Canada: Olympic Security State
Posted by Mike E on January 29, 2010
Thanks to Ka Frank.
The War On Terrorism and The Countdown to the 2010 Olympics
By Dana Gabriel
26 January, 2010
Countercurrents.org
The Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics will be the largest security operation in Canadian history. It will include more than 15,000 Canadian Forces, private security personnel, along with the RCMP and other police agencies. The U.S. will also provide security and support for the Games. With the Olympics fast approaching, the fear of terrorism is back in the public’s psyche. Although there has been no specific threats to the Games, more than anything, it is the danger of terrorism which is used to justify the huge security operation. This is further advancing the militarization of North America and U.S.-Canada military and security integration. The Olympics will take bi-national security cooperation to a whole new level.
Unmanned drones are patrolling the U.S.-Canada border as part of the war on terrorism and to curb smuggling, along with drug trafficking. It is unclear if they will be used for surveillance during the Games, but U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman, Juan Munoz-Torres has stated that, “If the RCMP or Canadian government believes they can make use of the aircraft for support during the Olympics, we will be more than willing to provide it.” In Afghanistan, Pakistan and other parts of the world, armed American drones continue to carry out strikes against suspected terrorists and insurgents. It is interesting that many of the weapons used in the war on terrorism overseas are later deployed for domestic purposes. The use of unmanned drones on the northern border will only add to the further militarization of North America.
In May of 2009, former Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan and U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano signed the Shiprider Agreement which grew out of a pilot project inspired by the Security and Prosperity Partnership. It was later tabled in the House of Commons as Bill C-60, the Keeping Canadians Safe (Protecting Borders) Act. The cross-border maritime security law would deputize U.S. officers operating in shared waterways during integrated operations, including pursuit on adjacent land. Stuart Trew of the Council of Canadians commented on the motivation surrounding Bill C-60, as well as several other pieces of legislation. “The effort seems purely aimed at appeasing U.S. concerns about Canadian security practices and is another step towards a perimeter approach to ‘securing’ North America as a whole.” As for the prorogation of Canada’s Parliament, he noted that, “although with C-60 off the order paper there is no legislative backing for the arrangement. U.S. police forces will be patrolling Canadian waterways on RCMP ships during the 2010 Winter Olympics.”
General Gene Renuart, commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command(NORAD) and U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) has given some indication as to the function both will play during the Olympics. He stated that, “We, in our NORAD role, will maintain the air sovereignty both for the U.S. and Canada, the air security over the Olympic games.” He went on to say, “In our NORTHCOM role, we’ll probably provide some additional security and support…and consequence management response capability.” NORAD’s deputy commander Lt. Gen. Marcel Duval recently expanded on the bi-national organization’s responsibilities during the Olympics. “NORAD will do its normal airspace warning and aerospace control mission over the games using Canadian NORAD-region assets, (such as) Canadian CF-18s.” He also added that, “We’ll be supported by other NORAD assets like air-to-air refueling and airborne early-warning aircraft.” In regards to Canada Command, NORTHCOM and NORAD’s preparations for the Olympics, Duval acknowledged, “In many ways, the 2010 Winter Games have allowed the three commands to come closer, in terms of understanding, cooperating and collaborating.”
Canadian officials continue to work closely with their American counterparts in monitoring potential security threats to the Games and its shared border. The Olympic Security Coordination Centre in Bellingham, Washington, “will coordinate the security efforts for over 40 federal, state and local agencies on the U.S. side of the U.S. – Canadian border. This facility will provide a strategic response platform to facilitate critical response efforts during the Olympic Games and beyond.” In the advent of an emergency situation, the bilateral Civil Assistance Plan signed by the U.S.-Canadian military in February of 2008 could be activated. The agreement allows the military of one nation to support the other during a civil emergency such as a flood, forest fire, hurricane, earthquake or a terrorist attack.
In late December 2009, pipeline and energy storage company Kinder Morgan notified the RCMP that while en route from Alberta to a North Vancouver facility, two one-tonne bags of ammonium nitrate went missing. This is the same chemical compound which has been used in several past terrorist bombings. Kinder Morgan later determined the missing bags were as a result of a clerical error. The RCMP have not been able to confirm the company’s findings and continue with their investigation. This could be setting a cover story for a possible false flag terrorist attack during the Olympics.
A U.S. State Department fact sheet is advising Americans attending the Vancouver 2010 Olympics to use caution and be alert of their surroundings at all times. While it notes that there has been no specific or credible threats associated with the Olympics, it does warn of a possible Al-Qaeda attack. It states that, “As security increases in and around Olympic venues, terrorists could shift their focus to more unprotected Olympic venues, open public spaces, hotels, railway and other transportation systems, churches, restaurants, and other sites not associated with the Olympics.” It goes on to say that, “Al-Qaeda’s demonstrated capability to carry out sophisticated attacks against sizable structures – such as ships, large office buildings, embassies and hotels – makes it one of the greatest potential threats to the Olympics.” In the aftermath of the failed Christmas day bombing attempt, once again terrorism is being used to create a climate of fear and insecurity.
Whether or not you buy into the whole war on terrorism, it is being used to launch wars of aggression and further expand the American empire. It is also very much intertwined with the whole process of deep North American integration and plans for a continental security perimeter. The threat level for the upcoming Olympics remains low, but some are warning that the proroguing of Canada’s Parliament, along with the huge security apparatus being assembled for the Games might be setting the stage for a possible false flag terror event. This could be used to pass more anti-terrorist and other draconian pieces of legislation. It could also lead to a martial law scenario with American troops occupying parts of Canada.
