G-20 Arrests a "Dry Run" -- Sinn Fein Veteran
July 14, 2010
(Spectators were held in cages like this, only slightly larger, with an outhouse and a bench.)
"This whole scenario [was] a large-scale exercise ... to assess the psychological reaction of confined masses to arbitrary arrest and imprisonment and denial of basic Civil Rights."
Resistance must continue to the form of a class-action suit.
by Irish Dan
(for henrymakow.com)
Tommy
Taylor's account "Arrested
and Abused at the G-20" is frightening. Will it make
any great difference to public perceptions? I doubt it ! However, it
is great that there is a coherent, cogent account of what
happened.
I was involved with Sinn Fein here all the way from
a street protest party excluded from power right through to seeing
our party share Regional Government in the Northern part of Ireland
and having a significant presence in the Southern Irish Parliament. I
was also on the Party National Executive for most of a decade and
have seen and made politics from the inside-out and top-down as well
as street level up. Because of this, perhaps these comments may carry
a little more weight.
1) While this mass citizen arrest took
place during the summit meeting protests, it is obvious that far more
is involved here than the mere optics of justifying costs. Anyone
familiar with accounts of the round-up of citizens in Chile after the
overthrow of the Allende Government there, and the imposition of a
military dictatorship, can identify the parallels in the detention
procedures.
2) The police cars abandoned for burning etc, the
presence of large numbers of specially equipped forces apparently
tasked for specific purposes, the transport, the prepared cages etc.
indicates more than a reaction to a protest situation. Rather it
points to a 'dry run' training exercise using the cover of the summit
protest.
3) With regard to the cages and facilities provided,
any low ranking Red Cross Administrator setting up a temporary
facilities for holding a few hundred to a few thousand people would
give immediate concern to water, food, sanitation and shelter and
medical first aid in that order. It is not rocket science. The UN,
every First World Government , the Red Cross and most large
international Charitable Welfare Agencies have ready plans for these
facilities. Most in fact use the similar standardized plans that had
their genesis in post WW2 refugee camps.
4) The cages, the
layout, the provision of cameras etc all indicate careful planning
and preparation. Water was available as were disposable cups; it just
was not issued in the amounts required. Basic food was available; it
was deliberately withheld. The holding pens were secure, yet people
were unnecessarily held in plastic or steel handcuffs even though
these added little to the security factor.
5) Rationing toilet
paper is another indication of what was afoot here as were the
deliberate withholding of women's specific sanitation needs. I
remember decades ago, reading a translation from a CIA inspired
manual used by the Shah of Iran's forces where all these things came
under the title ' Denigrating The Captives Self Esteem' ! Nothing new
in this treatment of young women, the same tactic was also used to
attempt to demoralize and break women political prisoners in Armagh
Jail during the early eighties.
6) This whole scenario as
documented by Tommy seems geared to be a large-scale exercise using
the availability of 'protesting human resources' for a mass arrest to
access the psychological reaction of confined masses to arbitrary
arrest and imprisonment and denial of basic Civil Rights.
As such
the Authorities will be accessing a) ease of arrest, b) docility
during transport, c) acceptability of confinement, d) reaction to
various deprivations , etc.
7) If this was a large scale,
Government sanctioned experiment, then Taylor's posting and others in
Facebook etc will be a continuing part of the same exercise. In my
experience, most will not protest or put themselves in harms way
again. A few will cross the line and accept that violence against the
authorities is necessary and the seasoned protesters will continue to
protest with as much or as little impact as the protest giving rise
to this has had.
8) No one individual or small group of
individuals can effectively counter the deployment of State resources
on the scale described. However, if a special grouping were formed
with all that were arbitrarily arrested combining to bring a Legal
Class Action against the Canadian State, for deliberate and wilful
abuse of their freedoms, then this would immediately stymie this
State activity and bring the Human Rights bulldozer to a standstill !
It could also be used to smoke out and expose the hidden hands and
agencies involved in these things.
9) I have spend decades of
my life fighting for Left Wing causes and I still do. However I have
long reached the view that there is a far bigger picture and more
vital battle now to be fought for Basic Human Rights and to checkmate
the State Juggernauts, while people still have some freedom to
act.
As an individual I did a hunger and thirst strike in jail
against arbitrary arrest. I was in poor health at the time. After
days of this I was placed on Hourly Hospital Watch and then released.
I was never again re-arrested under this same act. Individuals are
not powerless and neither are empowered class action groups as the
Unites States experience has shown.
