Global Investment Watch

Why America’s Greatest Threat is From Within

The first use of the term ‘terrorism” can be traced back to the infamous “Reign of Terror” that occurred after the French Revolution in 1793. Terrorism, in its original form was used as a tool of government and was inflicted on the people of France. More than 40,000 people were killed in the name of the revolution. More than 200 years later, the definition of the term has come full circle as demonstrated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which serves as a weapon against the American people in the name of freedom and justice. But that is not important. What matters is that it is important for the ideologues advocating American primacy and it is important for American business.

Ideology vs. Human Rights: The Means/Ends Test

Flag waving and the words “nine-eleven” as responses to the federal government’s violation of human rights have become the norm. Take for example the legal right known as “habeas corpus.” The elimination of habeas corpus by the U.S. government – the fundamental right of a person to seek relief from unlawful detention – has become accepted by many Americans. The writ of habeas corpus has historically been an important instrument for the safeguarding of individual freedom against arbitrary state action. This is no longer so if an individual is branded a terrorist by the government. We need only look at prisoners held incommunicado in jails in the U.S. and abroad under the guise of “terrorist threat” to witness this abuse of human rights and a disregard of the Constitution.

While this sort of gross violation of fundamental human rights garners numerous news accounts but little action, more mundane but pernicious intrusions into the daily lives and privacy of ordinary Americans happens every day.

Airport Security: The U.S. Terrorists’ Primary Weapon

More than 760 million people pass through U.S. airports every year. This provides a real opportunity for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to impose its propaganda-in-action to a massive number of American citizens and visitors from abroad. Removing your shoes, disallowing nail clippers and bottles of water, prohibiting cosmetics over 2 ounces onto planes and random searches of elderly people and small children all communicate messages to people. Since the logic of such restrictions is considered secret, ordinary Americans are not let in on the often arbitrary and objectively logic of these inane procedures inflicted on them.

The obvious message is that the government is on alert for terrorists. Removing your shoes or stowing your toiletries in your checked bags serves as a not so subtle reminder to Americans about the threat – real or imagined. As important however is the message that everything that the U.S. government is doing is somehow justified: the “ends justify the means” argument has become the corrupting principle of the current administration and an operating principle for post-9/11 government.

A primary example of this sort of corrupt thinking has occurred with regularity when searching the private computer files contained in laptops of individuals entering the U.S. The U.S. Customs Service has made a practice of searching computer files of individuals traveling into the U.S. without regard to probable cause or with prior approval from the courts. Government agents believe that they are free to conduct searches at will, regardless of probable cause or any other rule of law established by the courts. The agency defends the searches, saying the agency does not need to show probable cause to look inside suitcases or laptops.

“We have broad search authority at the borders to determine admissibility and look for anything that may be in violation of criminal law,” says agency spokeswoman Lynn Hollinger.

According to CNN, Russ Knocke, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, equates searches of electronic devices to those of papers in briefcases. “You forgo your right to privacy when you are seeking admission into the country,” he says. “This is the kind of scrutiny the American public expects.”

Really?

Well Russ, I don’t know what detention camp you live in here in Washington. I think that the rest of us prefer our freedom of privacy and the freedom to travel unimpeded by intrusive and arbitrary government and guaranteed under the Constitution as we conduct our daily lives.

Terrorism is Good Business

But it’s not just about ideology. For anybody paying attention for the last eight years, the business of government has been to serve business. In 2007, the Department of Homeland Security spent $12.2 billion for contracted goods and services. This compares with $3.4 billion in 2003. This is clearly a growth industry. So who are the companies that get to implement this terrorist ideology?

Let’s start with the short list of major contractors:

• ACCENTURE
• BAE SYSTEMS INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
• BEARING POINT
• BECHTEL
• THE BOEING COMPANY
• BOOZ ALLEN HAMILTON
• DHS EAGLE
• CACI, INC. FEDERAL
• CAPGEMINI GOVERNMENT SOLUTIONS, LLC
• CH2MHILL
• COMPUTER SCIENCES CORPORATION
• COVENANT AVIATION SECURITY, LLC
• CPS HUMAN RESOURCE SERVICES
• DELOITTE & TOUCHE, LLP
• DEWBERRY
• EARTH TECH, INC.
• EG&G TECHNICAL SERVICES, INC.
• FLUOR GOVERNMENT GROUP
• GENERAL DYNAMICS C4 SYSTEMS
• GENERAL DYNAMICS INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
• IBM
• ICF INTERNATIONAL
• INTEGRATED COAST GUARD SYSTEMS
• NORTHRUP GRUMMAN
• LOCKHEED MARTIN
• L-3 COMMUNICATIONS TITAN CORPORATION
• LOCKHEED MARTIN – INFORMATION SYSTEMS & GLOBAL SERVICES
• MICHAEL BAKER JR., INC.
• NORTHROP GRUMMAN
• OLIN
• FLETC
• PATH
• PBS&J
• PEROT SYSTEMS
• P. J. DICK INCORPORATED
• ROBBINS-GIOIA, LLC
• SAIC
• SHAW ENVIRONMENTAL AND INFRASTRUCTURE, INC.
• UNISYS
• VERIZON
• VF IMAGEWEAR
• VSE CORPORATION

This is an incomplete list. However, it is instructive to show that American terrorism is a growth business and business is on board. As we reel from the economic crisis caused by banks, mortgage lenders, investment bankers and others in the financial services sector, we cannot lose sight of the fact that we live in a world that is subject to cycles. Nowhere is it more apparent than in the economy of the U.S. and the rest of the world. The bursting of the tech bubble in 2001 preceded today’s massive economic crisis. We will surely see yet another, seemingly unpredictable crisis brought on by unfettered business activity. Given the unpredictability of these events, it is not unreasonable to expect that our next crisis will not be economic but will directly impact our basic human freedoms.