Dana Gabriel is an activist and independent researcher. He writes about trade, globalization, sovereignty, as well as other issues. Contact: beyourownleader@hotmail.com
Visit his blog site at beyourownleader.blogspot.com
Jeff Weinberger said
The Olympic Creed:
“The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph, but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered, but to have fought well.”
The Olympic Motto:
“Citius, Altius, Fortius.” (“Swifter, Higher, Stronger.”)
When I was a kid, when I was innocent, I used to look forward to the Olympics. Now we have the paranoia-inducing advisement for attendees “to use caution and be alert of their surroundings at all times.” The Olympic Games, for as long as I can remember, have been played out against a background of fear and repression, even mass murder (Mexico City 1968), but nothing on the level of what the melding of the politics of fear and high tech enables today. The US wins the Gold in the socialization of terror. It’s good that you are helping expose this to the world.
Here’s another related perspective of what’s happening on the ground in Vancouver with regard to civil rights.
The Vancouver Olympic Blues
by Dave Zirin
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/dave_zirin/01/25/vancouver/index.html
Stanley W. Rogouski said
When I was a kid, when I was innocent, I used to look forward to the Olympics.
The Olympics have always sucked.
When I was a kid we had the 1980 Moscow Olympics boycotted by Carter and the 1984 USA USA USA Los Angeles Olympics boycotted by the Russians.
On the other hand, I have very good memories of hitch hiking in and around Vancouver and Whistler in the 1990s. Canadians seemed to be refreshingly free from American style paranoia. I’m sorry to hear they’ve gone all USA USA USA about these Olympics.
What’s more, Chicago got lucky. If the security is this paranoid in a wealthy city like Vancouver (which doesn’t have a huge underclass) I dread to think what it’s going to be like in Rio in 2016.
Stanley W. Rogouski said
To add to that, during the 1936 Olympics, Avery Brundgage, the President of the American Olympic Committee was basically a Nazi. He banned the only two Jewish athletes on the American team from competing in Berlin.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avery_Brundage
On the morning of the 400-meter relay race, at the last moment, the only two Jews on the 1936 US track team, Marty Glickman and Sam Stoller, were replaced by Jesse Owens and Ralph Metcalfe. Glickman later said that that decision might have been the result of pressure from Brundage. Brundage later praised the Nazi regime at a Madison Square rally, and was expelled from the America First Committee in 1941 because of his pro-German leanings. After the 1936 Olympics, Brundage’s construction company was awarded a building contract to build the German Embassy in Washington, D.C. Brundage was notified in a letter from Nazi authorities acknowledging Brundage’s pro-Nazi sympathies. As late as 1971, after many revelations over Nazi Germany’s use of the 1936 Olympics for their own propaganda, Brundage still claimed “The Berlin Games were the finest in modern history…I will accept no dispute over that fact”.
And let’s not forget the long time president of the Olympic Committee the ex Franco apparatchnik Juan Antonio Samaranch
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article6791326.ece
A photograph showing Juan Antonio Samaranch giving the fascist salute in honour of General Franco has sparked calls for him to stand down as life president of the International Olympic Committee.
The photograph, taken in 1974, shows Mr Samaranch at a celebration to mark the 38th anniversary of the coup staged by General Franco in 1936 and which led to his victory in the Spanish Civil War three years later.
Stanley W. Rogouski said
Oh, and if anybody needs another reason why the Olympics suck there’s always the 1981 Oscars.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1981_in_film
That’s when “White Men Can’t Fucking Run” (ie Chariots of Fire) beat out the far, far superior “Reds” for Best Picture.
Thatcherite fucking crap.
Jeff Weinberger said
Brief reply to all Stanley’s posts (since nobody else is posting):
“The Olympics have always sucked”
Sorry you didn’t have a childhood. The Olympics haven’t always sucked but if they did, I thankfully didn’t know it for at least a while. The events surrounding them have always sucked and thankfully I didn’t know that for a while either. There have been some truly inspiring stories as a result of the Olympics – e.g. the anti-apartheid boycott in 76, a gazillion purely sports-related moments – but if they’ve just always sucked to you, you’ve a right to your opinion.
“the 1984 USA USA USA Los Angeles Olympics boycotted by the Russians”
They had no good reason to boycott and really were just pissed the US had boycotted their party 4 years earlier. But the worst thing about those Olympics, the only time I lived in a host city, was the undeclared state of siege against L.A.’s homeless population leading up to the event; similar extreme abuse of the homeless has been repeated in the lead up to other “Games”, too. And while not jailed, the poor at best always seem to be uprooted by force in large numbers.
As far as Brundage practically being a Nazi, no doubt he was. But how do you leap from Glickman thinking the “decision might have been the result of pressure from Brundage” to categorically declaring Brundage banned them? Like Brundage would have liked blacks more than Jews. Anyway, whoever had chosen Glickman and Stoller over Jesse Owens and Metcalfe to begin with was whacked out irrespective of his politics.
And since we can now review movies on this site – or is Reds the exception – the previous year, 1980, the choice was way worse: “Ordinary People” over “Raging Bull”?! fugetaboutit
To not be totally irrelevant, may I recommend “Salt of the Earth”.
Stanley W. Rogouski said
Sorry you didn’t have a childhood. The Olympics haven’t always sucked but if they did, I thankfully didn’t know it for at least a while.
