and doubts, a far more sinister event began to unfold as the war on terror became a fact of our lives and the lives of people around the world. This sinister act was the systematic dismantling of US civil liberties and rights protected in the past under the Bill of Rights, its amendments, the US Constitution and the loss of habeas corpus. This occurred in drafting and passing of the Patriot Act, the Homeland Securities Acts and following amendments to these. But this is not the end of it as lately the House of Representatives and the Senate quietly passed the extradition act that gives the US police under Interpol, The FBI, CIA, US security specialists and the military to extradite anyone from around the world and to imprison them without charge for life and no chance for a hearing or even rights under the Miranda Act. However, people were extradited long before the act was even considered and drafted. Its existence makes the process easier and legal under US law/

It did not take long to pass the Patriot Act, which passed with a strong majority in the House of Congress mere months later. To some this suggests foreknowledge. By that time, troops were being sent to add to those already in Iraq and Afghanistan. About a year later, the Homeland Securities Act passed. Both acts in tandem give sweeping powers to the CIA, the FBI, police and security. These powers include search, seizure and arrest without warrant and detention without charge for an indefinite period under suspicion of terror. The CIA and FBI can wiretap and snoop into e-mails, mail and private records such as medical, financial and tax records to look for clues. Whether guilty or not, you affairs are all under continued scrutiny. The House of Congress has also issued directives as to what constitutes foreign and domestic terrorism. Terrorism is defined as anything like computer hacking, protesting sensitive issues, using the word terror or terrorism or discussing matters like bombs or logging onto sites that are considered a possible terrorist threat, breaking censorship or penetrating "no go" zones. The acts include a strong dose of censorship which is now becoming pervasive in many areas of life.

In addition, security is being beefed up by installing cameras in as many public places so that everyone can be watched. In Britain, which is an ally in the war on terror, there are some 1.5 million cameras installed. The average person gets photographed and filmed 300 times a day. This is what made the capture of their "terrorists" so easy. America is proposing to have ten times as many in every major city, within transit stations, malls, street corners, intersections, major highways, major public areas and in sensitive locations all tied to a central security station, the police, CIA and FBI. George Orwell's 1984 has come home to roost! The 2010 Olympics in Canada boasted a billion dollar plus security tag. All of this is so "terrorists are kept out". Vancouver now boasts cameras everywhere including on mobile rapid transit vehicles now that the Olympics are history, still in place despite promises to the contrary. So the US concern over security is spreading everywhere.

In response to the Patriot Act and Homeland Securities Act, other allied governments have passed censorship on freedom of assembly and free speech with consequences of big fines and/or imprisonment. Some people have already been affected by this law that is suddenly all over the news at the news caster's risk. As a final blow, when the word on the outsourcing of torture and the request for habeas corpus was called for, George Bush had laws passed to exclude the right and access to habeas corpus, which guaranteed people taken into detention the right to a hearing before the highest power whether president or king. Habeas corpus originated in 1215 CE, within the context of the Magna Carta so that subjects of the king of England could get a hearing after being arrested on charges by the king. It has had a rocky history and the loss of habeas corpus now is another loss where people are not even allowed a hearing. Thus if you are hauled away in a police sweep and taken to torture, the arrested person cannot even call for habeas corpus. This occurred because someone did and Bush stuck it down with a new amendment. They now don't even have the right to remain silent. Now we are told in the face of the current economic crisis, that we are going to have to accept more and deeper sacrifices. The loss of income, rights, freedoms and habeas corpus is already enough! What is to come now?

Now that we are in an economic collapse, there is an upwelling of concern and protest and certainly a lot of questions about how finances were handled. Certainly hundreds of billions were poured into the war on terror at home and abroad, affected mainly in the foreign theater. Speculation on the market also fueled the crisis. So now there is a new sphere where blame is no doubt being placed on the shoulders of Osama Bin Laden and others, due to the war on terror. But the war on terror is also now strongly rooted in the domestic sphere where everyone lives in a state of fear. We used to say that what has been described above is classic of China, Korea and the former USSR. Today, the US has become a police state every bit as vicious as anything in these stated dictatorships. We now live in a country where people can be feasibly arrested at the whim and leisure of the state for an alleged act actual or perceived. How then can we distinguish a so called free nation from one of these dictatorships that we have heard so much about in the news and abhorred in the past?

In the past, we have called this fascism, Nazism, Maoism and Stalinism, and now it is American! But some are not taking this sitting down. There are protests and demonstrations over this direction. Some are deceived to the point where they think they can gain liberty by losing freedoms. For some people it already too late as innocent people swept up in anti-terrorist fervor have died from torture. Some sources tell us that the US now contains some 800 concentration camps where alleged terrorists and people made homeless from Hurricane Katrina now live. This has been going on for many years and is usually out-sourced to foreign countries under the influence of the US. Abu Ghraib prison and Guantanamo Bay are not exceptions, but the rule now. People have been swept up in Canada under US directives and out-sourced to torture. One was found innocent and the Canadian government was forced to repatriate the person and award millions in damages. The direction that the US has been going has been going for almost a decade. The events of September 11th, 2001 seem to be a ready made event that was used to bring an end to civil liberties. Certainly the acts used for such were passed rapidly and the peoples' rights have evaporated as a consequence. The war in terror has become a war on the people and their civil liberties, their rights and even to have habeas corpus!

References:

Read about the Patriot Act here

http://epic.org/privacy/terrorism/hr3162.html

Read about the Homeland Security Act here

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-3815

Read about torture here

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-01-22-execorder-interrogation_N.htm

http://washingtonindependent.com/29051/obama-supports-bush-secrecy-about-us-sponsored-torture

Concentration camps in the US

http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread59023/pg1

http://www.libertyforlife.com/jail-police/us_concentration_camps.htm

Eliminating Habeas Corpus

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0928-20.htm

The Extradition Act

http://assets.theatlantic.com/static/mt/assets/politics/ARM10090.pdf