"When the US security state was created in the aftermath of WWII, the central taboo was that it would never turn its powers inward. It was permitted to operate in total secrecy—and use often lawless methods—because it was intended to focus only on foreign enemies...
There is now abundant evidence that leaves no doubt that this taboo simply no longer exists...
The 20-year war on terror, with its ostensible focus on foreign threats, has created the misleading perception that the US security state's domestic focus... is a somewhat new development... that is simply false.
Over and over, the multiple sprawling arms of the US security state in the 1990s were used to target, surveil, and repress what the US government considered anti-government and anti-establishment extremism, just as is true of today...
For that reason, it's really impossible to understand the multiple ways that the US government today is attacking core liberties at home without understanding the foundation that was laid for all of this in the 1990s."
We covered this critical context last Friday: [see
SYSTEM UPDATE #157 - OB]