I did have a childhood, but it was during the Carter/Reagan years when the Cold War propaganda was at its height. The Olympics were about the superiority of America over the Soviet Union. Even in 1980 when Carter launched his inane boycott, the big story was the American hocky team over the Russian hockey team in the Winter Olympics. That was the game that gave birth to the chant “USA USA USA”.
USA USA USA
DUCE DUCE DUCE
But even when the Russians, East Germans and Cubans won (which was often) the American media used a strangely inverted version of the excuse Hitler used in 1936 to explain away Jesse Owens Gold medal.
Hitler: Jesse Owens won because blacks are closer to animals
American Media: Those damned (Russians, Cubans, East Germans) win because they cheat. They’re all technically enhanced. Look at the women. They’re all on hormones.
They had no good reason to boycott and really were just pissed the US had boycotted their party 4 years earlier. But the worst thing about those Olympics, the only time I lived in a host city, was the undeclared state of siege against L.A.’s homeless population leading up to the event; similar extreme abuse of the homeless has been repeated in the lead up to other “Games”, too. And while not jailed, the poor at best always seem to be uprooted by force in large numbers.
1984. Morning in America. The USA USA USA Peter Ueberroth Olympics. Red Dawn. Michael J Fox as an obnoxious Republican brat we were all supposed to love.
At least in 2009, Republicans cheered when America lost the Olympics. That’s some sort of progress, I guess.
But the reason they’re cheering is obvious. In 1980 and 1984 it was about capitalism over communism. In 2016, it would have made a black guy look too good.
1980, the choice was way worse: “Ordinary People” over “Raging Bull”?! fugetaboutit
1990: “Dances with Wolves over Goodfellas”
Stanley W. Rogouski said
A more detailed video about the glee conservatives felt over Chicago losing the Olympics.
Jeff Weinberger said
1990: “Dances with Wolves over Goodfellas”
Stanley, we need to continue this convo on another website. scorceseproject.org?
Gregory A. Butler said
The cold hard fact is, US imperialism and their allies (including, in this case, Canadian imperialism) really do have enemies – they really are at war with al-Qaeda, they really do have security risks and, politically speaking, to maintain their legitimacy among the middle classes and the labor aristocracy, they kinda have to make elaborate security precautions like they are doing for the Vancouver Olympics.
Plus, if they didn’t, there is a real possibility that an al-Qaeda undercover cell and/or an individual al-Qaeda sympathizer might very well carry out an attack.
And if they did, you can bet a month’s rent that the same leftists who are complaining about the security measures would be yelling about the “incompetence” of the Canadian state and/or accusing Canadian police and military personnel of doing the bombing themselves.
Hell, this very article comes very close to accusing the Royal Canadian Mounted Police of possibly planning to bomb the Olympics themselves and then blaming it on terrorism (what the author calls a “false flag operation” and dear God, I hate it when leftists use Tom Clancyish jargon like that!)
Look, the capitalists don’t have their state carry out elaborate police and military operations out of some abstract love of military operations – they go to the great time and vast expense of carrying out these security operations because they have to to preserve their power.
That’s why what the Pentagon folks call “asymmetrical warfare” is so powerful – a handful of commandos can tie down a far larger regular force just by the possibility that they might stage an attack.
And an event like the Olympics is a high profile target – remember the Munich Olympics of 1972?
The Federal Republic of Germany, the State of Bavaria and the City of Munich made very minimal security preparations there – basically, they had a few unarmed security guards, reinforced by small detachments of lightly armed Munich and Bavarian police officers, and a tiny detachment of Federal Army troops – and look what happened.
The Black September organization carried out a mission that they code named “Operation Ikrit and Biram” (named after two Palestinian Christian Arab villages destroyed by Israeli terrorists during al-Nakba in 1948)
Black September attacked the Israeli Olympic Team’s quarters, with a small squad of 8 lightly armed commandos, and it took the Germans two days to cobble together a response – the result – 11 Israeli athletes dead, with only 5 casualties inflicted on the attacking force by the Germans.
Here’s the story of what happened:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munich_massacre
Every Olympics since Munich has had elaborate security measures, to prevent another Operation Ikrit and Biram (or, as the Israelis came to call it, “The Munich Massacre”)
So yeah, the Canadian capitalist state is going to take serious security measures at the Olympics, and they would be derelict to their duty to the capitalist class of Canada if they did not do so.
Calling them “paranoid” is incorrect and, actually, kind of insulting – they are just not prepared to take chances at such a high profile event and if we were in their shoes, we’d do the same thing.
Beyond that, I always liked the Olympics, politics be damned – moreso the summer games than the winter games, because the summer games have boxing and women’s indoor volleyball (both of which I like to watch – for very different reasons – the Cubans are awesome in both of those sports…again, for very different reasons!) but the winter games are mad cool too, especially the ski jumpers (how the hell do they do that and not die?)
Bottom line – I never let all the political stuff stand in the way of me watching and enjoying a sporting event.
Stanley and Jeff,
I was born in 1968 so I was a teen in the 1980′s too – and I didn’t like Reagan either, but it wasn’t like Cater, Mondale or Dukakis were viable alternatives. And, for what it’s worth, I loved GoodFellas, it’s my favorite movie ever (probably because I grew up in South Queens, and there were wiseguys like that who lived in my neighborhood when I was a kid, so it kind of made me feel nostalgic)
Jeff Weinberger said
To Gregory: I would suggest that reasonable people on the left have a very justifiable fear that the security apparatus being deployed may serve a function beyond protecting against terrorism. No reasonable person that I’m familiar with, left, right or center, suggests that they don’t want reasonable protections. But we’ve yet to exit an extreme period during which the merest mention of state-sanctioned security justifiably raises the specter of civil rights violations against people who in no conceivable way pose a threat. The fact is that such state security apparatuses have always covertly been deployed for purposes other than the official one.
