We have repeatedly seen the specter of terrorism used as a justification 
for the dehumanization, abandonment and betrayal of immigrants and refugees. 
But with our eyes wide open, we should also realize that we are witnessing an even greater broadening of the enemy combatant construct -- much of which is happening on US soil. The vilification of Black activists, some of whom have now been deemed "Black Identity Extremists" (another official category), sets the stage for the FBI, and other agents of law enforcement, to treat Black activists as terrorists, and act accordingly. The abuse of Native people in Standing Rock, and elsewhere, reveals how quickly the trappings of military occupation can be turned upon Native protesters in the United States -- just as the first military mobilizations in US history sought to remove Native people, by any means necessary, for the sake of acquiring land and resource. A desire for Indigenous resources, was in fact, the only moral justification that the first formations of the US military required, and the hoarding of that land, those resources, and any opportunities attached to them have likewise been the product of glorified racism and avarice. That origin of military purpose and intent has never been confronted, socially or historically, in the United States, and thus, there has never been a significant departure from our country's original, immoral compass.

 from truthout,
disappeared by the state
feb. 28  


i always felt the war on terror would come here, would be the government with unlimited power and imperial dementia, terrorizing us. the way we treated people in their countries,  the way we treat immigrants, the way we treat the ecosystem, the way we deal in life and death, is the way we will be treated. even the tyrants, even the tyrant families, they live in tyranny. terrorizing the rest of the world will not make us immune from terror.