Today is the 25th anniversary of the U.S. Navy shooting down an Iranian passenger jet. Following is the writeup on the shootdown from my 2003 book, Terrorism & Tyranny: In the wake of the Iranian arms debacle, the Reagan administration sent the U.S. Navy to patrol the Persian Gulf—in part to reassure Arab nations that the U.S. […]
Tag Archives | Terrorism
Bravo! TSA Deluged With Angry Last Minute Comments
Midnight yesterday was the deadline for comments on the TSA’s checkpoint obscenities. A stampede occurred near closing time and more than 5400 people added their 2 cents to the official forum. Below is my comment (extracted from last week’s Washington Times op-ed). Looking at this riff with fresh eyes today, I lament that I […]
Wash. Times: Transportation Security Does Not Include Freedom to Molest
Washington Times, June 20, 2013 BOVARD: Transportation security doesn’t include the freedom to molest Passengers aren’t feeling it for TSA’s invasive scanners The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) treats American travelers like cattle being chuted to a civil liberties slaughterhouse. Thanks to a federal appeals court, citizens have a golden opportunity to tell the agency […]
Federal Surveillance’s Threat to Security (2004)
My piece from the Foundation for Economic Education‘s Freeman, January 2004 “The more information government gathers on people, the more power it will have over them. The more power it has to monitor their peaceful activities, the more intimidated Americans will become.” Federal Surveillance: The Threat to Americans’ Security More Information Equals More Power JANUARY […]
My 2006 FFF Articles on Surveillance Insanity
From the Future of Freedom Foundation website – BUSH’S WIRETAP CRIMES AND THE FISA FARCE by James Bovard March 1, 2006 President Bush proudly announced last December that he is violating federal law. He declared that in 2002 he had ordered the National Security Agency to begin conducting warrantless wiretaps and email intercepts on Americans. […]
My 2003 piece: Surveillance State – from American Conservative
Here’s a 2003 piece from the American Conservative on out-of-control government surveillance. This was the first piece I wrote for them (the magazine was launched the previous Fall). The editing process went more smoothly with subsequent pieces I wrote for them. 🙂 My original final paragraph: Three months after 9/11, Ashcroft announced: “To those who […]
Damndest Tweet Ever on a Government Killing
Man Killed During F.B.I. Inquiry Said to Have Been Violent nyti.ms/19rGZuV — The New York Times (@nytimes) May 31, 2013 This is the damndest Twitter headline I ever saw. “Said to have been violent” – who said it? We can’t tell you. Who killed him? It’s a secret. Why did the FBI totally change […]