In the Wake of the Boston Bombings:
America’s War on Islam 2.0
Stephen Lendman
Waging war at home or abroad requires enemies. America creates them
when none exist.
Post-9/11, Muslims were targeted for political advantage. Post-Boston
bombings, America’s war on Islam continues.
Muslims are “war on terror” scapegoats. Washington’s Middle East,
North Africa and Central Asia wars rage.
Signatures adorn a Boston Marathon poster near the site of
the Boston Marathon bombings on April 23 in Boston,
Massachusetts. AFP |
It’s the wrong time to be Muslims in America. They’re persecuted for
their faith and ethnicity. At times it’s for their activism, prominence,
and/or charity.
They’re dehumanized, spied on, set up as patsies, hunted down,
rounded up, held in detention, kept in isolation, denied bail,
restricted in their right to counsel, tried on secret evidence,
convicted on bogus charges, given long sentences, and treated harshly as
political prisoners.
The term “Islamofascism” was popularized. Some call it Islamic
radicalism or jihadism. The New Oxford American Dictionary calls it “a
controversial term equating some modern Islamic movements with the
European fascist movements of the early twentieth century.”
Political ideology
The Urban Dictionary says it “refers to the notion that Islam is not
so much a religion as it is a political ideology that in many ways
resembles ‘fascism.’ ”
“An Islamofascist can either be an Islamic fundamentalist, or someone
who uses violence or bullying tactics to impose Islamic principles on
others….”
It’s used to describe groups like Al- Qaeda. In 2008, Fairness and
Accuracy in Reporting(FAIR) headlined “The Dirty Dozen – Who’s who among
America’s leading Islamophobes.”
FAIR called David Horowitz its “premier promoter.” His 2007
“Islamofascism Awareness Week” attracted leading Muslim haters.
Tamerlan (26) |
Author Robert Spencer was called a prominent Islam-basher. He
publishes the “notoriously Islamophobic website” “Jihad Watch.”
Arab Americans
Daniel Pipes founded the Middle East Forum think tank. He defends
racially profiling Arab Americans. He calls their presence a “true
danger” for Jews.
Michael Savage hosts “The Savage Nation.” It’s a nationally
syndicated radio talk show. He relentlessly uses hateful language. He
once endorsed killing a hundred million Muslims. He did so on air.
Dzhokhar
Tamerlan (26) Tsarnaev(19) |
Pat Robertson calls Islam violent and irrational. It’s “not a
religion,” he says. It’s a “worldwide political movement.” It’s “meant
to subjugate all people under Islamic law.” It’s a “bloody, brutal type
of religion.”
Others on FAIR’s list included Fox News’ Sean Hannity and Bill
O’Reilly, conservative political commentator Mark Steyn, self-styled
Islamic terrorist expert Steven Emerson, conservative blogger/commentator
Michelle Malkin, former Fox News host Glenn Beck, and political
commentator Debbie Schlussel.
Connect the dots. The Boston bombings connect eerily to 9/11. Muslims
were blamed both times. America’s war on terror targets them. It
continues at home and abroad.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s a naturalized US citizen. Senators Lindsey Graham
(R. SC), John McCain (R. AZ) and Kelly Ayotte (R. NH), as well as Rep.
Peter King (R. NY) want him held as an “enemy combatant.” They want him
denied fundamental rights.
Islamic terrorists
King chairs the House Homeland Security Committee. He’s also an
Intelligence Committee member. He wants more surveillance. “It keeps us
ahead of the terrorists who are constantly trying to kill us,” he said.
Big Brother no longer is fiction. Total surveillance is possible. New
York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, Boston, and other cities use
growing numbers of video cameras.
They monitor streets, commercial areas, airports, highways, public
and private transportation, shopping malls, government and business
buildings, as well as other places where people congregate, work,
reside, recreate, or inhabit for any reason.
King and others want more. Drone surveillance may be expedited.