10) We, in the Western
World, where human rights and progressive politics are concerned, are
now where citizens were in early thirties Germany were. The time to
act is finite and a Legal Class Action in Canada is as good a place
as any other to start the checkmate to the State!
Comments for "G-20 Arrests a "Dry Run" -- Sinn Fein Veteran"
JCW said (July 15, 2010):
Interesting article about the G20... There has to be a better way than protesting at the event. Everyone is protesting about something. For people to understand what the G-20 protests are about they have to know what the G-20 is and how many people know that. Protesting has almost become cliche. In most of the protest one sees today, one can only notice that there is no cohesion and everyone has an opinion about something. In America we hear stories about the "Left" bringing bus loads of protesters into an area to protest, so one can only conclude that these people don't give a damn about the cause and in the end this de-legitimizes protests in general.
For a real protest to be effective it has to hurt. When we see the way protests are handled today, we see that the protesters are kept way back from where the real action is happening. The local law enforcement are the buffer between the two forces. They are empowered by their own righteous indignation against the protesters. The V.I.P.'s who are the motivating force for the protest are safely ensconced far enough away from all the action, so as to not even know there is a protest going on. It is like the protest is the engine that drives the insane atmosphere. I wouldn't be surprised if the V.I.P.'s love the attention and the adoration, they are screwing the little people thus empowering them.
Protest today like an assembly line, everything is in place to handle protesters, Once you protest, you get arrested, go to detention, suffer depravation, wait to be released, go to local bar and tell war story. The police are doing the same thing, they have their training, wait till a line has been crossed (even if it hasn't) wrestle with protester, subdue, arrest, maybe kick around if they can justify action (even if not needed) finish the day go to local bar and tell war stories and all the while the V.I.P.'s are looking down on the little people with contempt.
Maybe a protest should be like a war. Not the revolutionary war or a Napoleonic type war where men line up in lines and they point their guns at each other and fire. Try guerilla warfare. Because protesting seems to be losing its effectiveness...
Frank said (July 15, 2010):
Excellent summary you ran from Irish Dan.
Can I point out it dovetails perfectly with Stephen Lendman's article on Police Brutality in America? (link below) It does. Just like the insane level of surveillance we're witnessing in places from London, England to Zanzibar. The New World Order is being installed cleverly. Adjustments by place and according to culture are being allowed for. Even so, an experienced pro like Irish Dan can still see the overall trend and explain it simply for all of us.
In the States, the "drug war" was the key to the current police state. Ronald Reagan jump-started this moribund idiocy in 1981, WHEN THE CRIME RATE WAS GOING DOWN! The population was aging and drugs were not on anyone's screen. Yet entire police units were militarized and citizens were being made familiar with infantry tactics taking place in residential areas. In peacetime.
From what little I can make out, Canada is behind the USA in the installation of the buisness end of military rule, perhaps some powers up there wish to catch up. At the same time the USA has always been behind Canada in other areas crucial to the NWO, just off the top of my head it seems both feminism and multiculturalism have been accepted in Canada with less friction than SOME of the States.
It won't matter in the end. If they get their way we're all going to look like we've been smooshed and tagged by the same cookie cutter. Happy that folks like you have been waking people up, because even optimists like me know they need to wake up a lot faster.
Best,
Frank
Lendman's piece:
Henry Makow is the author of A Long Way to go for a Date. He received his Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Toronto. He welcomes your feedback and ideas at
Irish Dan said (July 16, 2010):
I fully accept the observations made [below] regarding the sterility of most current mass protests such as the G 20 scenario : for some years now these have followed a ritualistic dance on both sides. Since the protesters are corralled and confined well away form the actual protest, the participants of the summits are only aware of the protesters through TV, etc..
Visiting Delegates are not inconvenienced in any way. The usual post demonstration legacy of burned out cars; expensive windows smashed, buildings damaged, mostly the property on innocent third parties, are all well reported in the press. This can do no little more than reinforce the views of 'advisers' when presented to their Ministers, such as described here some articles back in Henry's conversation with the Canadian Government Minister.
Protests do have a use and can have an effect when they are local and the community is concerned with the issues, or where thousands come on the streets in anti war protests, but these G20 type demos are simply a waste of time and resources in view of the results achieved. All these demos are achieving is to provide live training and experience for the Police Forces and Government Agencies for 'The Big Roundup' when it comes. Ironic indeed!
In Common Law countries such as Canada, I believe, as I advocated that a Mass Class Action could produce dramatic results. It will have to be considered as an option and tried out to know just how effective. If it is they will no doubt attempt to change the law and the goalposts, but until then, that productive option is there to be used !