I’ve been saving this headline from almost a week ago because it upset me too much to write about it initially. Every time I came back to the story of World Central Kitchen aid workers being slaughtered, I couldn’t keep it together. But I can’t let my continued upset keep me from connecting these dots for readers.
To read the whole article in The Guardian, GO HERE.
I’m not writing about a military force bombing a civilian food convoy to call it barbaric and obscene and hideous, though it was those things. I’m connecting some dots, because I haven’t seen anyone make the following correlations.
Before NSPM-7, the Presidential memo that eliminates the First Amendment by redefining broad swathes of Constitutionally-protected speech and expression “domestic terror,” the Heritage Foundation released a policy paper called Project Esther. I wrote about it at the link below:
In the Old Testament, the Book of Esther recounts how a captive Jewish girl became queen of ancient Persia and risked her life to save her people from genocide. The Jewish holiday of Purim celebrates this deliverance. Hang onto that tidbit as you read.
NSPM-7 is derived directly from Project Esther. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn NSPM-7 was drafted by folks at the Heritage Foundation.
For newer readers, NSPM-7 redefines the following broad, subjective speech and expression as “domestic terror:”
Anti-Americanism
Anti-capitalism
Anti-Christianity (aka anti-White Christian Nationalism)
Support for the overthrow of the United States government
Extremism on migration, race, or gender
Hostility toward those who hold traditional American (aka White Christian Nationalist) views on the family, religion, and morality
The reserve colonel who ordered the strikes said the WCK workers became potential targets after they had a brief encounter, lasting just minutes, with armed guards
from Hamas (an assumption later shown to be groundless).assumed to beHe deemed them to have
with alleged Hamas militants, where mixing together was defined as being“mixed together”Asked whether the presence of armed men made the entire convoy a target, he replied: “Certainly.”“near them, talking, playing, hanging out and so on”.He concluded:
“They were not innocent because they were connected to Hamas.”He was referring to a general policy of
haflala, “incrimination”,, including those “incriminated” by association.which gives commanders in the field wide discretion on designating someone as a “terrorist”…Rules of engagement are made contingent on local circumstances and passed on, often verbally, down the chain of command –
gives officers wide discretion in subjective judgments as to who is a “terrorist” and therefore a target.The other systemic factor that contributed to the deaths of the seven aid workers, and potentially countless more civilians, was one of the missions given to the army in Gaza by Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government: to destroy Hamas’s influence and control.
That meant anyone deemed to be involved in – or assisting – the Hamas administration, including by distributing aid, could find themselves in the sights of an Israeli drone operator.
The above excerpts outline the broad authority certain military forces have to deem anyone a “terrorist.”
NSPM-7 gives anyone broad authority to use a subjective list of speech and expression and deem anyone a “terrorist.” Right now, it might mean you’re an American multi-millionaire being held in a Spanish jail, a journalist who covered a Minneapolis church protest, or a non-profit staffer who funded covert operations into hate groups.
But over time, authoritarian regimes decide lawfare is too expensive. It takes too long. Why bother going through the motions of “proving” a “terrorist’s” guilt when it’s faster and more effective to just kill the terrorists?
NSPM-7 paves the way to give random drone operators sweeping authority to target and kill “terrorists” on US soil. Because they can only build so many gulags. They only need so many bodies to perform the 21st century’s version of enslaved labor, and that’s only until the AI robots can take over.
This is a heavy topic for a Thursday (or any day.) But I can’t read stories like this one without warning Americans. Authoritarian regimes do not tolerate dissent. They quickly go from persecuting their detractors to killing them. I used the contemporary story of the WCK convoy to show how it happens. How it could happen here.
Please help more of your persuadable connections grasp the dangers of NSPM-7. Whether or not it progresses is on the midterm ballot. Click the button below and share this newsletter.
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