John Graham
Re: The "Strategy" and "non-lethal weapons"
Sun Jul 10, 2005 02:14
64.140.158.88
Who's Watching the Watch List?
By John Graham, AlterNet. Posted July 7, 2005.
http://www.alternet.org/story/23362/
[Graham is the author of Stick Your Neck Out: A Street-smart Guide to
Creating Change in Your Community and Beyond (San Francisco:
Berrett-Koehler, 2005). He is also president of the Giraffe Heroes
Project and a former US diplomat.]
_________________________________________
My name is on a list of real and suspected enemies of the state and I
can't find out what I'm accused of or why, let alone defend myself.
Heading for Oakland from Seattle to see my grandkids last week, the
Alaska Airlines check-in machine refused to give me a boarding pass.
Directed to the ticket counter, I gave the agent my driver's license and
watched her punch keys at her computer.
Frowning, she told me that my name was on the national terrorist No Fly
Watch List and that I had to be specially cleared to board a plane. Any
plane. Then she disappeared with my license for 10 minutes, returning
with a boarding pass and a written notice from the Transportation
Security Administration (TSA) confirming that my name was on a list of
persons "who posed, or were suspected of posing, a threat to civil
aviation or national security."
No one could tell me more than that. The computer was certain.
Back home in Seattle, I called the TSA's 800 number, where I rode a
merry-go-round of pleasant recorded voices until I gave up. Turning to
the TSA web site , I downloaded a Passenger Identity Verification form
that would assist the TSA in "assessing" my situation if I sent it in
with a package of certified documents attesting to who I was.
I collected all this stuff and sent it in. Another 20 minutes on the
phone to the TSA uncovered no live human being at all, let alone one who
would tell me what I'd presumably done to get on The List. Searching my
mind for possible reasons, I've been more and more puzzled. I used to
work on national security issues for the State Department and I know how
dangerous our country's opponents can be. To the dismay of many of my
more progressive friends, I've given the feds the benefit of the doubt
on homeland security. I tend to dismiss conspiracy theories as nonsense
and I take my shoes off for the airport screeners with a smile.
I'm embarrassed that it took my own ox being gored for me to see the
threat posed by the Administration's current restricting of civil
liberties. I'm being accused of a serious--even treasonous--criminal
intent by a faceless bureaucracy, with no opportunity (that I can find)
to refute any errors or false charges. My ability to earn a living is
threatened; I speak on civic action and leadership all over the world,
including recently at the US Air Force Academy. Plane travel is key to
my livelihood.
According to a recent MSNBC piece, thousands of Americans are having
similar experiences. And this is not Chile under Pinochet. It's America.
My country and yours.
With no real information to go on, I'm left to guess why this is
happening to me. The easiest and most comforting guess is that it's all
a mistake (a possibility the TSA form, to its credit, allows). But how?
I'm a 63-year-old guy with an Anglo-Saxon name. I once held a Top Secret
Umbra clearance (don't ask what it is but it meant the FBI vetted me up
the whazoo for months). And since I left the government in 1980, my life
has been an open book. It shouldn't be hard for the government to figure
out that I'm not a menace to my country.
If they do think that, I can't see how. Since 1983 I've helped lead the
Giraffe Heroes Project, a nonprofit that moves people to stick their
necks out for the common good. In the tradition of Gandhi, King and
Mandela, that can include challenging public policies people think are
unjust. In 1990, the Project's founder and I were honored as "Points of
Light" by the first President Bush for our work in fostering the health
of this democracy. I've just written a book about activating citizens to
get to work on whatever problems they care about, instead of sitting
around complaining.
I'm also engaged in international peacemaking, working with an
organization with a distinguished 60-year record of success in places
ranging from post-war Europe to Africa. Peacemakers must talk to all
sides, so over the years I've met with Cambodians, Sudanese,
Palestinians, Israelis and many others. You can't convince people to
move toward peaceful solutions unless you understand who they are.
As I said, I'm not into conspiracy theories. But I can't ignore this
administration's efforts to purge and punish dissenters and opponents.
Look, for example, at current efforts to cleanse PBS and NPR of
"anti-administration" news. But I'm not Bill Moyers and the Giraffe
Heroes Project is not PBS. We're a small operation working quietly to
promote real citizenship.
Whether it's a mistake or somebody with the power to hassle me really
thinks I am a threat, the stark absence of due process is unsettling.
The worst of it is that being put on a list of America's enemies seems
to be permanent. The TSA form states:
The TSA clearance process will not remove a name from the Watch Lists.
