I am wondering why the US should have a problem with some one from another country coming in and earning money by speaking? We have Bill Clinton over here, charging a zillion to give the same propaganda speech on why the US should be given free reign to belt shit out of who ever they choose.
Gil jsherry wrote: > THE "TERRORISM EXCUSE" NOW JUSTIFIES ANY AND ALL > > Indeed the "Spirit of Justice" has itself truly been > draped > > MER- Washington - 2/27/2002: > While U.S. Attorney John Ashcroft is busy draping the statue of the Spirit > of Justice, whose breast has been on display at the Department of Justice > since the 1930s and is hardly a mystery; and while the White House is busy > making excuses for getting rid of the Israeli-centric speechwriter, David > Frum, the guy who penned the phrase "Axis of Evil" but made the mistake of > letting his wife credit it to him; the USG is using the "terrorism excuse" > not only to get ready for "regime change" in Iraq but to keep > "undesireables" from even speaking up through all kinds of new intimidation > and repression techniques. The following letter from a Canadian activist > helps explain what is going on as never before when it comes to > demonstrations and conferences that expose and oppose what the U.S. is > really up to; and is a reminder that what we learn in this way is just the > tip of the repression iceberg. > > THEY KNOW WHO YOU ARE! > Interrogation at the US Border > > By John Clarke > > My name is John Clarke and I am an Organizer with the Ontario Coalition > Against Poverty (OCAP). In the early afternoon of February 19th, 2002, I > crossed the international bridge between Sarnia, Ontario and Port Huron, > Michigan. I was on my way to a speaking engagement that had been set up by > students at Michigan State University. > > When I pulled up my car at the customs booth, the officer asked where I was > bound and I told him. He wanted to know on what basis I was asked to speak > and whether I would be paid. I replied that I was with OCAP and that I had > been told by the organizers of the meeting that an honourarium would be > provided as was normal. The officer was concerned that this meant I was > coming into the US to work. Of course, people on both sides of the border > accept speaking invitations all the time on this basis and the issue of a > work permit is never raised. At this point, the matter was nothing that > could not have been rapidly cleared up if I had been on my way to address a > business seminar or deliver a lecture on self awareness. > > As instructed by the officer, I parked my car and made my way into the > offices shared by customs and US Immigration. As soon as my ID was run > through the computer, there was a marked change in the situation. An > officer asked me more questions about my intentions in the US, what anti > globalization protests I had attended and whether I opposed the 'ideology > of the United States'. My car was searched and I was taken into a room and > thoroughly (though not roughly) frisked. I was then told that I would be > denied entry to the US and that the FBI and State Department wanted to > speak to me. Agents were on their way from Detroit I was told. > > After about an hour and a half, a man entered the 'controlled reception' > area that I was being kept in and passed by me into the inner offices. He > was carrying a big folder and a pile of files. It struck me that he carried > them the way a highly skilled worker might carry his or her precision > tools. He spent some time in discussion with the local officers and then I > was brought into an interrogation room to deal with him. He introduced > himself and gave me his card. His name was Edward J. Seitz of the State > Department of the United States Diplomatic Security Service and his rank > was Special Agent. I found him to be an impressive and fascinating > character. > > Seitz, with the backing of another local officer, interrogated me for some > considerable time. It was not a situation like an arrest by Canadian police > where silence is the best option. Had I refused to talk to him, I did not > doubt that he would order me detained and that it would be some time before > the Canadian consular authorities came into the picture. If I was to avoid > at least several days in detention, I determined that I had no option but > to answer his questions. It was immediately obvious to me that I was > dealing with a specialist in interrogation methods. He told the admiring > locals at one point that he had been stationed in Yemen and I avoided > speculating on how he had employed his talents there. > > Seitz's basic strategy, apart from general intelligence gathering, was to > try and set me up to tell him something false that would place me in the > situation of violating US law. He began with some very basic questions on > my personal background, extremely affable in his manner and striking a pose > of mild confusion that was designed to make me underestimate him. He then > asked about OCAP. He told me it sounded like we were good people but he had > heard something about an organization that a year or so before had been > involved in a confrontation with the police at the Ontario Legislature. > That wasn't us was it? The trap was clear and I told him that we were > indeed that organization. His affable manner then vanished and his > difficulties in focusing his thoughts ended. He gradually moved his chair > over so we were right up against each other and fired questions at me. He > wanted to know about the June 15, 2000 March on the Ontario Legislature > where the Toronto police attacked a march against homelessness that we had > organized. He wanted to know about charges that the police have laid > against me. He wanted to know how OCAP is structured and who are the > members of its elected executive committee (which I refused to tell him). > > Seitz then took up the question of OCAP's friends and allies in the US. Are > we involved in anti globalization work. Isn't this a cover for anarchism? > Was I personally an anarchist or a socialist? (In the interests of anti > capitalist unity, I won't say which one of these I acknowledged I was). > Seitz had a huge file on OCAP with him that included leaflets from public > speaking events I had been at in the US. He knew the name of the man I > stayed with the last time I was in Chicago. He wanted to know who I spoke > to in the Chicago Direct Action Network. He claimed that I was an advocate > of violence and that my association with DAN showed this but (in a rare > stumble) could find nothing in their literature that proved that they call > for violence. > > This phase of the questioning went on for a long time. He covered a great > deal of ground and had at his disposal voluminous information on us. He, > obviously, had been in contact with the Canadian police but was most > interested on our US allies. The exception was an enormous interest in > Canadian anti capitalist activist, Jaggi Singh. He knew that he and I had > spoken at the same meetings and was most anxious to find out if he was also > in the US. He showed me a picture of Jaggi and wanted to know where he was > at that moment. > > Suddenly, the mask of affability went back on. I was a 'gentleman' and he > didn't want to lock me up. I was ok but he couldn't understand how I worked > with a 'violent man like Mr. Singh'. Then he told me he would have to ban > me from the US but I could go to the US Consulate in Toronto and apply for > a waiver. I could just take a seat in the waiting room while they prepared > some paper work but I would soon be on my way. I had not been sitting out > there long, however, before the Special Agent came out to try a new tack > that I had heard of in the past. Essentially, his plan was to make me think > he was utterly mad and, thereby, rattle me to the point where I lost my > judgement. I assume the method works better if it is used after serious > sleep deprivation. He came over and sat next to me right there in the > waiting area with other people around. He had a few OCAP cheques that he > asserted showed I was bringing with me the means to live illegally in the > US. I was going to jail, he asserted. I explained that the cheques were in > my bag because I always kept a few with me to cover the cost of office > supplies and suchlike and that I had seen no reason to take them out just > because I was going to spend a few hours in Michigan. > > Then came the most astounding part of the whole interrogation. Out of the > blue, Seitz demanded to know where Osama Bin Laden was hiding. I knew were > he was, he insisted. If I grew a beard I would look like Bin Laden. I was > holding back on telling him why I was going to the university and who I was > going to meet there. If I didn't want to go to jail, it was time to tell > him the real story. I replied that I had been quite open with him about my > intentions and that sending me to jail was now up to him. He laughed, told > me there were no problems. I could go home after all. Did I drink tea of > coffee? Would I have a coffee with him if he came up to Toronto. I told him > I would, which was the only lie I told that day, and he gathered up his > files and left. > > Shortly after this, the local officials gave me the free ticket for the > bridge which is the only perk that comes along with being denied entry to > the US and, a little over five hours after coming over, I headed back to > the Canadian side.
