Iran Affairs

Review of Trita Parsi's book, "A Single Role of the Dice."

Actually, this isn't really my review - I have been too busy to get the book and read it though I've promised myself I will. I certainly enjoyed Dr Parsi's first book, Treacherous Alliances.

Rather, this is a comment or two on the Leveretts' detailed and quite substantial review of Parsi's book published recently in the Boston Review. And I have to say  I am in vehement agreement with the Leveretts' criticisms of NIAC and Parsi on their two main points.

It is ironic that the centerpiece of their criticism of Parsi's book is his apparent continued insistence on the existence of fraud in Iran's 2009 elections -- and all the implications from that, which the Leveretts point out -- because that was also a point I raised earlier today with Parsi on Facebook, in a comment I posted on his "wall" regarding an article he's written in which he casually repeats the claim that the elections were "fraudulent" (not even "allegedly" so, though he acknowledges the existence of a debate on this point.)

As regular readers of my blog know, I and others have already written extensively on the question of whether there is any actual evidence of election fraud, so I won't bother rehashing the points and debunking the fraud claims yet again. I also won't bother rehashing the point that there was no particular need or reason for any election fraud to happen (short version: Mousavi was a regime-insider backed by a clerical founder of the Islamic Republic and was also specifically vetted and pre-cleared to run for office by the same regime that supposedly felt so threatened by his supposed election victory that it supposedly resorted to massive election fraud to keep him out of office...? Bullshit.) So I have to say that I agree with the Leveretts that Parsi's insistence of claiming that the elections were fraudulent taints his writings on Iran (though, again, I haven't read his latest book.)

Another point the Leveretts make is about NIAC's promotion of sanctions on Iran, ostensibly for human rights reasons. As readers of this blog know, I also have also had a long-standing disagreement with the National Iranian-American Council on this point. As I've mentioned before, this doesn't make me an opponent to human rights. Rather, my views on this point are due to the fact that I think any contribution to the sanctions regime on Iran, even ostensibly for "human rights" reasons, only exacerbates the actual human rights situation there, futher politicizes the issue of human rights and thus discredits it as merely a tool in the apparatus of US domination, and only adds to the obstacles in the way of the one thing that can actually improve human rights in Iran: an improvement of US-Iran relations that entails rapprochement, engagement, the removal of sanctions which can lead to the creation of an economically stable, secure middle class in Iran. Indeed, more sanctions  are not just going to fail in "fixing" Iran's human rights situation, they can only add to the momentum for war which (ironically) as Parsi himself has written, can overtake the contrary personal views and intentions of the politicians and policy-makers.

In short, if you really care about human rights in Iran as well as avoiding a war, you should be arguing for engagement instead of more sanctions. Or, to quote the Leveretts:

To avoid the very war that Parsi says he opposes, the United States will have to pursue a rapprochment with the Islamic Republic as it is, not as some -- including, it would seem, Trita Parsi -- wish it to be.

On a final note: for full disclosure purposes, I should mention that I've known Trita for many years (before he was all rich 'n famous) and I have absolutely no doubt that running an organization like NIAC is tough and requires making compromises and charting courses between often equally unappetizing options. I don't doubt for a moment that Parsi and the staff and NIAC genuinely oppose any US war on Iran, and I do believe that the NIAC and Parsi make valuable contributions -- very valuable contributions -- to the debate over US-Iran relations, but naturally not everyone is going to agree with everyone else's positions on all matters. 

 

 

 

Claims of "Iranian soldiers captured in Syria" debunked.

After the fiasco of the "Syrian Gay blogger",  I guess some people aren't done trying to push propaganda about Syria.

Turns out that the claims (mostly by Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya) about Iranian revolutionary guards being captured by the "rebels" in Syria is a load of bullshit. In summary:

1- The pictures shown match the Iranian engineers abducted over a month ago in Syria rather than "revolutionar guards."

2- Reason to forcing and make them to change clothes and wear black clothes is to make them appear more like Hezbollah members or IRGC members.

3- A rifle is placed in between them to make them look like fighters; why they should be seating next to a rifle when confessing on their aged crimes.

4- The claims about a "lack of visas" and secretly entering Syria is funny, considering that Iran and Syria removed visas requirements for travel over a year go.

