[Peace-discuss] Fwd: [SRRTAC-L:17242] Fwd: T. Friedman (NYT) calls for blacklist for speech

[Al Kagan]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Mark Rosenzweig <iskra at earthlink.net>
> Date: July 27, 2005 6:25:10 PM CDT
> To: SRRT Action Council <srrtac-l at ala.org>
> Subject: [SRRTAC-L:17242] Fwd: T. Friedman (NYT) calls for blacklist 
> for speech
> Reply-To: iskra at earthlink.net
>
>> ACTION ALERT:    FAIR-L
>>                      Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting            
>>
>> http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2598
>>
>>  A New Blacklist for "Excuse Makers"
>>  Those who think Iraq War sparks terror are "despicable," says 
>> Friedman
>>
>>  July 27, 2005
>>
>>  New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman has urged the U.S. 
>> government to create blacklists of condemned political speech--not 
>> only by those who advocate violence, but also by those who believe 
>> that U.S. government actions may encourage violent reprisals. The 
>> latter group, which Friedman called "just one notch less despicable 
>> than the terrorists," includes a majority of Americans, according to 
>> recent polls.
>>
>>  Friedman's July 22 column proposed that the State Department, in 
>> order to "shine a spotlight on hate speech wherever it appears," 
>> create a quarterly "War of Ideas Report, which would focus on those 
>> religious leaders and writers who are inciting violence against 
>> others." But Friedman said the governmental speech monitoring should 
>> go beyond those who actually advocate violence, and also include what 
>> former State Department spokesperson Jamie Rubin calls "excuse 
>> makers." Friedman wrote:
>>
>>  "After every major terrorist incident, the excuse makers come out to 
>> tell us why imperialism, Zionism, colonialism or Iraq explains why 
>> the terrorists acted. These excuse makers are just one notch less 
>> despicable than the terrorists and also deserve to be exposed. When 
>> you live in an open society like London, where anyone with a 
>> grievance can publish an article, run for office or start a political 
>> movement, the notion that blowing up a busload of innocent civilians 
>> in response to Iraq is somehow 'understandable' is outrageous. 'It 
>> erases the distinction between legitimate dissent and terrorism,' Mr. 
>> Rubin said, 'and an open society needs to maintain a clear wall 
>> between them.'"
>>
>>  The "despicable" idea that there may be a connection between acts of 
>> terrorism and particular policies by Western countries is one that is 
>> widely held by the citizens of those countries. Asked by the 
>> CNN/Gallup poll on July 7, "Do you think the terrorists attacked 
>> London today mostly because Great Britain supports the United States 
>> in the war in Iraq?" 56 percent of Americans agreed. In a CNN/USA 
>> Today/Gallup poll (7/7-10/05), 54 percent said "the war with Iraq has 
>> made the U.S....less safe from terrorism." Since they see a 
>> connection between Iraq and terrorism, a majority of Americans are 
>> what Friedman calls "excuse makers" who "deserve to be exposed."
>>
>>  Friedman's column urged the government to create quarterly lists of 
>> "hatemongers" and "excuse makers"--as well as "truth tellers," 
>> Muslims who agree with Friedman's critique of Islam. Friedman's 
>> proposed list of "excuse makers" would have to include his New York 
>> Times colleague Bob Herbert, who wrote in his July 25 column, "There 
>> is still no indication that the Bush administration recognizes the 
>> utter folly of its war in Iraq, which has been like a constant spray 
>> of gasoline on the fire of global terrorism."
>>
>>  Leading members of the U.S. intelligence community might also find 
>> themselves on such a blacklist, based on a report summarized earlier 
>> this year in the Washington Post (1/14/05):
>>
>>  "Iraq has replaced Afghanistan as the training ground for the next 
>> generation of 'professionalized' terrorists, according to a report 
>> released yesterday by the National Intelligence Council, the CIA 
>> director's think tank.... According to the NIC report, Iraq has 
>> joined the list of conflicts--including the Israeli-Palestinian 
>> stalemate, and independence movements in Chechnya, Kashmir, Mindanao 
>> in the Philippines, and southern Thailand--that have deepened 
>> solidarity among Muslims and helped spread radical Islamic ideology."
>>
>>  Though Friedman calls on the State Department to compile the "Top 10 
>> hatemongers" list in a "nondiscriminatory way," it's doubtful that 
>> such a list would, in fact, even-handedly include all advocates of 
>> violence. It would not be likely, for example, to include someone 
>> like Thomas Friedman, who during the Kosovo War (4/6/99) called on 
>> the Clinton administration to "give war a chance," writing, "Let's 
>> see what 12 weeks of less than surgical bombing does." In a follow-up 
>> column (4/23/99) he declared that "Like it or not, we are at war with 
>> the Serbian nation," and insisted that "every power grid, water pipe, 
>> bridge, road and war-related factory has to be targeted." Despite the 
>> fact that by calling for attacks on civilian targets he was 
>> advocating war crimes, Friedman should have no fear that he'll find 
>> himself on a State Department list of "hatemongers."
>>  Friedman's suggestion that those who seek to understand or explain 
>> political violence are not part of "legitimate dissent" comes at a 
>> time when calls for censorship are becoming more and more blatant. 
>> Bill O'Reilly (Radio Factor, 6/20/05, cited by Media Matters, 
>> 6/22/05) made a chilling call for the criminalization war opponents:
>>
>>  "You must know the difference between dissent from the Iraq War and 
>> the war on terror and undermining it. And any American that 
>> undermines that war, with our soldiers in the field, or undermines 
>> the war on terror, with 3,000 dead on 9/11, is a traitor. Everybody 
>> got it? Dissent, fine; undermining, you're a traitor. Got it? So, all 
>> those clowns over at the liberal radio network, we could incarcerate 
>> them immediately. Will you have that done, please? Send over the FBI 
>> and just put them in chains, because they, you know, they're 
>> undermining everything and they don't care, couldn't care less."
>>
>>  The call for the arrests of Air America Radio hosts was said as 
>> though it were a joke, though O'Reilly is deadly serious when he says 
>> that the commentators on that network are "undermining" the war--and 
>> that such "undermining" is treason.
>>
>>  O'Reilly more recently (7/25/05) went after Herbert's column that 
>> argued that the Iraq War fueled terrorism: "Bob Herbert is most 
>> likely helping the terrorists, but his hatred of Mr. Bush blinds him 
>> to that. He's not alone, but this kind of stuff has got to stop. 
>> We're now fighting for our lives. And those helping the enemy will be 
>> brought to your attention."
>>
>>  "Attention," rather than arrests, is all that Friedman has 
>> threatened "excuse makers" like Herbert with. But it's a small step, 
>> as O'Reilly's rhetoric demonstrates, between marginalizing critics of 
>> U.S. foreign policy as "just one notch less despicable than the 
>> terrorists"--and criminalizing criticism itself.
>>
>>  ACTION: Please let Thomas Friedman know that opponents of the Iraq 
>> War do not deserve to be on a government blacklist--even if they 
>> oppose the war because they believe it encourages terrorism.
>>
>>  CONTACT:
>>  Thomas Friedman
>>  c/o New York Times Editorial Page
>> editorial at nytimes.com
>>
>> As always, please remember that your comments have more impact if you 
>> maintain a polite tone.
>>
>>  Read Friedman's column here: 
>> http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/22/opinion/22friedman.html
>>       ----------
>
> -- 
>
>
> MARK C ROSENZWEIG
>

Al Kagan
Africana Unit, Room 328
University of Illinois Library
1408 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61820
USA

tel. 217-333-6519
fax 217-333-2214
akagan at uiuc.edu
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