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<font size=4>Obama Adds 675 Million Muslims To The Ultimate US Terrorism
List<br><br>
</font><font size=3><b>By Franklin Lamb<br>
<a href="http://countercurrents.org/lamb050110.htm" eudora="autourl">
http://countercurrents.org/lamb050110.htm<br><br>
</a></b>05 January, 2010<br>
<b>Countercurrents.org<br><br>
Beirut:</b> However President Obama is judged on various subjects for his
first year in office, he has already made history in the way that neither
his predecessor nor any other leader has ever managed.<br><br>
On January 3, 2010, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA)
issued new security directives to all United States and international air
carriers with inbound flights to the U.S. effective January 4, 2010. The
TSA press release sought to assure the traveling public: "The new
directive includes long-term sustainable security measures developed in
consultation with law enforcement officials and our domestic and
international partners." <br><br>
At midnight Washington DC time, January 3, it went into effect and placed
675,000,000 (675 million) more Muslims and Arabs on yet another
‘Terrorism ‘list. Also added were Nigerian and Cuban Christians but they
were not the target.<br><br>
675 million is the approximate total number of people on the new list
from the ten “prone to terrorism Countries” as the Washington Post called
them this morning, or “terrorist leaning countries “according to Fox
news, (Sudan, Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Nigeria,
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen) and the four current” State
sponsors of Terrorism” ( Iran, Syria, Libya and Cuba).<br><br>
All 675 million of these citizens are subject to being watched, patted
down, and full body scanned under arrangements calling for ‘intense
screening’ by the national airlines who would like to transport them to
the US. As with the new H. R. 2278 Congressional initiative against
satellite TV providers, the airlines flying from or via the 14 countries
will have to enforce the new stringent security measures or themselves
risk losing their lucrative US bi-lateral landing rights and potentially,
end up on yet another US Special Global Terrorism facilitator list.
<br><br>
In addition to the approximate 675 million covered by the new measure,
with the average birth rate of these countries being approximately 45
live births per 1000 per year, it means that more than 17,000,000
newborns will join the new US T list even before their first gulp of
their mommy’s milk. And every subsequent years worth of new ‘T
babies’.<br><br>
The new list initiative is enough to warm Dick Cheney’s heart, reputed as
he is to have never seen an Muslim or Arab (except those he does business
with) he didn’t want terrorized by a listing or other means, but the
international rebellion against this latest US War on Terrorism
initiative has begun.<br><br>
As this report is being prepared, Nigeria has just weighed via media
reports reaching Beirut around noon on 1/5/09 and its government has
demanded that their 150,000,000 (150 million) citizens be immediately
scratched from the new T list of 14 countries singled out for special
treatment. Nigeria Information Minister Dora Akunyili announced today
that” Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, did not accept the new
Terrorism list and we do not have a history of terrorism and such a move
could not be justified. It is unfair to include 150 million Nigerians on
the US list for tighter screening because Nigerians do not have terrorist
tendencies.<br><br>
It’s no secret these days that anyone who even looks like they could be
Arab or Muslim is already on a ‘mental US Terrorism watch list’ evidenced
by reports of some passengers deciding not to board flights after
observing Hijab wearing females or Abaya wearing Muslin or Arab men
looking at them. What often happens according to airport security
officials is that non Muslims sometimes stare at Muslims trying to detect
something unusal or suspicious about them and then the Muslims stare back
wondering why they are being stared at and both parties become
paranoid.<br><br>
The Lebanese, bless them all, ever alert to foreign intrigues, and were
among the first objecting to being placed on the new US T list.<br><br>
On Sunday night’s (1/3/09) late and wild van ride back to Beirut from
Beital in the now frigid and frequently bitterly cold and windblown,
Bekaa Valley of Lebanon, this observer got an ear full. Our driver, by
appearance, down to the “Akek” (Amber) ring on his little finger, neatly
trimmed short beard, black wool jacket and black baseball cap, was a
Hezbollah guy. Fellow passengers were accepting as “Abass” treated us to
his new CD of Resistance music, (again and again!), including the popular
songs “Haydar, Hayder” and “Oh Hussein!”, and the catchy “ Ali, Ali!”
