"[I]t is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. "Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country."
Attributed to .... Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering

     Several dramatic recent events highlight how much of our liberty we have lost since September 11, 2001, and how much more we are about to lose.

• ATF Attacks Innocent Gun Owners. On the afternoon of July 13, 2002, 22-year old Elizabeth Meyer of Yakima, Washington was pulled over by a policeman because the license tag on her Chevy Suburban had expired. In the car with her was a female friend and Elizabeth's four children, ranging in age from 4 months to 4 years.
       The policeman noticed an un-loaded ammo clip on her dashboard and demanded that Elizabeth allow him to search her car. She refused, saying he had no right to search her car. Then she was informed the officer's boss "represented a tri-agency counter-terrorism task force that included the FBI and ATF, and insisted that they had to search my vehicle." Elizabeth refused to cooperate, and was ordered to turn off her car engine. They were held captive for 90 minutes - forcing her children to swelter as temperatures climbed to 107 degrees.
       Finally, Elizabeth's husband Jim, a firearms expert who trains police, arrived and convinced police to let her go. But that was only the beginning of their ordeal.
       A week later, an ATF squad showed up at her home and demanded to see every gun the family owned. They had no search warrant. When Jim refused to cooperate, the Meyers were informed they would conduct the search anyway as a matter of "home-land security," and the ATF goons proceeded to ransack their home. If Meyers had resisted, they and their children could have easily been shot.
       As Elizabeth points out, had she kept her children confined in her car at temperatures of 107 degrees, it would have been a crime, but when police do it, apparently now that's OK - as well as searching your home without a warrant if you own a gun or cartridge.

• Thugs Threaten To Shoot Air Passengers. On a recent flight from Atlanta to Philadelphia, two armed men grabbed and handcuffed a disoriented passenger named Steve Feuer. Waving their guns at passengers, the two armed thugs told all of the passengers to stay in their seats or they would be shot. Frightened passengers later said they were sure the plane was being taken over by terrorists. They were wrong. The two thugs - who never identified themselves during their takeover - were U.S. Marshals. ("Has fear become paranoia," The Week, 10-4-2002, p. 16.)

• Massive Troop Deployment to U.S. Cities. Recently, the Bush Administration announced that it plans to station an incredible 326,000 troops in U.S. cities. This massive deployment of troops - trained to kill, not to enforce laws or much less respect your rights - could be the beginning of full-fledged martial law in America. ("Troops to be deployed in U.S. cities?," Financial Privacy Report, July 2002, p. 8.)

• U.S. Concentration Camps. On August 14, 2002, the Los Angeles Times reported that Attorney General John Ashcroft plans to set up camps for any U.S. citizens he brands "enemy combatants." As the Times reports:
       "Ashcroft's plan, disclosed last week but little-publicized, would allow him to order the indefinite incarceration of U.S. citizens and summarily strip them of their constitutional rights and access to the courts by declaring them enemy combatants."
       CNN reports that the U.S. Army has already ordered five million tents to house U.S. citizens dislocated by terrorist attacks, biological threats or "military operations."
       Since 9/11, we have experienced the greatest loss in liberty, privacy and security in the history of our country. The Bill of Rights is virtually gone ... our economy is deteriorating ... and now the Bush Doctrine risks global war. Here are the gory details.

  The War on Your Liberty

       As detailed in my book, Surviving Terrorism, the USA Patriot Act and other new so-called "anti-terror" laws - such as the Model States Emergency Health Powers Act (already enacted in 14 states) - authorize such outrages as secret searches of your home and office ... secret FBI monitoring of your email and web surfing . . . placing bugs in your computer . . . seizure of your bank accounts, home and business simply if it furthers the "anti-terrorist goals" of the government (no allegation of any crime is necessary) ... forced vaccination with untested drugs ... seizure of all medical supplies, hospitals and doctors in the country ... and indefinite "quarantine" in a government relocation center.

       Also rapidly becoming government policy (without any Congressional authorization): Indefinite imprisonment without trial, charges or access to an attorney as a "suspected terrorist" or "enemy combatant" ... legalized torture ... and government monitoring of the conversations of attorneys with their clients.

       One of the latest proposals from the Bush Administration, in the wake of the "DC sniper" murders, is "ballistic fingerprinting" of all guns, which will require universal gun registration, historically the precursor of universal gun confiscation. (just ask today's Australians or British). On the face of it, the idea that ballistic fingerprinting will enable police to catch killers is absurd since (1) ballistic fingerprints change over time, (2) over 80% of all guns used by criminals are either stolen or obtained illegally, according to the FBI, and (3) changing the ballistic fingerprint of a gun takes about 5 minutes and only requires steel wool, a file, and a drill.

  The Coming Depression

       The War on Terror has also accelerated the decline of the U.S. economy. The added cost of security and insurance is bankrupting thousands of businesses. For instance, insurance for cargo ships has increased up to 300% in the wake of recent alleged terrorist attacks on ships. Most major U.S. airlines are on the verge of bankruptcy thanks to mismanagement, passengers fed-up with security hassles at airports, and the high cost of government-imposed regulations - including security measures. In a few years we may end up with a few nationalized airlines, effectively run by the government, like Russia's Aeroflot.

       Thousands of familes are also in bad shape in the wake of 9/11. Mortgage defaults are now at record levels. And with consumer debt at over 100% of income millions are hanging on by their fingernails. Millions who planned to retire on their stock profits, may now not be able to retire ever.