The Olympics coming to town – and not just the Olympics; e.g. Dem and Repub conventions, etc. – historically has meant crackdowns on a host of civil liberties, almost always perpetrated in the name of security. For the sake of Olympic security, only 42 years ago, a massacre of students was perpetrated. Your history of what Black September did is important, though it’s also already much more widely known than the massacre to which I’m referring or crackdowns that have occurred in many places around the world. We must keep terrorism in perspective, protect against it but not use such awful events to monger fear.
Stanley W. Rogouski said
Calling them “paranoid” is incorrect and, actually, kind of insulting – they are just not prepared to take chances at such a high profile event and if we were in their shoes, we’d do the same thing.
True, when they detained the dangerous Al Qaeda operative Amy Goodman, they were only following reasonable security measures.
http://www.vancouverobserver.com/politics/2009/11/27/amy-goodman-gets-brilliant-story-idea-canadian-border-guards
On Wednesday night, American Journalist Amy Goodman, host of the independent radio show, Democracy Now, was crossing into Canada. She was scheduled to speak in Vancouver and Victoria, while on a tour promoting her new book Breaking the Sound Barrier, on the subjects of Iraq, Afghanistan, Medicare, and global warming –all sensitive issues that might make a patriotic border guard give pause.
So when Goodman told the border guards why she was coming to Canada, she was asked to pull over, brought inside and questioned for an hour and a half. Known for being bold and forthright, she was honest about the subject matter she’d be covering. When she said she’d be discussing Afghanistan, they said “What else?”
“Global warming.”
“What else?”
“Medicare.”
“What Else?”
It must have made her wonder if she was at the Canadian border crossing, or a on a game show trying to guess the secret word. So Goodman had to just come straight out and ask, “Like what, ‘what else?’”
And they said, “Will you be talking about the Olympics?”
Stanley W. Rogouski said
Bottom line – I never let all the political stuff stand in the way of me watching and enjoying a sporting event.
Of course you’ve given your own argument against hosting the Olympics.
If the Olympic does, by necessity, mean a massive increase in security theater, harassment, and repression, then isn’t it the job of anybody in a country like Canada (which still does have some democratic rights) to do everything possible to oppose them?
It’s a political choice. I get to sit in Toronto or Montreal and have some sort of pride that they’re bobsledding at Whistler, but, in the meantime, British Columibia is militarized, the homeless are moved, progressive journalists are harassed, etc. etc.
Haven’t you provided a good argument why the Olympics should be absolished?
Gregory A. Butler said
Stanley,
By your logic, we should oppose the Super Bowl, because, like any large public event in an imperialist country during this time of global war, it will have lots and lots of security.
Try explaining that to the people of Minnesota – and especially the people of Louisiana…
Bottom line, as long as we have imperialism and capitalism, we’re going to have asymmetrical wars, and imperialist states will have to take security precautions at large public events – the bigger the event, the more elaborate the precautions.
Is that a good argument for workers revolution?
Yes.
Is that a good argument for abolishing competitive sporting events?
HELL NO!
As for Amy Goodman – the Commonwealth of Canada is a sovereign nation – which means that they get to decide who enters their country and who does not.
Jeff:
Considering the present anemic state of the North American left, I seriously doubt that any White activist in British Columbia has anything to worry about here – as they are too irrelevant for the state to bother with them.
British Columbia Muslims and Sikhs, of all political stripes, on the other hand, have a whole hell of a lot to worry about – because the primary security threat to Canadian imperialism today is al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is an all Muslim organization, so of course, British Columbia Muslims (in particular, Arab and South Asian Muslims) will be put under extra police scrutiny – and British Columbia’s huge South Asian Sikh community, because they are brownskinned and the men wear turbans, will also face extra police scrutiny, because they will often be mistaken for Muslim by those unfamiliar with Sikh culture.
This racial profili is the main danger of the elaborate security precautions being taken in Vancouver – and I notice that the article did not mention racial profiling even once
That’s the conversation we should be having – not hypothetical calls for the abolition of the Olympics or abstract complaining about the “national security state” without ever once mentioning the folks who will bear the brunt of police repression.
Jeff Weinberger said
Gregory wrote:
“Considering the present anemic state of the North American left, I seriously doubt that any White activist in British Columbia has anything to worry about here – as they are too irrelevant for the state to bother with them.”
First of all, Gregory, any serious white activist in Canada or the US is least worried about him or herself and most worried about the impact on minorities of color and on movements which benefit people/groups being impacted by the games. (I was unaware of white activists under any circumstances fearing persecution based on their whiteness in BC or that the left was essentially, or as a point of significance, comprised of whites). Issues of rights of women, indigenous people, low-income housing, jobs are all relevant, and of interests to activists of all races, in part, because the cost of the games will most adversely affect those groups in the aftermath, just as it does after every Olympics. And movements in support of those groups are unequivocally seen as a threat on some level.