5- A funny part was showing the abductees passports, why should members of Hezbollah and IRGC if on a secret mission in Syria or anywhere else should or would carry passport and indemnification of any kind with them. Specially deploying forces that apparently can’t even speak the local language and need translators.

6- Is the claim that since their passports was signed by an police officer then they are members of military. All Iranian passports are signed and stamped by chief of policy or his deputy.

Israel & US media pushing US into war on Iran

MJ Rosenberg says what I've been saying all along:

Bottom line: The purpose of these articles [about an imminent Israeli attack on Iran] is not to predict an Israeli attack but to force the United States government into piling on sanction after sanction (with war always an option) rather than pursue a diplomatic solution to the crisis.

It makes no sense. And yet, due to the pressure of the pro-war lobby, it is diplomacy that is barely on the table, while war, always the direst option, is front and center.

Yup. And their goal?

Sanctions up to a point. War, if deemed necessary, farther down the road. And ideally a war fought by the United States and not Israel, to preserve not Israel's security but its regional hegemony.

If the American people allow that to happen, we are truly out of our minds.

So I guess we'll see. But the Leveretts don't sound too optimistic about the chances that Obama can break the AIPAC death grip on US foriegn policy:

The case for serious U.S. diplomacy with Iran could not be clearer.  But seriousness, in this context, will require very significant changes in U.S. policy and Washington’s overarching attitude about the Islamic Republic.  We hope that we are wrong, but we do not think it likely that the Obama Administration will be up for this, especially not at the President continues his re-election bid. 

Zionist Iran-basher under investigation by FBI

Turns out that Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire casino boss and funder of extreme rightwing lunacy as well as a supporter of war on Iran and backer of US presidential candidate Gingrich, is under investigation for associating with the Chinese mob in his casino deals over in Macau. I wonder if this will have any effect on his funding and promoting war on Iran and Israeli expansionism...not that the New York Times would mention any of that.

Boy history has a way of repeating itself.

EU talks with Iran are a national insult.

This is the text of EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton's letter to Iran, inviting Iran to talks with the EU. Note that while it demands that Iran impose no "preconditions" on the talks, it hides its own demands and preconditions in diplomatic language:

In order to start such a process, our initial objective is to engage in a confidence building exercise aimed at facilitating a constructive dialogue on the basis of reciprocity and a step-by-step approach. In this regard, we remain committed to the practical and specific suggestions which we have put forward in the past…involving full implementation by Iran of UNSC and IAEA Board of Governor’s resolutions

In other words, Iran has to give up enrichment, initially and as a "confidence building measure", before there can be negotiations about the enrichment program.

Frankly, his letter amounts to a national insult.

And that's why I agree with B at MoonofAlabama that the talks are actually intended to fail. The goal of setting such preconditions is to blame the failure of the talks on Iran's "intransigence".

Keller on "How about not bombing Iran"

Bill Keller has an article in the NY Times entitled "How about not bombing Iran" in which he makes some suggestions for a way out of the current US-Iran nuclear impasse.

While insisting on portraying Iran as having engaged in bad faith negotiations, he recommends that the US stop insisting on "zero enrichment" in Iran.

He mentions that Iran has offered to cease 20% enrichment,

The State Department was dismissive – and again, it’s hard to fault them for taking what the Iranians say as bluff and diversion – but given the added menace of 20 percent enrichment, the White House ought to be looking for a way to test that offer.

What Keller doesn't ask is why the State Department was dismissive, nor does he ask why the US continues to insist on zero enrichment -- because this was hardly the first time that Iran made a significant compromise offers that were ignored or even deliberately torpedoed.

Keller then makes a list of ways out -- which consist of Iran making compromises -- not realizing that practically everything he's listed was offered by Iran already.

Keller and other analysts don't want to come to grips with the fact that this standoff is not really about nuclear weapons, and so no solution can be found in any compromises over the nuclear issue. The nuclear standoff with Iran has always been about justifying regime change in Iran. The last thing the US wants is to let the nuclear issue be resolved peacefully, thus depriving it of the excuse for regime change policies.

