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http://www.lewrockwell.com/elkins/elkins71.html
The Scare Scam
by Jeff Elkins
In its latest attempt to keep the sheeple of the United States on edge and
under control, we're being told a fine tale by the federales. Supposedly a
former Chicago gang-banger has received training from SPECTRE, oops I mean
Al Qaeda, in nuclear weapons technology, to wit construction and
deployment of a so called "dirty bomb."
This current flap concerns New York-born Jose Padilla, 31, who now styles
himself Abdullah al Muhajir. Padilla was arrested more than a month ago
upon re-entry into the US from points abroad, supposedly Zurich by way of
Pakistan.
"We have captured a known terrorist who was exploring a plan to build and
explode a radiological dispersion device, or 'dirty bomb,' in the United
States," Attorney General John Ashcroft thundered in a televised
announcement from Moscow where he was meeting with Russian officials.
Dirty bombs result when you take radioactive material and use it as the
core of a conventional bomb. The theory is that the resulting explosion
will scatter the radioactive core causing contamination. Note I said
"theory." Some experts doubt the efficacy of such a weapon and as far as I
know, they've never been used, unless you count the depleted uranium
artillery shells deployed by the United States and its allies against
whatever nation we happen to be bombing this week.
Why Ashcroft is in Moscow, I don't know, but it might well be to receive
some police state training from past masters, although I think he's doing
pretty good without it. Padilla is being held by the Defense Department as
an "enemy combatant," which under the Bush/Ashcroft rules of "justice"
allows him to be held indefinitely and questioned without an attorney
present. Which happens to be a clear violation of the 6th Amendment of the
Constitution, not that it matters any more, except perhaps to historians.
It's being claimed that Padilla used the dreaded Internet to research
radiological devices, while staying a Qaeda safe house in Lahore,
Pakistan.
American intelligence officials have sheepishly admitted that the supposed
plot was still in its " initial planning stages" and there was also no
evidence that Padilla or any other al Qaeda operatives had actually
obtained any radiological material or other materials needed to construct
a dirty bomb.
Padilla may or may not be guilty - who knows? At any rate, it seems that
despite being a native American citizen he may not get the chance of
defending himself in a court with legal representation, before a jury of
his peers. And please, it's good to keep in mind that the next victim
could be you. It's obviously not a good time to be planning any
international trips, especially if you're planning to come back.
The real issue, which as usual hasn't been addressed by the mass media, is
the fact that Padilla has been in custody for a month and we are just now
being informed of his role as a mastermind of international terrorism and
a putative expert in nuclear technology. Why the delay? A month ago they
didn't need a headline.
Quite simply, we're being subjected to a scare-a-day by our masters in DC
so they can attempt to justify the conversion of our Republic into a
police state; rest assured that as soon as the Padilla flap leaves the
front pages they'll have a new exploit to trumpet and after that another,
then another, ad nauseum.
It's nothing but a scare scam, custom designed to camouflage a naked
power-grab by the federal government. The pity is that it seems to be
working.
Thus far, we've been endlessly bombarded with mindless color-coded alerts,
warnings about mysterious Arabic skin-divers, plots to flood the nation's
subways with cyanide or sarin, missing Russian tactical nukes and now
gang-bangers with dirty bombs. Next week I suppose we can expect some hot
news regarding bin Laden making an alliance with the Crips and Bloods, al
Queda's newest home-grown fifth column in South LA. What rubbish.
But, as I said it seems to be working, so expect the campaign to continue
unabated. According to a new ABC News poll, seven out of ten Americans
support President Bush's plan to create a new American Gestapo, as well as
allowing the FBI to spy on our churches, conduct searches without warrants
and generally pry into our personal lives.
It's said that people get the government they deserve. If that old saw is
true, God help us.
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