As Republicans Blast Omar for Her 9/11 Remarks, More Dangerous Threats Loom

It appears Republicans are relentless in their attempts to weaponize 9/11. This time their target was Representative Ilhan Omar, who had given remarks before the Council on American-Islamic Relation in March, saying the group had been “founded after 9/11 because they recognized that some people did something and that all of us were starting to lose access to our civil liberties.” When asked again about it in a recent Sunday morning television interview, Omar argued her remarks were taken out of context, and that she was attempting to differentiate terrorists from all Muslims, whereas Republican have heavily criticized her for them.

Censoring Freedoms
In the meantime, noticeably absent from the saturated coverage of this event back then and the Republicans condemnation of Omar’s more recent comments is any discussion of a motive for the attacks. In fact, to even broach the two is to declare oneself a terrorist sympathizer, if not an outright accomplice, which is exactly what Republicans are doing to the congresswoman and her supporters. Just as dangerous and worse even yet is deviating from the official line that the attacks were perpetrated by cave-dwelling “evildoers” who just “hate freedom,” instead of evaluating the long history of U.S. crimes in the Muslim world made legitimate by the attacks.

But censoring the freedom to think publicly, to debate openly, and to challenge the official line-which makes liberty and freedom of speech impossible-is only one danger that looms much greater that Omar’s remarks. The other are the importance changes in the policies of the federal government after 9/11. Not only was the government given a blank check to pursue so-called domestic and international terrorists, but the USA PATRIOT Act greatly expanded the authority of law enforcement and intelligence agencies to monitor private communication, obtain personal information, and to surveil Americans not connected to a terrorist group.

Other dangerous threats carried out after 9/11 was the takeover of private entities and court system and military tribunals. Since it was given absolute power, the Transportation and Safety Administration could now search a person and their luggage. Others found themselves detained or imprisoned indefinitely with unreasonable and overly intrusive searches-their private property confiscated. What’s more, the federal government established military tribunals on American soil to try legal residents who were not citizens of the United States on charges of terrorism. This, despite the Fifth Amendment giving individuals the right to due process of law.

Rise of the White Security State
The most dangerous threat is how the mostly white, male CIA, FBI and NSA have suppressed blacks and Hispanics and Muslims. Indeed, and amid the fear and uncertainty that 9/11 caused, these agencies started a coordinated effort to live undercover and infiltrate certain groups for the purpose of disrupting, discrediting, dividing, and framing any movement that might pose a challenge to the notion of American Exceptionalism and white supremacy. Laws were re-written not to protect the most vulnerable in society but to protect a rich and powerful oligarchy that would socially (and racially) engineer an unsuspecting populace.

Over the years, white supremacists and conservative extremists have launched more domestic counterterrorism investigations, many who’d like to return to McCarthyism. Their target includes any kind of political dissent, even their own. Anyone who questions the organizations’ new expanded powers, raises concerns over the legality of operations, or fails to match up with the overwhelmingly white male demographics is immediately reprimanded if not relieved of their duties. This, despite the rise of white supremacists and their acts of terrorism. Meanwhile, anti-Muslim hatred has become a government-condoned philosophy.

Something else that’s become a government-condoned philosophy is filling unconstitutional watchlists with groups that don’t really pose any national security threat to America. The groups simply consist of average Americans or any disenfranchised community who wants to mobilize politically to change legislation. Legislation, that is, which currently protects those who belong to the establishment. As a result, Black Lives Matter, Standing Rock protesters, those protesting white supremacy or anti-immigrant policies, even sports players who’ve demonstrated against racism during the playing of the National Anthem, have all been targeted. They’ve been labeled as an urgent threat, an enemy of the State.

Trumpism and War Without End
Neither can Donald Trump’s rise to power be divorced from the security politics of the FBI, CIA and NSA of post-9/11. As reported by “The Intercept,” “The Trump campaign grasped that fifteen years of political polarization and constant terror warnings had created an appetite for a strongman candidate, which he could whet with messages of fear and anger.” Trump is now purging these same organizations and replacing them with more white supremacists, more racists, more anti-Muslims, more anti-immigrants, and more threats to any whistleblower who might have the courage to step forward. He’s also packed the courts with judges who will protect his business interests and the interests of ruling oligarchs.

As Republicans attack and censure Omar, missing from the discussion is also the question to why the Taliban’s request for evidence of Osama bin Laden’s guilt were rejected out of hand by the Bush Administration. Their offer lasted until 2008 when he was killed. (It entailed giving bin Laden to a third country where he would be tried without seeing the evidence.) Lost in the general hysteria was Bush’s exploitation of the tragedy to carry out a reactionary agenda: billions in tax cuts for the rich, a $100 billion stimulus package to help IBM, Ford, GM, and GE, drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife, and raising Pentagon spending.

Don't forget a war without end. Not only against suspected terrorists, but the American people.

Dallas Darling is the author of Politics 501: An A-Z Reading on Conscientious Political Thought and Action, Some Nations Above God: 52 Weekly Reflections On Modern-Day Imperialism, Militarism, And Consumerism in the Context of John’s Apocalyptic Vision, and The Other Side Of Christianity: Reflections on Faith, Politics, Spirituality, History, and Peace. He is a correspondent for www.WN.com. You can read more of Dallas’ writings at www.beverlydarling.com and www.WN.com/dallasdarling.