terrorism
The new bad guys - Wildcat
A critical look at the various theories surrounding the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, which claimed 168 lives and left over 800 injured. While we disagree with some of the article we reproduce here for reference.
Operation Northwoods: Justification for US military intervention in Cuba documents
Below is the complete text from the Freedom of Information Act-released US government document detailing the Pentagon plan to murder innocent civilians and blame the Cuban government as a pretext to invade Cuba.
[b]Code-named Operation Northwoods, US Navy members were also to be killed as part of a "terror campaign" This plan, which President John F. Kennedy refused to implement, had the written approval of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Lyman Louis Lemnitzer, and every other member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Dutch Council Communism and Van der Lubbe Burning the Reichstag - The question of "exemplary acts"
Philippe Bourrinet on the reaction of council communists in Holland to Marinus Van der Lubbe burning down the Reichstag in Germany, and on propagandistic acts in general.
Feb 2003
It was the significance of the young Dutch council communist Van der Lubbe's torching of the Reichstag (27 Feb. 1933), more than Hitler's coming to power, which focused the debates within Dutch council communism. The latter was profoundly divided on the question of 'exemplary acts' and of individual violence against symbols of bourgeois order.
Shooting spree BNP man jailed for life
John Laidlaw, a member of the fascist British National Party (BNP) who wanted to "kill all black people" has been jailed for a life for a shooting spree in north London.
Former boxer John Laidlaw, 24, who had earlier threatened to "kill all black people", was found guilty of three counts of attempted murder and two firearms charges. He is the latest in a long line of members and activists of the BNP - which claims to be a "law and order" party - to be jailed for violent, sexual or anti-social offences.
Valpreda, Pietro, 1933-2002
A short biography of the anarchist militant and dancer Pietro Valpreda who was caught up in the Strategy of Tension.
Pietro Valpreda was born in Milan in 1933. At the beginning of the 1960s he began to frequent anarchist circles in Milan and Rome. He worked as a dancer in theatrical reviews.
Former BNP men face explosives charges
Former BNP candidate, Robert Cottage, and 62 year old dentist David Jackson have been charged with possessing explosives.
Robert Cottage, a BNP candidate in Colne last year, and David Jackson, a dentist from Nelson, Lancashire have been charged with possessing explosives at Preston Crown Court today.
The lawyers for the pair declined to ask for bail and were remanded in custody. A trial is set for February 12th at Manchester Crown Court.
Terrorism Act 2000 guide
A quick guide and brief summary of the parts of the British Terrorism Act 2000 of relevance to radical workers.
"Terrorism" is defined very widely and could include what people would normally think of as direct action. It gives the Police very wide powers to stop search and arrest, and limits people's rights - including on arrest.
BNP election candidate arrested in biggest explosives haul ever
Two men were arrested in Lancashire last week in the biggest explosives haul ever found at a house in the UK.
Robert Cottage (49), of Talbot Street, Colne, and David Bolus Jackson (62), of Trent Road, Nelson, appeared at a Pennine magistrate's court charged under the Explosive Substances Act 1883. Mrs Christiana Buchanan, acting for the prosecution in court, suggested that the pair had "some kind of masterplan".
Shoot to Kill
This article is from Black Flag in 1999. It analyses the British state's use of shoot to kill.
The depraved heroes of 24 are the Himmlers of Hollywood - Slavoj Žižek
In this short article Žižek shows how the popular TV series is essentially a reflection of newly acceptable fascistic behaviour - torture, expendability of subordinates - in the 'war on terror', concluding that "24's real problem [is] not the content itself but the fact that we are being told openly about it."
On Sunday, the fifth season of the phenomenally successful television drama 24 will start in the US. Each season is composed of 24 one-hour episodes and the whole season covers the events of a single day.
Biopolitics: Between Terri Schiavo and Guantanamo - Slavoj Žižek
Žižek draws on Giorgio Agamben's notion of Homo sacer - someone who is biologically alive but deproved of all rights - in order to understand the rationales and causes of the 'war on terror'.
On security and terror - Giorgio Agamben
"We can say that politics secretly works towards the production of emergencies." A short article written in response to the 9-11 attacks by the philosopher Giorgio Agamben published in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung [Frankfurt general newspaper] September 20, 2001.
Security as leading principle of state politics dates back to the the birth of the modern state. Hobbes already mentions it as the opposite of fear, which compels human beings to come together within a society. But not until the 18th century does a thought of security come into its own.
1958-1990: Operation Gladio, Italy
The history of the secret neo-fascist army in Italy set up ostensibly to resist Soviet invasion, but in reality to be used in the event of the working class growing too strong once again.
Following the end of World War II, the Italian workers’ movement was rapidly gaining strength. In some towns the fascists had been kicked out by Resistance forces (as before the war, these were usually led by socialists and anarchists), and embryonic workers’ councils were governing.
1969-?: The Strategy of Tension in Italy
Information about the Italian state's "Strategy of Tension" policy in which it carried out terrorist attacks against its own people in order to blame the left and anarchists.
"State-Fetishism": some remarks concerning the Red Army Faction - by A. Grossman
A critical article about 1970s West German Marxist urban guerrilla group the Red Army Faction, sometimes known as the Baader-Meinhoff gang.
1982: The death of Neil Roberts
A short account of a little known political death in New Zealand. In 1982, an anarchist punk rocker attempted to blow up the Wanganui police computer. He blew himself up in the process
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McDonalds, 9-11 and US foreign policy
Statement by Glasgow MWR following a statement issued by the McDonalds corporation following the September 11th attacks covering the attacks, the war, and McDonalds itself
BNP leader resigns amid assassinations claim
Earlier this year, Tony Lecomber, the BNP's second most senior member resigned following rumours that he had approached a Liverpool BNP member to get him to carry out assassinations.
Lecomber contacted Joe Owens, and solicited him to carry out assassinations against members of the 'Establishment'. Joe Owens has now taken the time to publish his side of the story.
Setting the record straight.
Around two weeks before Christmas, I received a Christmas card from Tony Lecomber.
I found this rather strange as I have never received one from him any time before,
Guantanamo actors detained at airport
Actors who played Guantanamo Bay detainees in the movie 'Road to Guantanamo' have been detained under the terrorism act upon returning to the UK from the Berlin film Festival.
Upon Arrival in Luton airport, after the film had won the Silver Bear Award at the festival, the actors were held and questioned using anti-terrorism legislation.
Government defeated? The Terror bill
Following the government's second defeat in the Commons over education, Iain Mackay examines the extent of Labour's supposed "defeat" over its Terror bill last year.
A proposal to extend the ability of the police to detain without trial to 90 days has been defeated. The bill, which lost by 322 votes to 291, was stopped by a major rebellion of Labour MPs.
However, the doubling of the detention allowance to 28 days, a separate bill to supplement the failed 90-day one, passed.
