The Department of Homeland Security: The Ideal Authoritarian Tool

The threat to American governance in an election year is dire. There is an authoritarian president in the White House with no respect for the rule of law and toadying and unconfirmed loyalists at the top of the DHS.


August 5, 2020 

Melvin Goodman 

COUNTERPUNCH





https://portside.org/2020-08-05/department-homeland-security-ideal-authoritarian-tool


In the wake of 9/11, the Bush administration made a series of blunders that have created havoc in U.S. governance. The invasion of Iraq in 2003 was the worst of these decisions, but not far behind was the creation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The DHS has turned out to be the perfect authoritarian tool in the hands of a corrupt administration, and there is ample evidence of the department’s role in degrading public life in America in the past several weeks. The department has become Trump’s tool for targeting “anti-fascists,” the label that he has broadly applied to all protestors.

The DHS is a bureaucratic monstrosity that includes the Coast Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE), and various unrelated departments. It has over 240,000 employees, a $50 billion budget, and a reputation for excessive waste and ineffectiveness. It is the third largest government agency, and its 60,000 law enforcement officers represent half of all federal law enforcement agents in the government. DHS has too many subdivisions, operates in too many disparate fields, and lacks proper congressional oversight. The creation of DHS meant that immigration enforcement and border protection were moved from the Departments of Treasury and Justice, respectively, and were then treated as national security issues. Under Trump, demonstrators, dissidents, and protestors have become national security issues.

It took Hurricane Katrina in 2005 to teach us what a mess had been created at DHS. Several years later, the office of U.S. Customs and Border Protection acknowledged that it “does open mail to U.S. citizens that originate from foreign countries whenever it’s deemed necessary.” In 2012, a Senate Homeland Security report concluded that DHS intelligence was “irrelevant, useless, or inappropriate.” In 2017, a border patrol agent was investigated for obtaining confidential travel records of a Washington journalist and using them to press for her sources.

Events in Portland, Oregon have illuminated the DHS threat to governance and civil rights as the Federal Protective Service (FPS) has operated without any consultation, let alone permission, from state or local authorities. The FPS deployed its unidentified agents in camouflage uniforms without identifying insignia, used so-called “nonlethal” projectiles and tear gas against American citizens, and forced demonstrators into unmarked rental cars to be held in federal buildings without charges. DHS agents were involved in the separation of children from their parents at the southern border, and agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have been labeled as “RoboCops” for their aggressive measures against immigrants. A CBP drone monitored the protest activities in Minneapolis following the murder of George Floyd.

Over the past week, the DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) disseminated reports to various law enforcement agencies that summarized tweets by a reporter for the New York Times and the editor of the blog Lawfare. The journalists had posted leaked DHS documents that revealed shortcomings in the department’s aggressive handling of events in Portland. According to the Washington Post, the DHS also tracked the communications of demonstrators, another violation of the First Amendment. The acting director of DHS, Chad Wolf, immediately acknowledged the threat to the First Amendment, stopped the illegal activities of the office, and removed its director, Brian Murphy, but this was simply an act of damage limitation. Murphy, a former FBI agent, had a reputation for misapplying the authorities of I&A, and ignoring their intelligence assessments. In any event, the overall problems of DHS remain.

The illegal creation of dossiers on journalists is reminiscent of the unconstitutional activities of the intelligence community in the 1960s and 1970s during the Vietnam War. The congressional investigations of the mid-1970s and the excellent reporting of Seymour Hersh exposed the illegal domestic spying operations of the Central Intelligence Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the National Security Agency to disrupt the anti-war movement. The FBI’s counterintelligence program (COINTELPRO) actively disrupted lawful activities of numerous individuals and organizations, including Martin Luther King Jr. FBI director J. Edgar Hoover’s designation of the Black Panther Party as the “greatest threat to the internal security of the country” is reminiscent of Trump’s identification of “antifa” as a similar threat. (At least, there was a Black Panther Party; there is no “antifa” party.) The dossiers on political dissidents is reminiscent of DHS’ collection against U.S. journalists.

Just as the FBI’s COINTELPRO and CIA’s Operation Chaos hurt the reputation of these agencies, the actions of DHS on behalf of Donald Trump are drawing criticism from former Republican directors of the agency. The first director of DHS, Tom Ridge, the former governor of Pennsylvania, stated that it would be a “cold day in hell before I would consent to an uninvited intervention into one of my cities.” Former director Michael Chertoff pointed out that DHS is much too willing to carry out the president’s support for brutal and aggressive force, “especially in cities…governed by liberal Democratic mayors.”

