Wars, disinformation, and COINTELPRO in the year 2012

“Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”—Benjamin Franklin

“We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history there is such a thing as being too late . . . If we do not act we shall surely be dragged down the long dark and shameful corridors of time reserved for those who possess power without compassion, might without morality, and strength without sight.”—Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

As bloody U.S. wars and/or militarization, driven by the insatiable greed of the corporate/military elite, rage on in Afghanistan, Pakistan, the ‘Middle East,’ Africa, and elsewhere on this precious planet of Mother Earth, here at home, police-state stealth, government disinformation, de facto political suppression, corporate-media malfeasance, and increasing economic austerity represent the unhappy realities being endured by the vast majority of everyday Black, White, Brown, Red, and Yellow people inside this nation.

In the short span of less than four years, this nation has experienced the horror of at least three major internal shooting massacres, including Fort Hood, Texas; Aurora, Colorado; and Oak Creek, Wisconsin. This of course does not include the presidentially ordered external U.S. military bombings in North Africa or the intensified Predator drone missile strike massacres in Afghanistan and Pakistan, etc. Just what the hell is going on?!

Meanwhile, the criminal corporate-syndicate U.S. government, led by Mr. ‘Hope and Change’ Barack Obama, has gutted the civil liberty protections contained in the U.S. Constitution by, among other actions, signing into law the draconian and Orwellian NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act), which its relevant provision calls for the indefinite detention of U.S. citizens in this nation, without the bother of the due process of being charged with a crime or even having a trial, judge, jury or access to legal defense.

Not content with this outrage, Barack Obama now has his very own ‘Kill List,’ which allows him the right to carry out extrajudicial killings against both U.S. citizens and non U.S. citizens alike.

But alas, there’s more! Through the Executive Order (entitled “Assignment of National Security and Emergency Preparedness Communications Functions”) quietly signed by Barack Obama on July 6, 2012, he has taken upon himself the power to control and/or shut down, in the name of ‘national security,’ all private communications in the United States. [Reference The Black Commentator, July 26, 2012, Obama's Police-State Apparatus Is In Place—Ready To Be Unleashed.

COINTELPRO today & corporate media complicity

The stated aims of the infamous U.S. government Counter Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO), which started in the 1950s and was intensified in the 1960s and ‘70s, was to "neutralize" by any and all means possible political dissent and political dissenters in the United States. Many thousands of persons of all colors were targets of COINTELPRO, whose clear objectives were to "discredit, frame, imprison, and/or murder" political dissenters and activists in this nation.

COINTELPRO is NOT dead or defunct today. In fact, the 'PATRIOt Act' and the NDAA, etc., have seen the legal codification of COINTELPRO into law, and no matter what name or acronym is officially used, it is still COINTELPRO.

Specifically, this means that vicious criminal set-ups/frame-ups of political dissenters and activists in this nation are in full gear, and in actuality, there is little or no legal recourse for persons who are its targets. The courts and the corporate-stream news media facilitate these COINTELPRO activities. The courts of this nation put the fallacious veneer of morality and justice on these insidious ongoing police/government activities, while the 'news' media engages in a deliberate stream of disinformation and misinformation (both in the print media and on the Internet) especially against government targets—be they individuals or organizations—of COINTELPRO.

The use of these despicable tactics should come as no surprise and should be recognized for precisely what they are. Remember: The goal of these ongoing COINTELPRO tactics is to "neutralize" individuals and/or organizations by discrediting, framing, imprisoning, and/or murdering its targets. In this vein, the use of undercover agents and/or agents provocateur by government and police authorities is also at an all time high and should be understood as being a means utilized in an effort to "neutralize" and thereby destroy legitimate organized political dissent. The aim of such agents and agents provocateur is at minimum twofold, and is to, among other things, cause dissension and disunity within organizations, and/or to criminally set-up various politically outspoken or active individuals.

Thus, one can expect certain local, state, and federal authorities to intensify in these utterly reprehensible activities. The best defenses against COINTELPRO activities are to 1 ) recognize them for what they are when you see them; 2) stay focused on your legitimate political objectives; 3) resist paranoia. while staying alert and using your common sense. Put your ultimate trust in 'we the people'—collectively. Always remember the words of Steve Biko, that "The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed."

Governments, including the U.S. government and its agents, that utilize COINTELPRO tactics are amoral, and they are not protecting democracy—they are subverting it. Such governments are heedless to the words attributed to the late John F. Kennedy, when he said, "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."

It is the everyday ordinary people of all colors who matter—not the politicos of the corporate-owned, bloodsucking Democrat and Republican parties and their flunkies. This is about we the people in this nation, humankind as a whole, and our very precious Mother Earth.

This, our quest, is to regain our collective humanity. Surely, we must agree with the words of the late great poet Georgia Douglas Johnson:

I shun no hardship, fear no foe;
The future calls and I must go:
I charge the line and date the spheres
As I go fighting down the years.

Each one, reach one. Each one, teach one. Onward, then, my sisters and brothers. Onward!

Intrepid Report Associate Editor Larry Pinkney is a veteran of the Black Panther Party, the former Minister of Interior of the Republic of New Africa, a former political prisoner and the only American to have successfully self-authored his civil/political rights case to the United Nations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In connection with his political organizing activities, Pinkney was interviewed in 1988 on the nationally televised PBS News Hour, formerly known as The MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour. Pinkney is a former university instructor of political science and international relations, and his writings have been published in various places, including The Boston Globe, the San Francisco BayView newspaper, the Black Commentator, Global Research (Canada), LINKE ZEITUNG (Germany), and Mayihlome News (Azania/South Africa). For more about Larry Pinkney see the book, Saying No to Power: Autobiography of a 20th Century Activist and Thinker, by William Mandel [Introduction by Howard Zinn]. (Click here to read excerpts from the book.)