Legislation authorized eye in the sky spying. Civil libertarians call
all forms of surveillance an unregulated privacy threat.
In his April 20 weekly address, Obama suggested perhaps what’s
coming. He called Monday’s incident “an act of terror….But in the days
since….Americans refuse to be terrorized.”
“….Boston’s spirit remains undaunted. America’s spirit remains
undimmed….(T)hat’s what makes us strong. That’s why we endure.”
“In the days to come, we will remain vigilant as a nation.” Expect
the worst to follow.
Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev are called Islamic terrorists.
Round-the-clock coverage pronounced guilt by accusation. What’s most
important to know is suppressed. Managed news misinformation
substitutes.
Both brothers were set up as patsies. One’s dead. The other’s
seriously wounded. He remains hospitalized. He’s at Boston’s Beth Israel
Deaconess Medical Centre. He’s under heavy guard.
Miranda rights
He’ll be interrogated when able to respond. He won’t be read his
Miranda rights. On April 20, the ACLU headlined a “Statement on Miranda
Rights of Boston Bombings Suspect,” saying:
“The American Civil Liberties Union reacted to the apprehension of
the suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing and statements from federal
officials that he would be questioned without being read his Miranda
rights.”
“Every criminal defendant is entitled to be read Miranda rights. The
public safety exception should be read narrowly. It applies only when
there is a continued threat to public safety and is not an open-ended
exception to the Miranda rule.”
“Additionally, every criminal defendant has a right to be brought
before a judge and to have access to counsel. We must not waver from our
tried-and-true justice system, even in the most difficult of times.
Denial of rights is un-American and will only make it harder to obtain
fair convictions.”
The Centre for Constitutional Rights headlined “CCR Condemns Miranda
Exception in Boston Marathon Suspect Case,” saying:
“The Miranda warnings were put in place because police officers were
beating and torturing ‘confessions’ out of people who hadn’t even been
formally accused of a crime.”
“We cannot afford to repeat our mistakes. If officials require
suspects to incriminate themselves, they are making fair trials and due
process merely option and not a requirement. To venture down that road
again will make law enforcement accountable to no one.”
“Like Obama’s expanded killing programme and his perpetuation of
indefinite detention without trial at Guantanamo, this is yet another
erosion of the constitution to lay directly at the President’s feet.”
“Obama’s Justice Department unilaterally expanded the ‘public safety
exception’ to Miranda in 2010 beyond anything the Supreme Court ever
authorized.”
Court of public opinion
“Each time the administration use this exception, it stretches wider
and longer. However horrific the crime, continuing to erode
constitutional rights invites continued abuse by law enforcement, and
walks us down a dangerous path that becomes nearly impossible to
reverse.”
Media straightaway convicted both brothers. They did so in the court
of public opinion. Misreporting continues. FAIR’s Peter Hart calls it a
“rush to misjudgment,” saying:
“We’ve seen reporting and commentary that talked about the Muslim or
jihadist character of the bombs themselves: pressure cookers, ball
bearings or nails used.”
“These are things that are not unique to Al-Qaeda or
Al-Qaeda-inspired terror attacks.”
“We saw references to the Times Square bombing, trying to put this in
the context of Islamic terror or previous instances of what the media
like to refer to as Islamic terror.”
“We even saw references to the fact that two bombs were there. It
must have been a follow-up attack trying to hit the rescue workers when
they show up – again, a Middle Eastern trait, we’re told.”
Fear and suspicion
“This is actually what the United States government has done in
places like Iraq and in drone strikes in Pakistan.”
“So we have seen this rush to characterize this bombing, without
necessarily saying precisely that we know who the perpetrators are, but
to put it in this context.”
“And I think that creates a climate of fear and suspicion,
particularly directed toward certain communities.”
“We read headlines, you know, block letters across the front page of
the USA Today, the day afterwards, “Terror Has Returned.”
