Home Grown Terrorism & The Liberty City 7

[eleny]

Last night I was thinking that the USA is in no grave danger from genuine home grown terrorists. If the FBI has to cultivate groups like the Liberty City 7, then I believe it means that they can't find groups that have developed on their own within the country. Certainly they've been looking and have powerful "tools" in The Patriot Acts and domestic surveillance.

Our troubles in the past weren't because the FBI and CIA didn't know there was going to be trouble from people coming in from the outside. They knew, but their reports were ignored as that information was delivered up the chain of command. The rank and file of the FBI and CIA know how to do their work.

So it occurred to me that if the FBI is so desperate that they have to infiltrate a small fringe religious cult down in Florida, things can't be all that bad from within the ranks of our citizenry. What is bad is that the DOJ is involved in such an endeavor.

Then I got to thinking about - "home grown". Like our apple tree putting out apples early in the season. Then the tree gets a sense of bad conditions and decides to cull out a number. And there's tiny little apples around it's base.

I asked myself - what was their original target date for dealing with this group? How far were they going to take them? Perhaps it was to cultivate them to a point later this year when they would finally have weapons, provided by the FBI, and be brought to a place where they would try to pull off some action. They would be arrested saving Congress for the Republican Party. Democratic Chicago might think over how they feel about their favorite Party and switch. At least tinkering with the voting machines wouldn't be so obvious. My Chicago friend advised me that Cook County now has a paper trail. That's got to be a challenge for Rove.
Or maybe the FBI would work with this and other groups until 2008 and save the presidency for them.
Or give W an excuse to declare marshal law and cancel the elections altogether.

The administration's poll numbers didn't budge much recently. So, maybe they got desperate and decided to prematurely abort the Liberty City 7 to scare Americans into the arms of the Republicans. The Liberty City 7 was expendable.

I've revised my definition of "home grown terrorist". And I want to know how many more groups the DOJ is cultivating?

[WildClarySage]

1. I don't know it this trumpeting is any indication of our relative safety

since this administration quite incapably ignored N. Korea in favor of Iran, OBL in favor of Saddam, and seem unable to focus on those who might actually pose a real threat to the safety of Americans.

[eleny]

2. I think we have more to fear from the FBI cultivating terrorists within

And that's because I believe the administration is willing to harm Americans to maintain the power they've gathered to themselves.

It's interesting to me that you said "this administration quite incapably ignored". I agree. They've ignored information that the agencies skillfully gathered in the past. So we agree on that. It's how they use the agencies that troubles me greatly.

[eleny]

3. Btw, I like your nickname!

[WildClarySage]

5. Thanks,

I stole it from my best friend, who uses it for her email. :)

[eleny]

6. Hee! Good choice, then!

[lostnfound]

4. Some well known activist said you can always tell who is the FBI agent

"he's the one who first suggests going to buy stuff to make a bomb".

[eleny]

7. I'll never forget being at an anti war demonstration during the 70s

A friend and I were sitting on some grass at the edge of a big street in D.C. This clean cut guy sporting a crewcut and a brand spanking new jeans jacket sat down next to us and engaged us in conversation. He asked why we were there and about our views on the war. Then he left. I don't know why he didn't just say "Hi, I'm Joe Shmo from the FBI and I'd like to know why you're here."

It worked for Nixon. I heard that he got up at dawn during one demonstration, went over to the Lincoln Memorial where some young demonstrators were in their sleeping bags. He woke one up and asked them about their views. Can you imagine the first face you see when you wake up being Nixon's?!

Check it out here in this Time Magazine article: http://cgi.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/analysis/back.time/9605/20/
"Singular Odyssey. Before dawn the next morning, Nixon impulsively wakened his valet and set off with a clutch of Secret Service men for the Lincoln Memorial, where he talked for an hour with a group of drowsy but astonished demonstrators."

[bonito]

8. Kick n/t