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Police State tactics adopted by former ‘Liberal Democracies’
by nano Wednesday, Jul 9 2008, 3:35am
international / social/political / commentary

It was with alarm that I first witnessed police state tactics in AUSTRALIA at the last APEC summit held in Sydney. Never before had laid back Australian society been exposed to such tactics. Australia’s first exposure to implacable storm troopers and new draconian laws had the anticipated effect; protesters and ordinary demonstrators were shocked into submission and docility. The NSW Premier, Morris ‘il duce’ Iemma, couldn’t have been happier, he was the first Premier to use such heavy handed tactics on citizens; he had done his blackshirt ancestors proud. Segments of the Italian and conservative Anglo communities lauded our own little, il duce. The ‘Labor’ premier even received praise from the arch-conservative PM, John Howard, who was quick to announce his total support for Iemma’s harsh police tactics.

The tactical response group and other police could take off their uniforms that night and be proud they had terrorised little old ladies, students, ferals and kids; such ‘he-men!’ The media later released footage of five male police officers throwing a lone female photographer to the ground – bravo, you disgusting cowards! Five police also forced to the ground and arrested a man for crossing a street contrary to instructions; unfortunately the man was accompanied by his ten year-old son, who was thoroughly traumatised to see his father attacked in such a merciless manner.

Regardless of age, the simplistic binary logic of storm trooper police was in force, if you aren’t wearing ‘blue’ then you are the (potential) enemy.

Citizens today who imagine that APEC policing was an anomalous event and that Oz society would return to its TRADITIONAL VALUES, think again! ‘Il duce’ Iemma is at it again, but this time with advice from the Americans.

The approaching Papal visit for ‘World Youth Day’ has seen the introduction of ‘extended police powers’ in Oz for the first time. Non-police personnel have been granted powers by Premier Iemma to stop and search anyone who is perceived as ‘suspicious,’ an “annoyance” or ‘inconveniencing’ those attending the WYD event. The fact the Pope represents a church steeped in torture, intolerance, victimisation, persecution, paedophilia and numerous other sordid crimes seems to have escaped the attention of lawmakers. One would wonder whose presence is ‘annoying’ whom?

The Pope is an offence to every living person who was persecuted and tortured by the Nazis and Croatian fascists in WWII. It is well documented today that the Catholic Church provided sanctuary and an escape route through Europe for many Nazi and Croatian war criminals. However, NSW citizens are expected to go to extreme lengths not to ‘annoy’ or even ‘inconvenience’ people praising a despotic criminal organisation/church – does it give you an idea of the type of forces that rule today? I’ll give you a hint they’re certainly not liberal democrats, communists or socialists!

Australian culture is not dead yet, our ‘fireys,’ state emergency services and other non-police personnel are refusing to utilise these powers. But not so in the USA where citizens are happy to spy on each other and report “suspicious activity.” Yanks just love a title -- terrorism liaison officer -- and being enlisted as protectors of the nation! Some of these people do not even know the position Condi Rice holds in government yet they are ready to assess what constitutes 'suspicious activity!’ Don’t fall for the government’s ruse.

It’s a very old trick utilised by all totalitarian regimes – use the population to spy on itself! This reduces costs and the number of professional personnel required to gather information.

With the introduction of people spying open society begins to contract; people with personal vendettas begin to compromise their enemies or others who have done them a slight. Fear replaces free expression and liberty; happy people become targets, as everyone else is paranoid and miserable so a happy person must be a 'criminal or terrorist!' You get the picture.

These methods were utilised in the former Soviet Union and Eastern bloc countries. The Stasi became infamous for perfecting the dastardly ‘art’ of citizen surveillance!

I would conclude with a warning. All societies/social systems that utilised these tactics COLLAPSED after a relatively short period of repression and terror. America’s experiment in this idiotic area is doomed to the same fate shared by the other cultures that incorporated these methods.

However, the prerogative lies with the people; Australian egalitarian values and forces for social cohesion were strong enough to reject these methods. The culture could withstand attempts by forces that would divide and repress; Premier Iemma’s days in government are numbered he is all but finished as I write.

Good luck America but I fear the population is too stupid to resist the tricks of criminals and despots.

It pays to read history; otherwise you may find yourself repeating it. Beware but especially, be-aware!


We are One.


American report with links below:

The New Snoops: ‘Terrorism Liaison Officers,’ Some from Private Sector

by Matthew Rothschild

The full scale of Bush’s assault on our civil liberties may not be known until years after he’s left office.

At the moment, all we can do is get glimpses here or there of what’s going on.

And the latest one to come to my attention is the dispatching of police officers, firefighters, paramedics, and utility workers as so-called “terrorism liaison officers,” according to a report by Bruce Finley in the Denver Post.

They are entrusted with hunting for “suspicious activity,” and then they report their findings, which end up in secret government databases.

What constitutes “suspicious activity,” of course, is in the eye of the beholder. But a draft Justice Department memo on the subject says that such things as “taking photos of no apparent aesthetic value” or “making notes” could constitute suspicious activity, Finley wrote.

The states where this is going on include: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and Washington, D.C.

Dozens more are planning to do so, Finley reports.

Colorado alone has 181 Terrorism Liaison Officers, and some of them are from the private sector, such as Xcel Energy.

Mark Silverstein of the Colorado ACLU told Amy Goodman of Democracy Now that this reminds him of the old TIPS program, which “caused so much controversy that Congress eventually shut it down. But it is reemerging in other forms.” Silverstein warns that there will be thousands and thousands of “completely innocent people going about completely innocent and legal activities” who are going to end up in a government database.

On the web, I found a description for a Terrorism Liaison Officer Position in the East Bay.

Reporting to the Alameda and Contra Costa Counties and the city of Oakland, these officers “would in effect function as ad hoc members” of the East Bay Terrorism Early Warning Group, which consists of local police officers and firefighters.

The “suggested duties” of these Terrorism Liaison Officers include: “source person for internal or external inquiry,” and “collecting, reporting retrieving and sharing of materials related to terrorism. Such materials might include . . . books journals, periodicals, and videotapes.”

Terrorism Liaison Officers would be situated not only in agencies dealing with the harbor, the airports, and the railroads, but also “University/Campus.”

And the private sector would be involved, too. “The program would eventually be expanded to include Health Care personnel and representatives from private, critical infrastructure entities, with communication systems specifically tailored to their needs.”


In this regard, Terrorism Liaison Officers resemble InfraGard members. (See “The FBI Deputizes Business”.) This FBI-private sector liaison group now consists of more than 26,000 members, who have their own secure channels of communication and are shielded, as much as possible, from scrutiny.

Terrorism Liaison Officers connect up with so-called “Fusion Centers”: intelligence sharing among public safety agencies as well as the private sector. The Department of Justice has come up with “Fusion Center Guidelines” that discuss the role of private sector participants.

“The private sector can offer fusion centers a variety of resources,” it says, including “suspicious incidents and activity information.”

It also recommends shielding the private sector. “To aid in sharing this sensitive information, a Non-Disclosure Agreement may be used. The NDA provides private sector entities an additional layer of security, ensuring the security of private sector proprietary information and trade secrets,” the document states.

As if that’s not enough, the Justice Department document recommends that “fusion centers and their leadership encourage appropriate policymakers to legislate the protection of private sector data provided to fusion centers.”

http://www.progressive.org/mag/mc070208