Topic: Holding Terrorists Accountable? It Depends on the Color and the Cause... - Conclusion

topic by
Sandra
11/30/2001 (14:48)

November 04, 2001
Holding Terrorists Accountable? It Depends on the Color and the Cause... - Conclusion
By Tim Wise

Profiling and war are things we offer to those who look different from us, speak differently than us, and are easy to identify without inconveniencing the dominant majority. Arabs, Muslims, and people of color generally, make easy targets. Not so white guys. Not so William Pierce.
And homegrown white terrorists can’t be as effectively used to justify huge military buildups, or new powers for the CIA, as a perceived foreign threat can. For an Administration desperately in need of an enemy to justify its desire for massive new military expenditures, only the dark, dangerous image of the outsider will do.
As for Pierce, like bin Laden, he has proclaimed his innocence. Regarding the Oklahoma City bombing, he insists he had nothing to do with it. But also like bin Laden, he has not only failed to condemn the action others have sought to pin on him, but indeed he has all but praised it outright. About McVeigh, Pierce says:
'He did what he did for an impersonal reason, for an ideal...he has acted as a man of principle should act...He wanted to send the government a message that its behavior would not be tolerated. And part of that message would be the killing of the government's secret police agents--FBI and ATF--who worked in the building.'
'The fact that his bomb would kill not only secret police agents but also civilians, including the 19 children in the day-care center, was regrettable but unavoidable: collateral damage...however regrettable the killing of innocent civilians in that bombing, Timothy McVeigh is no monster. He is a soldier, and what he did was based on principle.'
When Muslim fundamentalists say things like this about terrorism carried out by their associates, we term it 'giving aid and comfort' to the enemy, or 'supporting terrorism.' With Pierce, the same rhetoric is ignored, no matter what his loyal readers and listeners might do.
And while the media was quick to broadcast footage of select Palestinians celebrating in the wake of the World Trade Center attacks, they said nothing about the spirited discussions on National Alliance message boards, where members of the group were expressing elation at the day’s events.
Within minutes of the World Trade Center’s collapse, Alliance members were logging on to the group’s chat room boards to say things like: 'the World Trade Centers (and) the Pentagon have had their noses removed from Jewish rectums and smothered in the heap of shit they created! I’m sure like me you are all jumping out of your skin with excitement right now!'
Or this, from a member in New York at the time of the attacks:
'...there is extreme chaos everywhere. Many people are helpless and in a state of panic. I am happy to have a reservoir of deep knowledge about this from all I have learned from the alliance...I AM STRONG, PREPARED AND IN CONTROL!!!'
Shortly after the attack, Billy Roper, the Deputy Membership Coordinator for the Alliance wrote: 'the enemy of our enemy is, for now at least, our friends...we may not want them marrying our daughters...but anyone who is willing to drive a plane into a building to kill Jews is alright by me. I wish our members had half as much testicular fortitude.'
Beyond merely pointing out that there are indeed white folks every bit as fanatical and dangerous as the members of al-Qaeda, and that indeed some of those were pleased with the most recent terrorist attacks on America, another point should be made.
If, as is likely, the renewed emphasis on 'Arab terrorism' or 'Muslim extremism' results in heightened suspicion and profiling of those who are Arab, Muslim, or appear to be, the result may be that America will let down its guard to these other kinds of dangers. The Tim McVeighs and followers of Bill Pierce will fly below the radar of the nation’s new security apparatus. No one will be looking for them.
This is not to say that such groups should literally be bombed, their members arrested, and those who look like them profiled. Just as such actions are ineffective and overbroad and authoritarian when applied to presumed Arab terrorists, so too would they be when applied to white supremacists.
But the inconsistency is worth noting, as is the danger that could logically flow from that inconsistency. If a member of the National Alliance, or some other group seeking to foment a race war wanted to commit a major terrorist attack, now would be the time to do it, as they would likely evade suspicion and detection, so busy are folks looking for danger with dark skin, long beards and a turban.
It is in this sense that any kind of racial, ethnic, national or religious profiling is an utter waste of time, and potentially capable of increasing the risks to innocent people, not to mention ethically unjust.
Terrorism has many faces, more than a few of which are white, just like those of most of the folks calling for war against Afghanistan. And yet never have they called for war against West Virginia. Nor did they call for war against Idaho when that state played host to the Aryan Nation’s compound: a place that had nurtured and inspired Buford Furrow, the individual who shot up a Jewish Community Center in Los Angeles and killed a Filipino postman two years ago.
So when you hear the President speak of 'bringing the terrorists to justice or bringing justice to the terrorists,' just remember that although all terrorists are equal in the eyes of the law, some are more equal than others.
Tim Wise is an antiracist activist, writer and lecturer. He can be reached at tjwise@mindspring.com

reply by
Barb
12/1/2001 (16:18)

reply top

Profiling is such a ridiculous idea. OK -the U.S. was attacked by terrorists ALL from Muslim Arab states. Hmmm... should we be looking at Polish people then as suspects? Get real! Their very heritage is a big part of why they hate the U.S. Call it what you will, but after Tim McVeigh did his horrendous OK City bombing of civilians, the CIA, FBI, etc. were investigating all WHITE extremist groups. Isn't this racial profiling?
David Koresh: same thing. US began investigating all major religious 'fanatics' in U.S.