The Iran hawks try to justify a war, as did the discredited Iraq hawks a decade ago

I've been sort of quite busy lately so any update to this blog will have to be quick and dirty, but there's so much to cover and I'm not sure where to start. I'm hoping more of my regular visitors and commentators will use the open comments on this blog to add their own updates on what's going on in US-Iran relations

Of course, we have to start with the recent assassination of an Iranian nuclear scientist -- 32-year old Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, who was in fact merely a procurement officer at Natanz, which happens to be a completely civilian uranium enrichment facility that is under constant IAEA monitoring. This forms a pattern: everytime the P5+1 are about to enter negotiations, a nuclear scientist is murdered. I suppose the message is that whoever is responsible will not tolerate a negotiated settlement to the nuclear standoff, but in effect they're shooting themselves in the foot. The openly-expressed glee by Santorum and the Israelis only serve to exacerbate the sense of revulsion even in the West at such tactics and portray Iran as the victim, nevermind to mention the nationalistic outrage by the people in Iran who naturally view such actions as a sign of vindictiveness and desire to keep Iran subservient. No wonder a thousand Iranian college students have reportedly switched their major to nuclear science.

Second, I recommend reading B's post over at Moon of Alabama, where he points out that the current P5+1 negotiations with Iran have already been killed by US preconditions -- in this case that Iran simply hand over its enriched uranium for nothing -- which is quite normal and usual since the last thing the US wants is for the negotiations to actually succeed and thus deprive the US of the "nuclear weapons threat" justification for its regime-change policies.

Third, Mark Perry has a sensational piece accusing Israel of arming of the Baluchi Jundallah terrorist group in Eastern Iran. According to Perry, Israeli Mossad agents posed as American spies to recruit members of the terrorist organization Jundallah, and have consistently ignored US objections at portraying themselves as CIA officers. Of course there's speculation that Perry is actually trying to disassociate the real US policies by blaming them on Israel. Frankly, I don't care. Makes very little difference whether the Israelis are doing this with the open  connivance of the US, or merely the silent toleration of the US, because in the end the result is the same.

Then we have a series of "experts" writing a variety of articles in which they seek to justify a war on Iran.  Kroenig wrote in Foreign Policy that  bombing Iran's nuclear facilities would be the "least bad option." Fly and Schmidt further suggest that not only should the US bomb Iran's nuclear facilities, but should engage in a prolonged battle to totally topple the regime -- a policy they refer to as "Go Big then Go Home."

There are enough analysts who have pointed out that this sort of argument sounds a lot like the bullshit that the NeoCons promoted to justify the invasion of Iraq -- including the claims that the people of Iran would would direct their resentments towards the regime rather than the US, and would welcome such an attack (remember, the Iraqis were going to toss flowers at invading US troops.) How exactly is the US realistically going to "go home" after launching a war on Iran, considering that it has just now managed to extricate itself from the mess it created in smaller, weaker Iraq almost a decade after the initial invasion, is left to the imagination. 

Also, I suppose it is a sign of the times and NeoCon thinking no one bothers to ask themselves how things have gotten so bad that launching a war is considered to be a preferable course of affairs, but in any case all three writers' arguments rely on framing the issue as a false choice: either Iran should be bombed, or Iran will acquire the bomb. I've written about this false choice before, since it is a common "talking point" by the NeoCons as it conveniently ignores a whole range of intermediate options between the two extremes, and is thus intended to ultimately corner the US into bombing Iran.  The idea of engagement -- a real engagement, not the pretense we've witnessed thus far -- is naturally left out. As I've written before, as far as the NeoCons are concerned, their real ambition it to prevent a US-Iran engagement and topple the regime, not just to end any supposed "nuclear weapons threat" from Iran.

I also recommend reading Gareth Porter's explanation on why Hillary Clinton's claim that the Fordow nuclear enrichment facility in Iran was supposedly a "secret" is false -- and also Eric Brill's debunking of torture-supporting John Yoo's justification of an attack on Iran -- and Pepe Escobar's rather funny article on how the myth of an "isolated" of Iran.

Clawson: need a false flag operation to justify a war against Iran

Perhaps its the amatuer psychologist in me, but the following statement by Patrick Clawson of the pro-Israeli WINEP think tank quite telling:

"It's a lot better to have a fight" that Iran provokes, Clawson replied, before adding: "Better to enter World War II after Pearl Harbor, and World War I after the sinking of the Lusitania."

This was his reponse to a question about why the sanctions on Iran's nuclear program has not thus far succeeded. He's not even making an attempt to hide the fact that they're using the nuclear issue as a pretext to launch a war.They're just hoping for a way to blame it on Iran.