So I believe you’re wrong on these two points: the irrelevancy claim and that the state won’t bother with them. The state, in fact, already has bothered with them which, based on your logic, discounts your claim of irrelevancy. Now maybe groups which fight for causes of interest to the left are of no interest to you. But they are of great interest to the state for precisely the same reason you suggest that the massive security apparatus is needed: to protect the status quo powers – the capitalist state – both in fact and in appearance. Image isn’t everything but it’s more important to the state than it even was to Andre Agassi. L.A. jailed the homeless leading up to the 84 games not just to exert control but to display control. The homeless, of course, were not posing any more threat than usual. Movements, even those that may appear small, are always a threat to the state if not for the power they wield, then for what they represent to the state: the kernel of power.
In Vancouver there’s a similar bad moon risin’. (That’s Creedence, Mike lol) Please read this which I also previously linked :
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/dave_zirin/01/25/vancouver/index.html
Consider, Gregory, the vetting of Amy Goodman, already referenced; consider the arrests and (preemptive) attacks on protesters at the Dem and Repub conventions in 2008, including journalists who clearly were just exercising their first amendment rights – also including the seemingly ubiquitous Amy Goodman – and it becomes clear that the “irrelevant” left is getting some attention, and I’m guessing it’s not for nothing.
Gregory wrote:
“This racial profili (sic) is the main danger of the elaborate security precautions being taken in Vancouver – and I notice that the article did not mention racial profiling even once
That’s the conversation we should be having – not hypothetical calls for the abolition of the Olympics or abstract complaining about the “national security state” without ever once mentioning the folks who will bear the brunt of police repression.”
Racial profiling is a problem – and not just for Muslims, Sikhs and people who wear turbans – but it isn’t THE problem. Interestingly, a few years ago a group of Hasidic Jews and recently a Jewish teenager putting on tefillin, part of a daily Orthodox ritual, were perceived as fundamentalist terrorists on airplanes. But such profiling, founded in racial and religious prejudice, is just part of a broader unjustified crackdown on people who pose no threat whatsoever but who (most often) stand in democratic opposition to state power. (And recent Olympic history – Atlanta – suggests middle-aged white male veterans should be profiled, too. But that won’t happen, will it?)
I saw nothing above favoring abolition of the Olympics but there is strong, and justifiable, opposition to them for well documented socio-economic reasons.
My objections to the security apparatus are actually very specific with regard to “the folks who will bear the brunt of police repression.” The only oppressed group I just recalled forgetting is women ski jumpers who will not even get an event – despite one of them being arguably the best ski jumper in the world regardless of sex – essentially because, well, they’re women.
Gregory A. Butler said
Jeff,
Actually, racial profiling – and specifically racial profiling of Muslims and those who, to the untutored eye, “look like Muslims” (in this case, Sikhs) – very much is the issue at hand.
People have been shot because they “look like a terrorist” – and that’s an order of magnitude of difference than a reporter not being allowed to enter a foreign country.
The original article – incredibly – didn’t even mention racial profiling and instead focused much of it’s attention on fantasizing about some imaginary conspiracy by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to do a so called “false flag operation” with some explosives that a contractor lost track of on a remote jobsite in rural British Columbia.
Beyond that, my main point was, the article seemed to embrace the idea that capitalist states (in this case, the Commonwealth of Canada) engage in police repression for no good reason.
And that is very much not true.
Capitalist states have repressive apparatuses because they have to – especially capitalist states that are waging imperialist wars (as Canada is in Afghanistan).
And, considering the type of imperialist wars that are currently in progress, where terrorism is the primary weapon of Canadian and US imperialism’s military opponents, the Canadian state simply has to take countermeasures at large public events like the Olympics, which are very vulnerable to terrorist attacks, either by al-Qaeda personnel or by individual al-Qaeda sympathizers.
Stanley W. Rogouski said
By your logic, we should oppose the Super Bowl
Yeah. And maybe we should also oppose building stadiums for private corporations on public tax money.
Try explaining that to the people of Minnesota – and especially the people of Louisiana…
Or the people of Seattle, who organized a few years ago and stopped the Olympics from coming to town.
As for Amy Goodman – the Commonwealth of Canada is a sovereign nation – which means that they get to decide who enters their country and who does not.
Indeed, and during the Olympics, the sovereign Commonwealth of Canada is a lot more likely to harass Amy Goodman than Glenn Beck or Sean Hannity at the border.
British Columbia Muslims and Sikhs, of all political stripes, on the other hand, have a whole hell of a lot to worry about – because the primary security threat to Canadian imperialism today is al-Qaeda
You seem to be saying here that if it weren’t for al-Qaeda (who to my knowledge have never carried out a terrorist attack in Canada) there would be no racism against Muslims in Canada.
Bzzzzzzzzzzt. Fail.
Stanley W. Rogouski said
Interestingly, a few years ago a group of Hasidic Jews and recently a Jewish teenager putting on tefillin, part of a daily Orthodox ritual, were perceived as fundamentalist terrorists on airplanes.
Wasn’t that a few days ago?
Consider, Gregory, the vetting of Amy Goodman, already referenced; consider the arrests and (preemptive) attacks on protesters at the Dem and Repub conventions in 2008, including journalists who clearly were just exercising their first amendment rights – also including the seemingly ubiquitous Amy Goodman – and it becomes clear that the “irrelevant” left is getting some attention, and I’m guessing it’s not for nothing.
Or the massive security theater in 2004 at the Republican convention in New York, which basically put all of Manhattan from the Battery to 59th Street under martial law, lined the pockets of Guiliani Partners and any number of other private security corporations, paved the way for Bloomberg’s semi-dictatorial reign in NYC, and allowed the state to futher implement the “Miami Model”.
