CIA Closes bin Laden Unit, But “Eco-terrorism” Still a Top Priority

by Will Potter on July 4, 2006

in Terrorism Scare Mongering

Remember Osama bin Laden? You know, September 11, planes into buildings, thousands of people murdered? The one President Bush called the architect of 9/11, the symbol of international terrorism, who will be brought to justice “dead or alive”? Well, the CIA has shut down the unit tracking him.

The CIA says times have changed. The New York Times reports CIA officials say the move “reflects a belief that the agency can better deal with high-level threats by focusing on regional trends rather than on specific organizations or individuals.”

So let’s get this straight: Osama bin Laden, who orchestrated what is arguably the most significant attack ever on U.S. soil, killing thousands of people, is no longer a priority. Meanwhile, the government is spending valuable anti-terrorism resources going after individuals responsible for property crimes in the name of the environment– that have never killed anyone– and smearing anyone that is in any way ideologically associated with them.

It’s the politics of the T-word taken to a sickening extreme.

Lawmakers and the Bush administration constantly invoke imagery of 9/11 and its victims, but I wonder how those victims feel about closing the case on bin Laden while wasting law enforcement resources on non-violent “eco-terrorists.” They’re probably furious, but at the end of the day they don’t have the political clout to do anything about it.

Corporations, on the other hand, do. That’s why property crimes and civil disobedience are labeled “terrorism,” and the feds are sinking so much cash into rounding up activists. And that’s why lawmakers keep pushing this absurd “eco-terrorism” legislation.” Corporations have invested a lot in these politicians, and they want results.

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