I like this Maloney quote:

Washington's "embrace of open-ended pressure means" the United States has effectively backed itself into a dead-end "policy of regime change," Maloney continued.

That's not accidental, Suzanne. That was the plan all along. That's why Clawson leaves out a third option: engagement

Vindication at last

So you beat your head against a wall for a while, until one day you wake up and the world now agrees with you.

Today on Juan Cole's site, I read this, and my heart jumped:

The sanctions regime on Iran is not even primarily about the civilian nuclear enrichment program (to which Iran has a right under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty), but about causing the regime to collapse.

Oh my god - it took years but finally people are starting to get it.

I've been saying for a very long time now, the US sanctions on Iran are not really about nuclear weapons.  The "Iranian nuclear weapons threat" thing is just a pretext - like "WMDs in Iraq". The actual policy is about causing regime change in Iran, not just ending any "nulcear weapons threat" -- and so, logically, no amount of Iranian compromise offers on the nuclear issue will ever suffice. The US does not want the nuclear issue resolved, not without removing the regime as well. This explains why, for years, multiple Iranian compromise offers that would have addressed any REAL concerns about weapons proliferation, were simply ignored or actively undermined by the US.

So please folks, the next time the articles casually claim that the sanctions are attributable to the nuclear program, lets not let that slip into our consciousness through repetition. No, lets assert back, that the sanctions are intended to cause regime change.

What can the US offer Iran in any kind of nuclear deal?

Sweet! The Washington Post let the cat out of the bag when it reported that the goal of the US sanctions on Iran is regime change and not preventing nuclear weapons proliferation, and Panetta stated that Iran isn't actually trying to make nukes. Of course, someone then decided to press the Washington Post to issue a "correction" denying that the goal of the policy is regime change, and Panetta's people were quick to try to restate what he had stated... All, of course, quite familiar scenes to anyone who had been following the Iran-US relations close enough had already "discovered" the fact that the conflict was never really about nuclear weapons at all.

This, and the news that both the New York Times and the Washington Post were sufficiently inundated by reader pressure that they decided to "correct" their prior headlines which had falsely claimed that the IAEA had concluded that Iran was making nukes... and today was a good day. It shows that people are starting to pay attention to the small details that make a big difference.

I was going to start out writing about Olli H.'s (sorry I can't look up the spelling right now) interview in the Guardian, where he suggests a possible compromise of the US-Iran nuclear standoff. He recommends:

Here's a thought: The P5+1 could provide modern, safe and secure nuclear technology, fuel for the TRR and in the longer term, a more efficient research reactor. Iran could in turn relinquish its stock of enriched uranium.

Here's a thought, Olli: Iran already tried this. It was ignored like all of the rest of Iran's compromise offers. And here's another thought: why do you assume that the answer to what is essentially a political dispute can be found in a nuclear compromise? That's not where the answer lies, because that's not where the problem is - the problem between the US and Iran is first and foremost political. The nuclear issue is just a pretext, a cover for a political dispute.

And by know it should be obviously clear to anyone who has followed the history, that the goal of the political process now in force, is justifying imposing regime change in Iran even if by war. Nuclear weapons are just a pretext, the US has no intention of allowing this pretext to be taken away from it, and the last thing the US wants is to resolve the nuclear dispute with the regime there still in power.

Anyway, but then I read this article which features a few quotes from Trita Parsi (whose new book I have sadly thus far failed to acquire but definitely will do so soon) in which he asks a rather interesting question:

The United States wants Iran to stop enrichment to 20 percent, to turn over its stockpile of low enriched uranium, and to halt plans to make Fordo operational. "But what can they and the Europeans" offer in return? asked Parsi...

I had never thought of that question, really. What can they offer in return? I had never asked the question. OK, having established that the US is deliberately on a collision course with Iran of its own making, or more specifically, the makings of the lobbyists for Israel, what other option could the US pursue?

Naturally, until now I would have tossed out the list things that the Iranians would potentially want in return. They would want the sanctions lifted, trade normalized, an end to the ideas of fomenting a "Color Revolution" in Iran, etc. This would have seemed a self-evident list, requiring no more thought than needed to rattle it off. But then Trita's question made me wonder: what can the US offer, realistically speaking.

Here's what I'm wondering:

Is the US in a position to be able to actually offer anything to Iran which could make it worthwhile for Iran to abandon all or at least a significant chunk of its nuclear program?