The threat to American governance in an election year is dire. There is an authoritarian president in the White House with no respect for the rule of law; a strong advocate for presidential power in William Barr as Attorney General; toadying and unconfirmed loyalists at the top of the Department of Homeland Security; and a Republican-led Senate that will offer no criticism of the outrageous actions of the president. We know little about Barr’s Operation Legend, which is using agents from the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to prevent peaceful demonstrations.

At least, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley expressed regret for being present when federal police officers violently cleared Lafayette Square to enable Trump’s blasphemous display of power at the St. John’s Episcopal Church in June. Chad Wolf, however, has been a willing tool of the White House, parroting the line about “violent antifa anarchists,” and blocking the Supreme Court’s order to restore protections and benefits to dreamers in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

Barr and Wolf are enablers of the president’s excesses, and It is long past time for them to acknowledge the misuse of the DoJ and the DHS, respectively, on behalf of Trump’s reelection campaign. It is also time for the Congress to conduct the kind of oversight that exposed the illegal and unconstitutional activities of the intelligence community during the Vietnam War. The city of Portland must not become a petri dish for studying the death of democracy.

Trump’s Desperate, Last-Ditch Effort to Hike Tensions with Iran

This might be the final stretch for his failed policy of maximum pressure.


August 5, 2020 

Reese Erlich 

 PORTSIDE





https://portside.org/2020-08-05/trumps-desperate-last-ditch-effort-hike-tensions-iran


During the past month, Iran has suffered a half-dozen explosions and fires at military and civilian sites. A bomb blew up near the Parchin missile base outside Tehran, Iran’s capital. Fires broke out at an electric power station and aboard seven ships in a southern port city.

Iranian government authorities say some of the incidents were accidents. But the most serious, it appears, was an act of sabotage.

On July 2, a blast ripped through the main assembly hall at Natanz, a facility that produces centrifuge parts essential for enriching uranium for Iran’s nuclear power program.

No one officially took credit for the sabotage, but The New York Times reported that a “Middle East intelligence” source admitted that Israel was behind the bombing. An Israeli newspaper later identified the source as Yossi Cohen, head of the Mossad intelligence agency.

Analysts say such a brazen attack, which constitutes an act of war, would need the approval of officials in Washington, D.C.

“If the US did not participate in the attack directly, at the very least it gave Israel its consent,” Muhammad Sahimi, a professor at the University of Southern California and Iran expert, says in an interview.

Washington and Tel Aviv think such attacks, along with the unilateral US sanctions, are a low-risk means of pushing back on Iran. They are an escalation of Washington’s “maximum pressure” campaign—which has notably failed and will likely be abandoned after the US presidential election.

“There’s a sense that there’s a bit of desperation right now” in both capitals, says Trita Parsi, executive vice president and co-founder of the Quincy Institute, an anti-interventionist think tank in Washington, D.C. He likens the attempts to those of medieval archers fighting a losing battle: “Empty your quiver . . . shoot all your arrows.”

October surprise?

Some analysts speculate that the Trump Administration is seeking to provoke Iran into military retaliation. Trump could then launch a war, rally support at home, and win the election. It’s a classic “October Surprise” or even a “Wag the Dog” scenario.

But Foad Izadi does not agree with that analysis.

“Iran is not Iraq,” Izadi, an assistant professor of American studies at the University of Tehran, tells me by phone from Tehran. “Any overt war runs the danger of serious US casualties. He should know, after being President for almost four years, attacking Iran has consequences.”

Izadi does not think that “starting a new war with Iran a few months before the election” is in Trump’s interest. “Even a limited war is not useful for him.”

But that doesn’t preclude other forms of US aggression.

On July 23, a US fighter jet flew close to an Iranian civilian airliner on a routine flight from Tehran, as it crossed Syria on its way to Beirut, Lebanon. The US military claimed to be conducting a “visual inspection” of the plane in order to “ensure the safety of coalition personnel at At Tanf garrison,” says Captain Bill Urban, spokesperson for US Central Command.

Urban claimed the F-15 fighter jet kept 1,000 yards away from the airliner. But a video shot by passengers shows a jet flying much closer. The proximity of the F-15 forced the Iranian pilot to drop 14,000 feet in four minutes, injuring several passengers.