Instead this process distinguishes passengers from persons who are in
fact on the Watch Lists by placing their names and identifying
information in a cleared portion of the Lists.
Which may or may not, the form continues, reduce the airport hassles.
Huh? My name is on a list of real and suspected enemies of the state and
I can't find out what I'm accused of or why, let alone defend myself.
And I'm guilty, says my government, not just until proven innocent or a
victim of mistaken identity--but forever.
Sure, 9/11 changed a lot. Tougher internal security measures (like
thorough screenings at airports and boundary crossings) are a dismal
necessity. But, in protecting ourselves, we can't allow our leaders to
continue to create a climate of fear and mistrust, to destroy our civil
liberties and, in so doing, to change who we are as a nation. What a
victory that would be for our enemies, and what a betrayal of real
patriots and so many in the wider world who still remember this country
as a source of inspiration and hope.
I don't think it's like Germany in 1936 -- but, look at Germany in 1930.
Primed by National Socialist propaganda to stay fearful and angry,
Germans in droves refused to see the right's extreme views and actions
as a threat to their liberties.
And don't forget that frog. You know that frog. Dropped into a pot of
boiling water, he jumps out to safety. But put him into a pot of cold
water over a steady flame, he won't realize the danger until it's too
late to jump.
So how hot does the water have to get? When the feds can rifle through
your library reading list? When they can intimidate journalists? When a
government agency can keep you off airplanes without giving you a
reason? When there's not even a pretense of due process? We're not
talking about prisoners at Guantanamo; this is you and me. Well, after
last week, it sure as hell is me and it could be you, next.
Oh, yes -- Washington State just refused to renew my driver's license
online, a privilege given others. I had to wait in line at the DMV
before a computer decided I could drive home. This conspiracy theory
debunker smells a connection to the Watch List.
I know what I will do. If my name is not removed completely from the
Watch List in 45 days I will use every resource I've got to challenge
the government of a country that I love and have served. In all the
press about identity theft, I find myself railing at having my identity
as a patriot stolen--by my own government. This must not stand.
John Graham is the author of Stick Your Neck Out: A Street-smart Guide
to Creating Change in Your Community and Beyond (San Francisco:
Berrett-Koehler, 2005). He is also president of the Giraffe Heroes
Project and a former US diplomat.
By John Graham, AlterNet. Posted July 7, 2005.
http://www.alternet.org/story/23362/
[Graham is the author of Stick Your Neck Out: A Street-smart Guide to
Creating Change in Your Community and Beyond (San Francisco:
Berrett-Koehler, 2005). He is also president of the Giraffe Heroes
Project and a former US diplomat.]
_________________________________________
My name is on a list of real and suspected enemies of the state and I
can't find out what I'm accused of or why, let alone defend myself.
Heading for Oakland from Seattle to see my grandkids last week, the
Alaska Airlines check-in machine refused to give me a boarding pass.
Directed to the ticket counter, I gave the agent my driver's license and
watched her punch keys at her computer.
Frowning, she told me that my name was on the national terrorist No Fly
Watch List and that I had to be specially cleared to board a plane. Any
plane. Then she disappeared with my license for 10 minutes, returning
with a boarding pass and a written notice from the Transportation
Security Administration (TSA) confirming that my name was on a list of
persons "who posed, or were suspected of posing, a threat to civil
aviation or national security."
No one could tell me more than that. The computer was certain.
Back home in Seattle, I called the TSA's 800 number, where I rode a
merry-go-round of pleasant recorded voices until I gave up. Turning to
the TSA web site , I downloaded a Passenger Identity Verification form
that would assist the TSA in "assessing" my situation if I sent it in
with a package of certified documents attesting to who I was.
I collected all this stuff and sent it in. Another 20 minutes on the
phone to the TSA uncovered no live human being at all, let alone one who
would tell me what I'd presumably done to get on The List. Searching my
mind for possible reasons, I've been more and more puzzled. I used to
work on national security issues for the State Department and I know how
dangerous our country's opponents can be. To the dismay of many of my
more progressive friends, I've given the feds the benefit of the doubt
on homeland security. I tend to dismiss conspiracy theories as nonsense
and I take my shoes off for the airport screeners with a smile.
I'm embarrassed that it took my own ox being gored for me to see the
threat posed by the Administration's current restricting of civil
liberties. I'm being accused of a serious--even treasonous--criminal
intent by a faceless bureaucracy, with no opportunity (that I can find)
to refute any errors or false charges. My ability to earn a living is
threatened; I speak on civic action and leadership all over the world,
including recently at the US Air Force Academy. Plane travel is key to
my livelihood.