And, if no - is the US on a path to confrontation with Iran because isn't capable of pursuing a different policy primarily and simply due to domestic constraints?

And it occurred to me that in reality no one in the US can offer anything that Iran would logically and presumably ask for. For example, on the question of removal of sanctions: Can Obama actually remove the sanctions? He has the legal authority to rescind some Executive Orders, of course, but that is only a small part of the web of sanctions imposed around Iran. He would have to go up against the US Congress, which as that Tom Friedman character recently said, is "bought and paid for" by Israel. So how would these sanctions be removed, exactly? How could the State Department actually get Adelson to stop funding think tanks that hire PhDs as advocates acting under a guise of scholarly objectivity to promote the idea that giving up on sanctions amounts to Chamberlain bowing to Hitler? How could Obama get editors to stop or start using keywords and phrases over and over again in their publications, "Nuclear Weapons Program", "Terrorism", etc.? How could he do any of this, even if he didn't have to worry about getting re-elected, because after all he can't do anything unless he's re-elected.

So the truth of the matter is that we are going to be in this "holding pattern" for a while until something changes that allows a change in US domestic political considerations with respect to Mideast policy. And that, first and foremost, means a resolution to not only the Israeli-Palestinian situation, and the role of Israel in shaping US foreign policy. In short, no time soon. Resolving the Iran-US issue - and I mean really resolving it - is going to require some fundamental, ground-shaking change: Something that fundamentally realigns the world's and domestic power structures. And until that happens we're going to continue seeing what happens when two countries butt heads for another decade, each time getting perilously closer to outright hostilities.

So, am I right? Assuming that Washington wants to resolve things with Iran peacefully and is willing to make the necessary compromises to do so, IS anyone in Washington really in a position to deliver on such promises and to implement such policies in the face of domestic opposition, where being 'weak on Iran' is blood in the water for the opposing campaign? To sell any sort of real change in Iran policy to the public, or at least those who pay for his election campaigning, the President would have to be willing to consume a great deal of political capital. Can he get the necessary laws passed, and other laws rescinding? How many votes in Congress would that require? How much fighting will be required for each vote? Its just not possible. No politician in the US can do this. Even assuming he could win some of the fights, it would consume far more resources than any politician can be willing to dedicate to a single cause.

Sorry, I don't see this happening. And, unlike others, I don't think that mass domestic public opinion can act as a counter-balance to the Israeli pressure for confrontation. Yes, Ron Paul's statements about the role of the US military in the Mideast may have had a popular response, but that's a vague, out of focus, visceral, feel-good response from public opinion that can be easily manipulated. It is not the sort of sentiment that gets translated into power and which can actually shape policy. Ron Paul, in short, is going to go away as simply a grumpy old man.

So, the US is simply not in a position to deliver on any potential offers to Iran that would be worth it for Iran to give in to US demands. And so the holding pattern continues, threats and noise but no overt conflict, though it appears to be more and more inevitable as the holding pattern degrades and falls apart.

 

 

CNN censors Ron Paul voter's interview regarding Iran war?

Just four minutes ago as I was watching the CNN coverage of the Republican caucus in Iowa they interviewed a US soldier wearing fatigues who was identified as a Ron Paul voter. He was speaking about how he supported Ron Paul's message of bringing the troops home, and seemed to be saying that picking new fights with Iran was wrong and that Israel can defend itself...when he was cut off and there was an unexplained technical problem. LOL! I wish someone had recorded this!

UPDATE: Thanks to kind commentators:

 

 

Iran Hawk Watch

In response to a worrying trend in U.S. politics Lobe Log is launching “Iran Hawk Watch”. Each Friday we will post on militaristic commentary about Iran from a variety of sources including news articles, think tanks and pundits.

Paul Pillar gets it

I recommend reading Paul Pillar's posts at the National Interest, especially this one:

Some in this country—including some who have been most responsible for stoking the atmosphere just described—probably do not want sanctions to work. They instead see them as a necessary preliminary to the war that they really want.

Yes. Precisely.

Civilians = Bugs

The more I read and blog about US and international affairs, the more it seems like I'm chronicling someone's descent into madness.

So guess what the US military calls civilian casualties that result from their attacks? "Collateral Damages" was the old term.

Give up?

