FBI Using the Same Fear Tactic From the First War on Terror: Orchestrating its Own Terrorism Plots

greenwald.substack.com/p/fbi-using-th…
Questioning the FBI's role in 1/6 was maligned by corporate media as deranged. But only ignorance or a desire to deceive could produce such a reaction.

To keep fear levels high and the US security state's powers and budgets even higher, FBI has been doing this for decades.
A top FBI official has *admitted* in a little-noticed comment -- part of a documentary about an FBI attempt to entrap "terrorists" in 2009 -- that the FBI needs constant terror threats and plots to keep fear levels high and its own power unquestioned. Look:
Just three weeks ago, the security-state-worshipping sector of corporate media mocked and derided those of us who questioned what the FBI's role was in the groups that plotted 1/6. Yet now, the @BuzzFeed exposé on how the FBI drove the Whitmer "plot" made the same connection:
Given this long history and mountain of evidence, it doesn't take an unhinged conspiracy theorist to interrogate FBI's role in 1/6.

It takes an ignorant servant of the US security state (i.e., liberal journalists) to declare such questions off limits:

greenwald.substack.com/p/fbi-using-th…
I spent a decade reporting on FBI's manufacturing their own terror plots -- by implanting agents who manipulated young American Muslims into plots FBI created -- and the liberal-left never objected. Many cheered.

Now, denouncing the same tactic against the Right makes you QAnon.
And I was far from the only one reporting on and denouncing the FBI's orchestration of their own plots that they would then flamboyantly boast that they "broke up" -- to keep fear levels, budgets & spying powers high. It was a common theme in left media and from the @ACLU.
So again, anyone who asks me "what happened to you?" should instead look in the mirror and ask it of yourself.

I've always found the US security state's manufacturing of terror plots pernicious, and I haven't changed that view because of who the target is. It's *you who changed.
And as I noted yesterday, you have to be very ignorant and/or dishonest to claim it's insane to think FBI purposely stokes terror plots to keep fear levels high. Read what a federal judge said about what the FBI did to James Cromitie, an impoverished Black Muslim, to entrap him:
FBI did this during the Cold War, too -- infiltrated groups to lure people into crimes based on their ideology. That's COINTELPRO. They did it during first War on Terror. We know they're doing it now against anti-government activists on the right:

theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
There are only 2 things that have changed: 1) liberals now revere FBI, CIA and the security state generally after Trump because they see those agencies as their allies; 2) liberals are authoritarians who *want* their political adversaries imprisoned. So they like this FBI scheme.
You can see the rise of liberal/Dem authoritarianism in this one 2019 Gallup chart. The two parties have almost completely switched sides on their views of the FBI since 2003: with Dems now overwhelmingly positive about FBI and GOP far more untrusting:

news.gallup.com/poll/257489/fb…
As Gallup put it:

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Glenn Greenwald

Glenn Greenwald Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @ggreenwald

25 Jul
These are staggering new poll numbers from @USATODAY on the views of Detroit residents on issues of crime and policing, and constitute yet more evidence of how wide the gap is between the discourse of media elites on these questions and everyone else:

usatoday.com/story/news/pol…
"Amid a jump in violent crime in this and other cities nationwide, Detroit residents report being much more worried about public safety than about police misconduct....

By an overwhelming 9-1, they would feel safer with more cops on the street, not fewer."
Black residents in Detroit care much more about stopping violent crime than they do reforming the police. White residents care more about reforming the police by a small margin.

Who is most victimized by crime and who isn't is a huge factor in the discourse on these issues.
Read 4 tweets
23 Jul
108 murders in DC in the first six months of 2021, and they're almost all ignored. One shooting happens in an upscale NW DC neighborhood that CNN and HuffPost journalists love and it's a national news story.
Imagine how vastly different the national media discourse about violent crime and policing would be if that violence were occurring in the wealthier neighborhoods where media elites live instead of primarily victimizing the people who are invisible in media coverage.
Just as a reminder, one year ago, @lhfang was widely and disgustingly vilified as a racist by literally thousands of journalists on Twitter for the crime of interviewing various BLM protesters about crime and posting the videos, one of which was this one:

Read 4 tweets
22 Jul
This was probably posted after Biden got out of a meeting where Ron Klain ordered more arms, money and surveillance tech be sent to the allied-despots in Cairo and Riyadh to kill dissidents, arrest journalists and gun down protesters in the street.

But Biden will free Cuba!
Joe Biden -- who is doing everything possible to keep Julian Assange locked in dungeon as punishment for revealing US war crimes and the corruption of the DNC, and waging a new domestic War on Terror -- is going to bring freedom and democracy to the people of Cuba.
As @emeriticus said earlier today when condemning Republican lawmakers for obsessing on Cuba instead of their own country, I guess it's easy to crusade against repression in Havana then confront the CIA, DOJ and intelligence community in your own country.

Read 5 tweets
22 Jul
Anyone on the left cheering the Biden Admin's attempts to expand the definition of "domestic terrorism" and surveillance and punishment in its name is not only authoritarian but dumb, since FBI is using it to target anti-establishment left groups, too:

politico.com/news/2021/07/2…
As I've previously reported, the Department of Homeland Security's new definition of "domestic extremist" includes not only anti-government groups on the right but also anti-establishment left-wing groups such as animal rights and environmental activists:

greenwald.substack.com/p/the-us-intel…
And as @lwoodhouse reported for my Substack, media attention on the FBI's increased funding and powers in the name of fighting "domestic terrorists" is about right-wing groups, but it's animal rights activists who are also targeted with the same powers:

outsidevoices.substack.com/p/the-targets-…
Read 4 tweets
21 Jul
Cuba, Fox News, e as mudanças ideológicas pós-Trump nos EUA

Que a Fox tenha sido o único espaço onde pude defender que os EUA não tem direito de intervir em Cuba é evidência de uma transformação vital

cartacapital.com.br/glenn-greenwal…
É muito difícil entender as mudanças políticas em um país distante, onde nunca se viveu ou trabalhou. Às 16h de hoje - daqui a 10 minutos - discutirei esta coluna sobre Fox e Cuba, e as tentativas de censura de Biden - no meu live no @CartaCapital.

Aqui é a discussão que tive na Fox News que descrevi em meu artigo na @CartaCapital: o único lugar onde se poderia argumentar que os EUA não têm o direito nem a capacidade de de interferir nos assuntos internos de Cuba (com legenda em português):
Read 4 tweets
21 Jul
Look at this. Several GOP Senators who spent 5 years screaming "America First!" are now not only devoting their energy to intervening in the internal affairs of Cuba but, worse, want to punish *US citizens* for exercising their free speech & association rights, to serve Israel.
If you're a Republican and you support these laws to punish US citizens for the "crime" of supporting a boycott of Israel - which they have the right to do - you have zero credibility to complain about censorship and free speech. Few things are a worse 1st Am violation than this.
Obviously, @SenatorLankford prioritizes this foreign country over the rights of American citizens -- to the point that he wants to punish US citizens for their political activism against that foreign country.

That's not America First. And it's not a believer in free speech.
Read 8 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

:(