“This idea that the United States has not seen a terrorist attack
since 9/11. This is a unique event right now.”
On April 19, Media Matters headlined “Boston And The Right-Wing
Media’s Collapse,” saying:
Glenn Beck’s website (The Blaze) got it wrong saying a Saudi national
student was “absolutely involved.” He called him a “dirt bag, possibly
the ringleader.”
Fox News host Sean Hannity claimed he previously was “involved with a
terrorist or terror activity.”
Would-be killers
Media Matters said “too many players opted to just make stuff up.
Prompting witch hunts, they cast innocents as would-be killers and then
couldn’t be bothered with apologies.”
Murdoch’s New York Post “seemed committed to getting as many stories
wrong about the Boston attack as possible.”
Before an arrest was made, CNN’s breaking news headlined “Sources:
Arrest made in bombings case.” Reporter John King erroneously called him
“dark-skinned.”
NAACP President Benjamin Todd Jealous responded, saying:
“Our concern is that CNN used an overly broad, unhelpful and
potentially racially inflammatory categorization to describe the
potential suspect. History teaches us that too often people of colour
are unfairly targeted in the aftermath of acts of terrorism.”
Post-Boston bombings, media misreporting was deplorable. It didn’t
surprise.
“Rush to misjudegment” is commonplace. Washington Post editors
headlined “In pursuit of terrorists.”
Official reports were accepted as fact. The Tsarnaev brothers were
blamed. A Chechen “extremist,” “Al-Qaeda” or other “foreign group”
connection was suggested.
“Much as some in Washington might wish it, the war against terrorism
is not over….The Tszrnaevs….may have intended more mayhem: They were
reportedly carrying more bombs when they were cornered Thursday.”
Note: Media misreporting said at least older brother Tamerlan wore an
explosives vest. Photos of his body showed him riddled with bullets and
shrapnel head to toe. All limbs were intact. He wasn’t blown to pieces.
New York Post editors headlined “The unfinished war,” saying:
“….These have been scary days. (It was) chilling to see how
successfully the suspects, Chechen Muslim immigrants, were – not just in
allegedly killing people, but in instilling widespread fear, especially
in the Northeast.”
Fight against terror
“The week served as a painful reminder that this nation remains in an
ongoing fight against terror – and that the homeland is still
vulnerable.”
“The war on terror isn’t over. Alas, far from it.”
Boston Globe editors headlined “Boston after the bombings: a show of
character,” saying:
“(L)aw-enforcement officials and political leaders….put aside turf
wars and expressions of egotism to focus on the killers….”
“….Boston’s character needs no further validation. The city is
strong, and getting stronger.”
Chicago Tribune editors headlined “Accomplishing….nothing,” saying:
“….Boston bombing suspects (may) have had no motivation more complex
than joyful cruelty.”
“This level of preparation, though, suggests that they had some
motive more sophisticated than merely marauding through the lives of
innocents.”
“The Boston massacre no doubt will help authorities worldwide rethink
security preparations for mass events.”
Numerous print and broadcast reports highlighted a Chechen Muslim
connection. The New York Times was typical headlining “Boston Attacks
Turn Spotlight on Troubled Region of Chechnya,” saying:
Possible motivations of both brothers aren’t yet known, said The
Times. “Yet, with at least one brother talking of Chechen nationalism on
the Internet, their reported involvement in the marathon attack throws a
spotlight on one of the darkest corners of nationalist and Islamic
militancy….”
“Whether the Boston bombing was tied to it is still unclear, but a
generation of young Chechen men have never known a peaceful homeland
(and have had) difficulties finding a place abroad.”
America’s war on terror continues. Perhaps last week’s Boston
bombings advanced it. Muslims remain America’s enemy of choice. Expect
Obama and Congress to take full advantage. Expect the worst of times to
follow.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. [email protected].
His new book is titled “Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on
Humanity.”
Courtesy: Global Research |