According to Izadi, the US military has no business “inspecting” a civilian airliner flying in a normal civilian air corridor over Syria. In fact, he says, the United States “has no right to be in Syria at all.”

The Trump Administration keeps several hundred troops in Syria in defiance of the Syrian government and without authorization from the United Nations or any other international body.

Iranians are particularly sensitive about US interactions with civilian planes. In 1988, the US Navy shot down an Iranian airliner, killing all 290 passengers and crew. After initially providing false information about where and how fast the plane was flying, Washington admitted to shooting down the airliner and paid compensation to the victims’ families.

“These things unify the Iranian people,” Izadi says. “Whether they like the government or not, Iranians don’t want to be on a plane that will be shot down.”

Iranian response

To date, the Iranian government has not overtly responded to the US provocations. It seems more likely that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is waiting for the US election on November 3, which could result in the election of Joe Biden.

“Iranians are holding their fire, playing the long game,” Parsi says. “They fear it may be a trap to give Trump an excuse to go farther.”

Iran’s conservative hardliners, meanwhile, denounce Rouhani as vacillating in the face of a US and Israeli onslaught. But Parsi says these hardliners “are playing a political game. They understand the logic of not doing anything for now, but that doesn’t prevent them from calling Rouhani weak.”

Sahimi, a close observer of Iranian politics, agrees that “there is a lot of ‘hot’ rhetoric against President Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif by the hardliners. But I do not expect any practical action in the near future.”

Depending on what policy the United States adopts after the elections, Sahimi expects “the response to come at a later time and in a manner and at locations where neither Israel nor the US would expect.”

Biden has pledged, if elected, to reverse course on Iran. Izadi believes a Biden Administration would change the Trump policy of maximum pressure. “Whether doing it through rejoining the nuclear agreement or coming up with some other policies, we have to wait and see,” he says.

Parsi, who is familiar with the views of Biden’s Iran advisors, says the new administration would likely call for “compliance for compliance.”

“Biden could lift sanctions by executive order without rejoining the nuclear accord,” he says. “That’s a necessary step, but not sufficient.” The new administration will also have to work with Congress and lay the groundwork for restoring the nuclear accord.

Despite the current crisis, Izadi says, “I’m optimistic. Trump’s policies are not working. The US will have to change, and the change will be for the best.”

Bernie Is To Be Remembered, Not Emulated. Garland Nixon On Coming Economic Meltdown

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hoje6l8VGc0&feature

Sri Lankan Trotskyists hold final online election meeting

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/06/meet-a06.html





By our correspondents
6 August 2020

The Socialist Equality Party (SEP), which fielded a total of 43 candidates for the Colombo, Jaffna and Nuwara Eliya districts, held its third and concluding election meeting on August 2. It followed a vigorous campaign by SEP and International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) members and supporters in the three election districts and other key parts of the country.

The event was streamed on the SEP’s Facebook page and attended by about 100 people from Sri Lanka and internationally. More than 1,500 people later viewed the video with scores of others posting greetings, comments and questions.

While the COVID-19 pandemic limited face to face interactions, SEP and IYSSE campaigners distributed thousands of copies of its “Fight against war, social devastation and dictatorship” election manifesto. Discussions were held with workers and young people in the railways, irrigation facilities, ports, major free trade zones and tea plantations.

The August 2 meeting was chaired by SEP Political Committee member and Colombo district candidate Pani Wijesiriwardena. He began by explaining how COVID-19 had deepened the economic and political crisis of the Sri Lankan capitalist class.

“The Rajapakse government is determined to impose the full burden of this crisis onto the backs of the working class and the poor. Knowing well that the harsh measures will provoke workers’ opposition, Rajapakse is moving towards a presidential dictatorship in order to crush this resistance,” he said. “As part of this right-wing agenda, Rajapakse and his chauvinist allies have instigated an anti-Tamil and anti-Muslim campaign to divide and weaken the working class.”

Wijesiriwardena said the ruling elites everywhere have responded to the pandemic by imposing austerity measures and handing over trillions of dollars to the financial oligarchy. The speaker explained that about 400,000 manufacturing sector jobs had been eliminated in Sri Lanka even as the government provided funds to big business and backed company wage and job cuts.

Wijesiriwardena noted the rising resistance of workers internationally and said this would further develop in the coming months. The SEP and its sister parties in the International Committee of the Fourth International, he said, will fight to mobilise this working-class movement with an international socialist perspective. “Our intervention in this election is part of that struggle,” he said.