Answer: "Bugsplat"

"The Pentagon has a word for that, too," he went on. "They call it 'bugsplat.' In the opening days of the invasion of Iraq, they ran computer programs, and they called the program the Bugsplat program, estimating how many civilians they would kill with a given bombing raid. On the opening day, the printouts presented to General Tommy Franks indicated that 22 of the projected bombing attacks on Iraq would produce what they defined as heavy bugsplat — that is, more than 30 civilian deaths per raid. Franks said, 'Go ahead. We're doing all 22.'"

Note that this was the same Gen. Tommy Franks who declared that "we don't do bodycounts". 'Course not. You do bugsplats instead.

Guess those civilians killed by US drone attacks are just bugs too.

WTF happened to America, man?

 

 

Another year of sabre-rattling at Iran continues.

The year ended with Leon Panetta sabre rattling at Iran, though his aides quitely corrected the media reports which claimed that Panetta had said Iran was just months away from making nukes.

The US Senate also passed the Kirk-Menendez bill that would require the US to impose (secondary) sanctions on Iran's central bank. Note that the resolution passed unanimously - something that usually never happens in the Senate, not even when it comes to bills proposing totally benign and non-controversial things such as naming US Post Office stations. AIPAC of course celebrated the Senate's approval of the bill - probably because they had in fact drafted it in the first place. And Senator Kirk has been one of the largest recipients of AIPAC campaign donations. As Tom Friedman, a pro-Israel activist himself, pointed out, the US Congress has been essentially "bought and paid for" by pro-Israeli lobbyists.

And so by now it is clearer than ever that the US has never actually tried to engage Iran, has always sought ways to promote and justify a war, and the US system as a whole is simply functionally not able to stop the rush towards a conflict anymore.

This is around the same time that the Republican presidential debates are going on, displaying the most vulgar, ignorant jingoism seen on TV in a while - including statements by practically every candidate (except Ron Paul) trying to outdo each other in the sabre rattling at Iran. The irony here is that the proponents of attacking Iran are civilians whilst the opponents to a military attack on Iran are mostly from the US military and the experienced diplomats like Luers, Pickering and Walsh - but of course, no one listened to them 4 years ago either. And so MJ Rosenberg, himself a former AIPAC employee, predicts that the same crowd that gave us the Iraq invasion will continue to press for a military attack on Iran in the next year.

And today, Iran reported that it had manufactured its first nuclear fuel rod to power the medical reactor which is used to treat Iran's 800,000 cancer patients. The pundits are trying to downplay this, claiming that Iran could be 'exaggerating' but the reactor under question is under IAEA safeguards and so the matter will be clarified in the next IAEA report - the point here is that not so long ago the same pundits were declaring that since Iran could not possibly manufacture nuclear fuel rods, then its 20% enrichment must be for making nukes (nevermind that making nukes is much harder than making fuel rods.)

The next parliamentary elections in Iran are going to be next propaganda operation. Naturally the anti-Iran elements in the US will declare the elections to be fraudulent and tainted etc., regardless, because to say otherwise risks recognizing the legitimacy of the regime there. And if some elements in Iran decide to boycott the elections for their own reasons, they'll just be playing into this spin.

All in all, it doesn't appear that there's a prospect of any sort of breakthrough in US-Iran relations in 2012. The US policy making process, aside it being an election year which brings the nuts out of the woodwork, is fundamentally compromised by AIPAC lobbyists, the US president is too weak to stand up to them even if he wanted to, and so Israel continues to call the shots.

Meanwhile of course Israel itself is gradually turning into a failed state with a rising religious fascism and rife with growing internal dissent, and so the need for creating uniting foreign enemies is all the more pressing there. After all, it was Herzl who defined the nation of Israel as a group of people united by a common enemy, and both Iran and the Palestinians (who are now embracing HAMAS as well as garnering greater recognition as a country by the international community) serve that function quite well, so there won't be any particular rush to resolve those conflicts either.

And also watch for the growing Islamophobia in the West being fed by both ultra-right wing nationalists and pro-Israel activists, combined with the passage of new laws in the US that greatly expand the power of the government to violate what used to be considered sacrosanct constitutional rights such as a trial by jury. Fear, after all, is a great way to control people, and control is deemed to be necessary as the country faces increasing resentment at the massive and growing economic disparity that plagues the US. Once this resentment leads to action, it will be conveniently characterized as 'economic terrorism' thus turning dissent into crime.