(Ali was the cousin and son in law of the Prophet Mohammad who Shia
Muslims believe should have been the first Khalifa (successor) of the
Prophet rather than Abu Bakr and his line including Omar (the second
Khalifa) and Othman (the third Khalifa). In important respects, from this
succession argument grew the Shia-Sunni conflict now deeply splitting
Islam. On the van, it was a party atmosphere among the fifteen or so
passengers most of whom were returning from week-end visits to their
families with Bekaa toting delicacies of one kind or another. Van users,
including this one, prefer Hezbollah drivers on the Beirut-Bekaa run
because they know every pot hole on the route over the West Lebanon
Mountains, don’t try to overcharge riders, are unfailingly polite to the
elderly and infirm-assisting them on and off the vans, and perhaps most
importantly, these guys drive like bats fleeing hell, which cuts travel
time by about one-third.<br><br>
But those probably most grateful for riding with drivers like ‘Abass’ are
those whose documents might not be quite in order or they just might be
carrying contraband of some sort. For them our driver was golden because
drivers like him are routinely waived thru various check points en route
once their affiliation is noticed. One can’t help wondering what would
happen if a US ‘profiling’ system was in place and a van was pulled over
by a Pennsylvania State trooper named Lawrence and his flashing red
light, for ID and luggage inspection or just to sniff inside the vehicles
quickly rolled down windows. Would the van still have passengers
traveling to Beirut or would he ask to share a smoke?<br><br>
The friendly young man sitting next to me opened a carry on case and
while not wanting to appear snoopy, one could not help noticing that it
was packed with filled honey comb and softball sized clumps of Red-bud
Hashish (known locally by Western clients as ‘H & H’, with sometimes
the prized honey fetching more than the Red-bud) two ancient Bekaa
products. Appreciated from before Roman times each harvest achieved
bumper crops this year. The near record yield was recorded despite a
couple of DEA funded ‘photo op’ anti-drug ‘raids’ last summer that the
locals laugh at. The chatty kid told me lots of couriers make at least
twice weekly Baalbek trips.<br><br>
One Baalbek young lady, a member of the large Jaafar clan ( which
producers some of Hezbollah’s best fighters) , studying Journalism at
Beirut’s American Lebanese University (LAU), commented to this observer
after our driver took a music break to tune in the news, “Oh, your
country just added 14 more Muslim countries to another airplane Terrorism
list. Mabrouk!” <br><br>
This opened an animated discussion of the ways things are going these
days between the Obama administration whose sweet words last spring have
become the source for scowls and ridicule in Lebanon due to deep
disappointment and, once more dashed hope of America becoming an honest
broker in the region --and of course, the various US Terrorism
lists.<br><br>
A teen ager from the back of the van sing-songed “Wouldn’t it be easier
just for you Americans to put the whole world on your terrorism list and
then let everyone on the planet convince you they should be taken off?”
And another smart alec grinned: “Or you could just stop giving Israel
weapons to kill and terrorize us and then there would be no need for any
terrorist lists at all? “ Within two seconds, not more, an old woman who
must have been in her 80’s, wrapped in an Ashoura black covering, and who
appeared to be sound asleep, lifted her head and shouted “Enshallah! (God
willing!) and returned her head forward to slumber. With that sage
intervention the van erupted and shook in laughter.<br><br>
The strongest reaction came from ‘Mustapha’ who appeared to be some sort
of Salafist recently arrived from the gulf. Claiming to have friends in
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, he expressed a strong opinion and with
anger in his voice:<br><br>
“Does your government think Muslims with self respect and who value the
Koran will allow his family especially his wife and his daughters to be
body scanned? He would rather die. This will not happen. One phone call
and your Embassy in Lebanon will close faster than the one in Yemen. I
think sometimes that you Americans have no idea about these latest
aggressions against Muslims? Are you out of your minds? We are a peaceful
people with a few extremists doing some crasy things but only in response
to crimes against us like in Palestine. Stop provoking us and leave us
and our lands!”<br><br>
<b>Will frequent flyers start to Glow?<br><br>
</b>As Mustapha expressed, Muslims and Arabs find the full-body scanner
treatment abhorrent and they will likely oppose in strongly. In this they
are not alone with many questions being raised from cost (approximately $