I don’t believe Amy Goodman got jailed here. Maybe she had a cold?
Stanley W. Rogouski said
also including the seemingly ubiquitous Amy Goodman – and it becomes clear that the “irrelevant” left is getting some attention, and I’m guessing it’s not for nothing.
And btw, isn’t it odd that the Homeland Security database always seems to be working for Amy Goodman and never for Nigerian Crotch Bombers.
Just an oversight I’m sure. The government really really is more concerned with catching actual terrorists than in harassing progressive journalists.
Maz said
Gregory’s comments aren’t very well informed about Canada (which is not a commonwealth, btw) and the olympic security situation. Canada’s nummber one security threat is not al-Qaeda, not by a long shot. There may be a lot of hoopla about al Qaeda, but that is for show, I don’t think they register seriously. Currently domestically, the Canadian state is far more concerned with Aboriginal people, their still mostly unresolved land claims and the worry that they will not be contained in acceptable political channels. Aboriginal-led disruption of the games (say by a road blockade on the Sea-to-Sky Highway that connects Whistler to Vancouver is a much more realistic fear. Internationally, security threats mostly revolve around the Afghan insurgency and protecting mining interests.
From what I’ve heard, Vancouver police have been hyper-vigilant/paranoid about Olympic disruption – to the point of harrasing punk youth on the sidewalk beacuse they overheard the kids just *talking* about the olympics. And activist groups across Canada have been threatening to disrupt the olympics. In Toronto they messed up the torch parade route, so there’s reason to believe they mean it, too. And yes, Amy Goodman was harrassed at the border and given some strange ‘must leave the country after your conference’ order – which is frankly unprecendented and insane. So I don’t think it’s unfair to talk about things that are actually happenning.
As for sikhs facing extra scrutiny because they might be mistaken for muslim, say whaaat? I don’t think any cop in BC would be confused on what the turban denotes, and only conservative sikh men wear the turban (the former premier of BC, Ujjal Dosanjh, is a moderate Sikh), but regardless, for the record you should know that the worst act of terrorism in modern Canadian history (the Air India bombing) was committed by Sikh terrorists, and the racist sign/signifiers for ‘terrorist’ in Vancouver are correspondingly particular.
Gregory A. Butler said
“Or the massive security theater in 2004 at the Republican convention in New York, which basically put all of Manhattan from the Battery to 59th Street under martial law”
Stanley,
That’s an exaggeration. I have lived and worked in Manhattan for 24 years, so I happened to be in the city during the Republican convention of 2004.
If I recall, the area immediately adjacent to Madison Square Garden/Penn Station, the Pennsylvania Hotel and the James A. Farley Post Office (7th Av to 9th Av, from West 32nd St to West 34th St) had a whole lot of police and federal agents around it, and their were restrictions on free pedestrian movement.
The rest of the city was untouched.
It had no effect at all on the neighborhood I live in (West Harlem) nor did it have any effect on the building I was working on at the time (I was helping to build the Time Warner Center complex that summer) – again, it might as well have been happening in another country.
There were a relatively small number of protesters who were briefly detained – in a special jail set up by the NYC Department of Corrections just for the protesters, so they wouldn’t have to mingle with the lower class Blacks and Latinos down at the Manhattan House of Detention or out on Rikers Island.
Yes, the protesters did complain about the special jail – they said it was dirty (and it was, because it was a converted bus garage) and they said that they didn’t get vegetarian food (and of course they didn’t – they got bologna and cheese sandwiches, just like all the other prisoners get)
Ironically, they were far better off in the special jail, than the first few protesters to get arrested – they got locked up before the special jail was ready, so they went to the Manhattan House of Detention, and some of them got robbed and roughed up by the other inmates (which is probably why DoC set up a special jail for the protesters in the first place).
I’m sorry, but being detained overnight in a VIP bullpen, having bologna and cheese sandwiches for breakfast and getting a Desk Appearance Ticket the next day is not martial law it’s garden variety routine police repression, the same thing that all capitalist states do.
Ask a Chilean about what “martial law” really means
By the way, the only Republican Convention protester to do serious time was a Black teenager who got felony time for defending himself against a cop – and the mainstream New York White left totally abandoned him – he was a “violent criminal” to them, and they did nothing to help him.
Oh, and by the way, I never said that anti-Muslim racism and anti-Sikh racism in Canada began with al-Qaeda – Canada in general and British Columbia in particular has a long history of racism against South Asians dating back to the 19th century. Al-Qaeda is but the latest justification for that racism.
Jeff Weinberger said
Me:
Interestingly, a few years ago a group of Hasidic Jews and recently a Jewish teenager putting on tefillin, part of a daily Orthodox ritual, were perceived as fundamentalist terrorists on airplanes.
Stanley:
Wasn’t that a few days ago?
The tefillin bomb threat incident was within the last two weeks. (Glad my grandfather’s attempt to teach me the ritual didn’t stick, er shtick) The group of Hasidic Jews held off a flight, I think, was two or three years ago.
Stanley:
And btw, isn’t it odd that the Homeland Security database always seems to be working for Amy Goodman and never for Nigerian Crotch Bombers.
A) they think Amy’s more dangerous B) they’re inept C) both A and B are true
Jeff Weinberger said
Stanley:
“You seem to be saying here that if it weren’t for al-Qaeda (who to my knowledge have never carried out a terrorist attack in Canada) there would be no racism against Muslims in Canada.”