       The outlook is bleak: Bankruptcies are at the highest level since the Great Depression and millions of people have been laid off since 9/11, many of whom are either still looking for jobs or have been forced to take low-income work, such as counter jobs at McDonalds. Even Blue Chip companies are reporting record losses with no prospect of recovery anytime soon.

       The economy was in bad shape prior to 9/11, thanks to over-expansion, mismanagement, the dot.com bubble, and corporate corruption. But 9/11 has made things much worse, probably turning a mild recession into a major depression.

  A Militarized America

       The signs of a militarized America are all around us - from uniformed, federalized TSA security-screeners at airports ... to National Guard troops at sporting events (and soon throughout our cities) ... to police who look and act more like storm troopers every day.

       Bush has explicitly called for abandoning Posse Comitatus - the law passed after the Civil War prohibiting using troops as police, to prevent such atrocities as the burning of Atlanta during that War. Already, the "Drug War" exemption to Posse Comitatus allows the use of Marines and Navy Seals to participate in drug raids and provide "assistance" in operations like the massacre of the Branch Davidians at Waco. But that's just the beginning.

       The Army's Joint Task Force Six boasts it has provided military assistance to local police over 10,000 times. Further, there have been scores of domestic military "training exercises," in which troops have taken over entire towns in preparation for domestic unrest.

       If Bush indeed deploys 326,000 troops to our cities as he proposes, if the FBI succeeds in legalizing torture, and if Ashcroft gets the U.S. concentration camps he wants for thousands of citizens, America 5 years from now will look a lot like Nazi Germany.

  George Bush: America's First Dictator?

       Another sign of a police state is the de-facto consolidation of all power in the executive. The most blatant example of this is Bush's insistence that he didn't need Congressional approval to start a war with Iraq, despite the Constitution clearly stating that only Congress has the power to declare war. Although Bush backpedaled a little and finally sought (and received) a Congressional resolution authorizing attacking Iraq, the fact remains that he - like other recent presidents - has committed acts of war whenever it suits him, with or without Congressional approval.

       Recent examples of Presidential war making include the U.S. invasion of Grenada, the war against Panama (which killed thousands of innocent people), Clinton's bombing the Sudan and Afghanistan when the Monica Lewinsky scandal heated up, and the continuing U.S. bombing of Iraq since 1991, under Bush Sr., Clinton and Bush Jr.

       Equally troubling is the Administration's assistance that they can imprison anyone indefinitely, including U.S. citizens, as suspected terrorists or enemy combatants - in blatant defiance of constitutional and common law dating back to the Magna Carta. When the president and military commanders act as judge, jury and executioner, without oversight by any court or limitation by any law, what is left of liberty and due process of law?

  Toward Global War

       Finally there is the matter of the Bush Doctrine, under which Bush declares that the U.S. can and will pre-emptively attack any group or nation deemed a "threat" – even if they haven't attacked us. Under the Bush Doctrine, the mere fact that another nation has weapons of mass destruction and is threatening to the U.S. is sufficient cause to attack them, with everything up to and including nuclear weapons. That, of course, is precisely the rationale that the Japanese used to attack Pearl Harbor in 1941, deemed by a former president "a day that will live in infamy."

       The Bush Doctrine also would justify the U.S. pre-emptively attacking North Korea, Iran, China and Russia. Adopted by other nations, the Bush Doctrine would result in hundreds of new wars throughout the world, including India vs. Pakistan, China vs. Taiwan, Russia vs. China, Japan vs. North Korea, China vs. Japan, Iran vs. Iraq, and Israel vs. just about everyone. The Bush Doctrine would also justify China, Russia, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Sudan, and North Korea attacking the U.S. since (a) we have weapons of mass destruction (including nuclear weapons), (b) we have used such weapons in the past (in fact the U.S. is the only nation to have ever used nuclear weapons – remember Hiroshima and Nagasaki?) and (c) our leader has repeatedly threatened them.

       Already many nations are following America's lead and reclassifying any advocates of independence and all dissidents as "terrorists" – including Russia, which has explicitly invoked the Bush Doctrine in their stepped up, genocidal war against Chechniya (assisted by US troops in neighboring Georgia – to our eternal shame).

       In brief, the Bush Doctrine is a recipe for annihilation of both America and most of the world. It must be repudiated as soon as possible, and Congress must reclaim their Constitutional power to declare war from the Executive.

  Speak now or forever
  hold your peace

       It is clear that an American police state is rapidly being built in the name of "combating terrorism" and "homeland security." The time to speak up and fight back is now, before it becomes a crime to simply protest.

       What can one person do? Contact your state and federal congressional representatives. They respond to public pressure and will only take action if they believe the people are on their side. Speak up at local political forums. Write letters to the editor. Speak to your friends and neighbors. Consider going on radio talk shows. Distribute ISIL pamphlets like the new "Dictatorship at Your Doorstep." Certainly speaking up has it risks, but not speaking up only insures the triumph of tyranny, and will create a climate in which speaking up is impossible.

       Never forget the words of Pastor Martin Niemoeller in Nazi Germany:

  "In Germany they [the Nazis] came first for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up."

       The way to stop an incipient police state is by defending its first victims. Remember: Its next victim could well be you.