200,000 each or 10 more expensive that the usual metal detectors) to
questions whether such devices would have even detected the type of bomb
allegedly used on Christmas Day in Detroit.<br><br>
While the Israel Defense Industries has announced a crash program to
build and distribute quickly a cheaper and improved full body scanner
(FBS) version, the stock of American Science & Engineering, a US
company that makes the full body scanners skyrocketed after Christmas and
hit $82 dollars per share on 1/4/09, up from around $ 42 this summer.UK
companies like L-3 Communications and Qinetiq hope to fend off
competitors in landing quick orders. Qinetiq announced yesterday that it
can perfect a “stand-off” full body scanner to reduce privacy
issues.<br><br>
Former Bush Homeland Security director, Michael Chertoff admitted to NPR
the other day that he is in the hunt for contracts for his new consulting
firm, while denying that his advocacy of fbs when he held his post is a
conflict of interest. Janes Weekly claims the fbs are here to
stay.<br><br>
There are many critics of FBS including claims that it tends to fry
hearing aids, and sends massive doses of ionizing x-rays radiations to
the thyroid and breast areas. Others insist dogs are more effective and
much cheaper.<br><br>
Dr. John Gofman, Professor Emeritus of Molecular and Cell Biology,
University of California, a leading U.S. expert on the biological effects
of X-radiation has concluded after exhaustive research that there is NO
SAFE DOSE-LEVEL of ionizing radiation. His studies indicate that
radiation from medical diagnostics and treatment is a causal co-factor in
50 percent of America’s cancers and 60 percent of our ischemic (blood
flow blockage) heart disease. He stresses that the frequency with which
Americans are medically X-rayed “makes for a significant radiological
impact.”<br><br>
<b>Privacy Issues<br><br>
</b>The rapid introduction of full body scanners at British airports
threatens to breach child protection laws which ban the creation of
indecent images of children. Terri Dowty, of Action for Rights of
Children, in London claims that the scanners could breach the Protection
of Children Act 1978, under which it is illegal to create an indecent
image or a "pseudo-image" of a child.<br><br>
The ACLU and similar civil liberty organizations in England and Europe
are waging a campaign against fbs on privacy grounds some arguing that
the images created by the machines are so graphic they amount to
"virtual strip-searching" and have called for safeguards to
protect the privacy of passengers involved. US and European Child porn
laws are applicable in the view of some lawyers and there is growing
concern that TSA type at airports around the World do not commit offences
under child pornography laws or sell to the likes of the National
Enquirer, the UK Sun, NY Post etc. full body scan images of celebrities,
movie stars and others. Some governments are expressing concern that
images could end up on the Internet.<br><br>
A 12-month trial at Manchester, England airport of scanners revealed
naked images of passengers including their genitalia and breast
enlargements only went ahead last month after under-18s were exempted.
<br><br>
According to a US Congressional source, the Obama administration’s new
list is meant to parry the coming expected rampage from the likes of Russ
Limbaugh. Already some conservatives such as retired Lieutenant General
Thomas McInerney who wants to get young Muslim men naked in the worst
way. The former US Air Force general's comments during a recent Fox News
broadcast. "We've got to go to more than just the normal process
that they're talking about now," he opined on Saturday. "We
have got to go to very; very strict screening and we've got to use
profiling. And I mean, be very, very serious about the profiling. If you
are an 18-28-year-old Muslim man, then you should be strip searched. If
we don't do that, there's a very high probability that we're gonna lose
an airliner."<br><br>
The Obama administration has expressed for months an interest in
revamping the Terrorism lists and who is on them who should not be. Now
is the time to rethink the whole T list concept. They can boomerang and
cause many more problems than they were constructed to prevent. The Obama
administration should proceed on a case by case basic with people
suspected of planning violence. It should immediately scrap the latest
675, 000,000+ Mega Special Global Terrorism List and try good works
rather than threats and serial humiliations to build trust and friendship
among Muslims and Arabs who are identical to ourselves in what they are
working to accomplish in life for their loved ones.<br><br>
<b>Franklin Lamb</b> is doing research in Lebanon. He is reachable at
<b>fplamb@gmail.com</b>.<br><br>
<br><br>
<br><br>
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