In fact, while terrorism has not occurred in Canada, at least one Canadian citizen, Maher Arar, was brutally victimized by virtue of the War on Terror. The Canadian government has since made its amends whereas the US government, which in 2002 perpetrated his extraordinary rendition and subsequent torture at a Syrian black site, has denied any wrongdoing nor has it disavowed its claim that Arar supports terrorism. Even the Syrian government has acknowledged Arar has no connection to terrorists.
Jeff Weinberger said
Gregory:
“Beyond that, my main point was, the article seemed to embrace the idea that capitalist states (in this case, the Commonwealth of Canada) engage in police repression for no good reason.
And that is very much not true.
Capitalist states have repressive apparatuses because they have to – especially capitalist states that are waging imperialist wars (as Canada is in Afghanistan).”
You seem to miss the point that “police repression” always goes beyond its stated purpose. You put yourself in league with the perpetrators of such repression by being their apologist. I, as a revolutionary, or even as someone with a democratic bent, can’t apologize for them in any way but have to act continually to expose and, ultimately, to smash such repression.
And, again, racial profiling is strategically integrated into a more essential, comprehensive policy of repression against any person or group which is perceived to threaten state power. Racial profiling is not, however, the essence of that repression. For example, in the 60′s blacks and whites brought the struggle against Jim Crow injustice to a head. Blacks in that struggle, or not in that struggle, could be racially profiled for an obvious reason…..their color. But whites couldn’t as they were the same color as those in the dominant class. Of course a group of collegial whites getting off a Greyhound at the depot would probably be profiled by the KKK as anti-segregationists, etc. But the big picture was that blacks and whites (and many others) alike were a threat to the South’s segregationist ways which had to be protected by any means necessary. Profiling is a tool in the kit, but it isn’t the mechanic.
MOVIE, REVIEWED said
Maz,
For the record, Canada is a monarchy, it’s head of state is Her Royal Highness Elizabeth II, the Queen of England – represented in Canada by Governor General Michaëlle Jean.
That makes Canada a Commonwealth – just like all the other former British colonies that have Elizabeth II as their head of state [Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Botswana, Dominica, Grenada, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, St Vincent and the Grenadines)
As for the First Nations being the primary security threat facing the ruling class of the Commonwealth of Canada, answer me these two simple questions:
1) how many Canadian soldiers have been killed fighting against the First Nations communities in the last year?
2) how many Canadian soldiers have been killed fighting al-Qaeda in the past year?
Stanley W. Rogouski said
Oh, and by the way, I never said that anti-Muslim racism and anti-Sikh racism in Canada began with al-Qaeda – Canada in general and British Columbia in particular has a long history of racism against South Asians dating back to the 19th century. Al-Qaeda is but the latest justification for that racism.
You said
the primary security threat to Canadian imperialism today is al-Qaeda
This
Al-Qaeda is but the latest justification for that racism.
is a lot more accurate.
Ask a Chilean about what “martial law” really means
Hey. Two can play at that game.
You said
the mainstream New York White left totally abandoned him
And I could easily say
ask a Palestinian what racism really means
But I won’t. Because it would be silly.
Stanley W. Rogouski said
A) they think Amy’s more dangerous B) they’re inept C) both A and B are true
Or they simply make no distinction between terrorists and anyone else who questions the neoliberal economic system.
I’m not an expert on Canadian politics but there really seems to have been a Bushification of the political climate up there over the past few years.
They expel American draft resisters. They bar George Galloway at the border. Then they use the olympics as an excuse to crack down on dissent in British Columbia.
I can understand taking security measures against terrorism.
For example, when a prominent Nigerian banker calls the CIA and says “hey. My son is probably a member of Al Qaeda” you might not want to let him get on a commericial airliner with a bomb in his jockstrap.
In fact, while terrorism has not occurred in Canada, at least one Canadian citizen, Maher Arar, was brutally victimized by virtue of the War on Terror.
And who still can’t enter the United States. But, to quote Greg, a “sovreign nation” can keep out anybody they want right?
The interesting pattern with Amy Goodman is that she regularly gets harassed by the state. But once they find out who she is they let her go. Unlike Maher Arrar, if she disappeared, a lot of people would know about it the next day.
As for Maher Arrar, Canada isn’t Chile right?
Jeff Weinberger said
Stanley:
“As for Maher Arrar, Canada isn’t Chile right?”
Right. Today I’d rather be in Chile.
Stanley W. Rogouski said
And yes, Amy Goodman was harrassed at the border and given some strange ‘must leave the country after your conference’ order – which is frankly unprecendented and insane.
I believe Canada’s Homeland security database is integrated with the USA’s.
FWIW, in 1996, I WALKED from Vancouver to Whistler. I was stopped by a policeman on the highway because he wanted to offer me a ride, not because he thought I was suspicious.
The last time I crossed the border from the USA to British Columbia, I was detained for further questioning at the border. It turns out that when they asked me if I had been arrested over the past few years I told them “no.” They said I was lying.
When I told them I hadn’t been arrested, they told me that I had a drunk and disorderly conduct charge in Ohio the year before. I have relatives who live in Dayton Ohio. They didn’t believe me. But they let me across the border anyway with no restrictions anyway. A drunk and disorderly conduct charge won’t keep you out of Canada, even if you do lie about it.
What happened to Amy Goodman was quite out of the ordinary.