The next speaker Vilani Peiris, who leads the Colombo district SEP slate, reviewed the election campaigns of the capitalist and pseudo-left parties. “No section of the Sri Lankan bourgeoisie,” she said, has a progressive solution to the economic crisis they face.

“The Rajapakse government is trying to borrow heavily from China and the international financial institutions. Ranil Wickremesinghe, leader of the United National Party, claims he has the potential to build the economy by borrowing from the International Monetary Fund. All of them are prepared to drag the country into a huge debt trap and impose it on workers and the poor,” Peiris said.

The speaker noted President Gotabhaya Rajapakse’s response to port worker protests against the proposed sale of a terminal at the Colombo Port to an Indian company. “Rajapakse publicly declared that he will not be intimidated by such action. This means that privatisation will continue irrespective of workers’ opposition.”

Peiris said the militarisation of Rajapakse’s administration, which was in order to take on the working class, was not challenged by the opposition parties or the pseudo-left because “they all fear the developing class struggle.”






SEP Political Committee member M. Thevarajah, who headed the party’s list in Nuwara Eliya, told the meeting that the Tamil nationalist parties wanted more seats in parliament in order to secure a better deal with whoever won government. The Tamil National Alliance, he said, has publicly promised to negotiate in a “meaningful way” with Rajapakse, even as he is preparing a dictatorship.

Thevarajah reviewed the Tamil nationalists’ orientation towards the imperialist powers and their endorsement of Washington’s preparations for war against China. The democratic rights of oppressed Tamils can only be won, he said, by opposing these reactionary positions and fighting for the unity of workers across ethnic lines to overthrow capitalism and establish a Sri Lanka-Eelam socialist republic as part of a union of South Asia socialist republics.

The speaker said that the major plantation unions, including the Ceylon Workers Congress, were assisting the companies to impose greater productivity and exploitation. “Workers and their families are being given small plots of the plantation to look after. This means the whole family will have to toil to earn a living income. This is another slave labour system,” he said, and called for plantation workers to build independent action committees and fight for “workers’ control of the production.

Speaking on behalf of the IYSSE, Dinesh Hemal explained Colombo’s attacks on education and students. “Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it is clear that these austerity measures are threatening the lives of students. Many schools cannot provide the minimum measures required to prevent the pandemic spreading.”

Hemal also pointed to the government’s anti-democratic attacks on students. “The government has deployed intelligence officers in the universities to hunt down student activists.” Although students were resisting this repression, he continued, their struggle could only be advanced by turning to the working class and fighting for socialism.

Concluding the online meeting, Pani Wijesiriwardena thanked all those who had supported the SEP’s defence campaign against the military harassment of the party’s Jaffna district candidates.

The anti-democratic military provocations, he said, are a part of an international response by the ruling classes everywhere to the growing influence of the international Trotskyist movement. “In Germany, for example, the government has decided to place the SEP on its state surveillance list, whilst in the US, SEP presidential candidates are being are anti-democratically deprived of ballot access.”

Wijesiriwardena noted the actions of US autoworkers and teachers against unsafe COVID-19 returns-to-work and the nationwide mass demonstrations over the police murder of George Floyd.

These developments, he said, are indications of the growing opposition of the working class and youth against capitalist reaction. “The protests were not just a response to Floyd’s murder but an explosion of social anger against deep social inequality in the US.”

The speaker referred to mass protests in Sri Lanka against privatisation of a Colombo Port terminal. Workers were propelled into action, he said, by a broad range of issues, including the deterioration of working and living conditions.

“Although the trade union bureaucracies are trying to dissipate workers’ anger with a limited protest, this struggle directly raises the political necessity of defeating the government’s IMF-dictated policies.”

Wijesiriwardena concluded the meeting by stressing that the SEP was contesting the elections in order to unite and mobilise workers as a single international class.

“The SEP’s central aim is to organise workers independently of the unions and the capitalist parties and assist them to build their own action committees. Our political program is the fight for a workers’ and peasants’ government in the form of a Sri Lanka-Eelam Socialist Republic as part of the fight for international socialism.”

The Political Legacy of W. E. B. Du Bois

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxG2UAmcc60

Ad HAMMERS Trump For Healthcare Failure

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUtv0QrnK0w

Sen. Merkley And Community Leaders Call For Moratorium On Utility Shutoffs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrVrUp3C8F4