According to a recent MSNBC piece, thousands of Americans are having
similar experiences. And this is not Chile under Pinochet. It's America.
My country and yours.
With no real information to go on, I'm left to guess why this is
happening to me. The easiest and most comforting guess is that it's all
a mistake (a possibility the TSA form, to its credit, allows). But how?
I'm a 63-year-old guy with an Anglo-Saxon name. I once held a Top Secret
Umbra clearance (don't ask what it is but it meant the FBI vetted me up
the whazoo for months). And since I left the government in 1980, my life
has been an open book. It shouldn't be hard for the government to figure
out that I'm not a menace to my country.
If they do think that, I can't see how. Since 1983 I've helped lead the
Giraffe Heroes Project, a nonprofit that moves people to stick their
necks out for the common good. In the tradition of Gandhi, King and
Mandela, that can include challenging public policies people think are
unjust. In 1990, the Project's founder and I were honored as "Points of
Light" by the first President Bush for our work in fostering the health
of this democracy. I've just written a book about activating citizens to
get to work on whatever problems they care about, instead of sitting
around complaining.
I'm also engaged in international peacemaking, working with an
organization with a distinguished 60-year record of success in places
ranging from post-war Europe to Africa. Peacemakers must talk to all
sides, so over the years I've met with Cambodians, Sudanese,
Palestinians, Israelis and many others. You can't convince people to
move toward peaceful solutions unless you understand who they are.
As I said, I'm not into conspiracy theories. But I can't ignore this
administration's efforts to purge and punish dissenters and opponents.
Look, for example, at current efforts to cleanse PBS and NPR of
"anti-administration" news. But I'm not Bill Moyers and the Giraffe
Heroes Project is not PBS. We're a small operation working quietly to
promote real citizenship.
Whether it's a mistake or somebody with the power to hassle me really
thinks I am a threat, the stark absence of due process is unsettling.
The worst of it is that being put on a list of America's enemies seems
to be permanent. The TSA form states:
The TSA clearance process will not remove a name from the Watch Lists.
Instead this process distinguishes passengers from persons who are in
fact on the Watch Lists by placing their names and identifying
information in a cleared portion of the Lists.
Which may or may not, the form continues, reduce the airport hassles.
Huh? My name is on a list of real and suspected enemies of the state and
I can't find out what I'm accused of or why, let alone defend myself.
And I'm guilty, says my government, not just until proven innocent or a
victim of mistaken identity--but forever.
Sure, 9/11 changed a lot. Tougher internal security measures (like
thorough screenings at airports and boundary crossings) are a dismal
necessity. But, in protecting ourselves, we can't allow our leaders to
continue to create a climate of fear and mistrust, to destroy our civil
liberties and, in so doing, to change who we are as a nation. What a
victory that would be for our enemies, and what a betrayal of real
patriots and so many in the wider world who still remember this country
as a source of inspiration and hope.
I don't think it's like Germany in 1936 -- but, look at Germany in 1930.
Primed by National Socialist propaganda to stay fearful and angry,
Germans in droves refused to see the right's extreme views and actions
as a threat to their liberties.
And don't forget that frog. You know that frog. Dropped into a pot of
boiling water, he jumps out to safety. But put him into a pot of cold
water over a steady flame, he won't realize the danger until it's too
late to jump.
So how hot does the water have to get? When the feds can rifle through
your library reading list? When they can intimidate journalists? When a
government agency can keep you off airplanes without giving you a
reason? When there's not even a pretense of due process? We're not
talking about prisoners at Guantanamo; this is you and me. Well, after
last week, it sure as hell is me and it could be you, next.
Oh, yes -- Washington State just refused to renew my driver's license
online, a privilege given others. I had to wait in line at the DMV
before a computer decided I could drive home. This conspiracy theory
debunker smells a connection to the Watch List.
I know what I will do. If my name is not removed completely from the
Watch List in 45 days I will use every resource I've got to challenge
the government of a country that I love and have served. In all the
press about identity theft, I find myself railing at having my identity
as a patriot stolen--by my own government. This must not stand.
John Graham is the author of Stick Your Neck Out: A Street-smart Guide
to Creating Change in Your Community and Beyond (San Francisco:
Berrett-Koehler, 2005). He is also president of the Giraffe Heroes
Project and a former US diplomat.
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