The same thing also happened to Ann Wright.
http://www.truthout.org/article/ann-wright-banned-from-canada-a-year-war-protest
Stanley W. Rogouski said
Stanley:
“As for Maher Arrar, Canada isn’t Chile right?”
Right. Today I’d rather be in Chile.
Actually to their credit, the Canadians investigated the incident and awarded Arrar a very large amount of cash as compensation.
To our discredit, he’s still banned from the USA.
But the Olympics seems to be a much different case than this. This just seems like standard issue crap they use during every Olympics. You use the threat of terrorism to crack down on the homeless, hippies, troublemaking progressive journalists.
Terrorism is obviously a possibility. It’s also a good excuse for more mundane repression.
Speaking of terrorim, these new Bin Laden tapes seem transparently fake to me. Bin Laden, who didn’t take credit for the Cole or 9/11 or for the very professional hit job on the CIA last month in Afghansistan takes credit for the crotch bomber?
It strains credibility.
And then he comes out and starts talking about Global Warming? Huh. Why didn’t they just have him come out and endorse the “public option”.
Jeff Weinberger said
Stanley:
“Actually to their credit, the Canadians investigated the incident and awarded Arrar a very large amount of cash as compensation.
To our discredit, he’s still banned from the USA.”
I covered that previously:
“The Canadian government has since made its amends whereas the US government, which in 2002 perpetrated his extraordinary rendition and subsequent torture at a Syrian black site, has denied any wrongdoing nor has it disavowed its claim that Arar supports terrorism.”
Stanley:
“And then he comes out and starts talking about Global Warming? Huh. Why didn’t they just have him come out and endorse the “public option”.”
He’s a single-payer, all or nothing-player.
Stanley W. Rogouski said
The Canadian government has since made its amends whereas the US government, which in 2002 perpetrated his extraordinary rendition and subsequent torture at a Syrian black site
Maher Arar seems to have put some of that money towards funding a magazine, btw.
http://prism-magazine.com/
He’s a single-payer, all or nothing-player.
But is he a Lady GaGa or a Ke$ha fan?
I wonder when he’s going to get a Twitter account.
Jeff Weinberger said
“But is he a Lady GaGa or a Ke$ha fan?”
Prob’ly more of a Public Enemy guy. Enough before we get back into Scorcese…
Thanks for the info about Prism.
Stanley W. Rogouski said
Here’s an article from a completely apolitical source on exactly how insane the “War on Terror” is getting in Canada.
http://luminous-landscape.com/essays/outrage.shtml
A lot of theater. Ignore the real security threats.
But here’s the scary part. Right across from the entrance to the hall, just inside the door from the street where people are loading and unloading from cars, busses, and taxies, is a mailbox. A fill size Canada Post mailbox.
Are you getting the picture yet? Someone could pull up outside the door to the airport departures area, drop a fair sized package into the mailbox, and then calmly get back in their waiting car and drive off. There are literally hundreds of people milling about within a 50 foot radius of the mailbox. It’s jamb packed with luggage carts and people, with barely room to move.
Not to give anyone ideas, but someone has to say something. So I did. Once I had cleared immigration and security and was on my way to my gate, with just minutes to spare I stopped two armed RCMP officers who were walking down the corridor. I told that about my concern regarding the mailbox upstairs. When I did they both rolled their eyes, and one said, “Welcome to Toronto”.
I asked, “You mean you know this and can’t do anything about it? They smiled. I asked, “You mean its the GTAA?”
They just shook their heads sadly and walked away.
Can you sense my anger and outrage? As we all know, the whole airport security process is mostly theater, and yet here was an obvious security hole and it is being ignored because the folks that run the airport want there to be a mailbox at that location, for whatever reason.
Telling people to arrive at the airport two to three hours before their flight, and then have them wait till one hour prior to departure without telling them what’s going on is unacceptable. It would be simple enough to create separate queues for departures, so that people leaving at 9AM, and people leaving at 10AM, and people leaving at 11AM are all not milling around together in a jumble, not knowing what’s going on.
It’s a safety hazard, a security hole of the first magnitude, and a monstrous inconvenience to the traveling public.
Then there are the restaurants, shops and lounges that lie inside the gate area. As I literally ran to my flight I saw that they were almost completely empty. Everyone was rushing to their flights which were to leave in minutes. No one had time to buy a coffee or a magazine, let alone a souvenir. As for going to the bathroom after three hours in line – forget it!
MOVIE, REVIEWED said
Stanley,
Nobody is “apolitical” – everybody has a political bias.
In this case, Michael Reichmann want the Canadian security forces (and their US counterparts who operate in Canadian territory) to conduct the war against al-Qaeda more efficiently.
As for the inefficiencies Reichmann describes in his article, that’s not “insanity” – it’s the usual snafus* that you will find in any military or security organization during the course of any war.
It’s never ceased to amaze me how modern North Americans have this almost child like magical thinking-based expectation that the government can run a major war without major screwups – that’s simply impossible and no government in the history of organized warfare has ever managed to run a war without major snafus.
Unfortunately, the average person in the US and Canada gets their ideas about how wars work from Tom Clancy novels and TV shows like “24″ – real wars do not run that smoothly!
*S.N.A.F.U. = “Situation Normal – All Fucked Up – a World War II era US Army slang term for the day to day War Department fuckups that made life inconvenient for soldiers on the ground 9and, occasionally, ended their lives).
blogi said
I haven’t looked at your web site since October and I am surprised that I can see so many new things. The lyrics are super and the graphics and pictures just wonderful! I can not take my eyes from your site Feel free to look at my site!