The War Comes Home

In December, 1990, U.S. President George Bush Sr. travelled through South America to sell the continent ona bold new dream: "a free-trade system that links all of the Americas." Addressing the Argentinecongress, he said that the plan, later to be named the Free-Trade Area of the Americas would be "ourhemisphere's new declaration of interdependence . . . the brilliant new dawn of a splendid new world."

Last week, Mr. Bush's two sons joined forces to try to usher in that new world by holding the FTAAnegotiations in friendly Florida. This is the state that Governor Jeb Bush vowed to "deliver" to hisbrother during the 2000 presidential elections, even if that meant keeping many African-Americans fromexercising their right to vote. Now Jeb Bush was vowing to hand his brother the coveted trade deal, even ifthat meant keeping thousands from exercising their right to protest.

And yet, despite the Bush brothers' best efforts, the dream of a hemisphere united into a singlefree-market economy died last week. It was killed not by demonstrators in Miami, but by the populations ofBrazil, Argentina, and Bolivia, which have let their politicians know that if they sign away any more power toforeign multinationals, they may as well not come home.

The Brazilians brokered a compromise that makes the agreement a pick-and-choose affair, allowinggovernments to sign on to the parts they like and refuse the ones they don't. Washington will, of course,continue to try to bully individual countries and groups of nations into sweeping trade contracts on the modelof the North American free-trade agreement, but there will be no single, unified deal.

Inside the Hotel Inter-Continental, it was being called "FTAA Lite."

Outside, we experienced something distinctly heavier: "War Lite." In fact, the more control theU.S. trade representatives lost at the negotiating table, the more raw power the police exerted on thestreets.

"Our goal was to drown you out," one Miami-Dade police officer explained to me, and that'sexactly what they did. Small, peaceful demonstrations were attacked with extreme force; organizations wereinfiltrated by undercover officers who then used stun guns on activists; busses filled with union members wereprevented from joining permitted marches; dozens of young faces were smashed into concrete and beaten bloodywith batons; human rights activists had guns pointed at their heads at military-style checkpoints.

Police violence outside of trade summits is not new, but what was striking about Miami was how divorced thesecurity response was from anything resembling an actual threat. From an activist perspective, the protestswere disappointingly small and almost embarrassingly obedient, an understandable response to weeks of policeintimidation.

Listening to the incessant roar of helicopters and the march of police boots, I couldn't shake the feelingthat something new was going on. It felt less like we were the targets of this operation than the targetpractice, unwitting extras in an elaborate military drill.

The FTAA Summit in Miami represents the official homecoming of the "war on terror." The latesttactical and propaganda techniques honed in Iraq -- from a Hollywoodized military to a militarized media --have now been used on a grand scale in a major U.S. city. "This should be a model for homeland defence,"Miami Mayor Manny Diaz proudly said of the security operation that brought together over 40 law-enforcementagencies, from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to the Department of Fish and Wildlife.

But in order for the Miami Model to work, the police first had to establish a connection between legitimateactivists and dangerous terrorists. Enter Miami Police Chief John Timoney, an avowed enemy of activist"punks" who repeatedly classified FTAA opponents as "outsiders coming in to terrorize andvandalize our city."

With the activists recast as dangerous aliens, Miami became eligible for the open tap of public moneyirrigating the "war on terror." In fact, $8.5-million spent on security during the FTAA meeting camedirectly out of the $87-billion President Bush extracted from Congress for Iraq last month -- a fact barelyreported outside of the Miami press.

But more was borrowed from the Iraq invasion than just money. Miami police also invited reporters to"embed" with them in armoured vehicles and helicopters. As in Iraq, most reporters embraced theirrole as pseudo-soldiers with unsettling zeal, suiting up in ridiculous combat helmets and brand-new camouflageflak jackets.

The resulting media coverage was the familiar wartime combination of dramatic images and non-information.We know, thanks to an "embed" from the Miami Herald, that Police Chief Timoney was working so hardhunting down troublemakers that by 3:30 on Thursday, "he had eaten only a banana and an oatmeal cookiesince 6 a.m."

Local television stations didn't cover the protests so much as hover over them. Their helicopters showedimages of confrontations but instead of hearing the voices on the streets -- voices of demonstrators pleadingwith police to stop shooting and clearly following orders to disperse -- we heard only from senior policeofficials and perky news anchors commiserating with the boys on the front line.

Meanwhile, independent journalists who dared to do their jobs and film the police violence up close wereactively targeted. "She's not with us," one officer told another as they grabbed Ana Nogueira, acorrespondent with Pacifica Radio's Democracy Now! who was covering a peaceful protest outside the Miami-Dadecounty jail. When the police established that Ms. Nogueira was indeed "not with us" (i.e. neither anembedded reporter nor an undercover cop) she was hauled away and charged.

The Miami Model of dealing with dissent reaches far beyond a single meeting. On Sunday, the New York Timesreported on a leaked FBI bulletin revealing "a co-ordinated, nationwide effort to collectintelligence" on the U.S. anti-war movement. The memorandum singles out perfectly lawful protestactivities including non-violence training, videotaping of police actions and Internet organizing. AnthonyRomero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said that the document revealed that,"The FBI is dangerously targeting Americans who are engaged in nothing more than lawful protest anddissent. The line between terrorism and legitimate civil disobedience is blurred."

We can expect much more of these tactics on the homeland front. Just as civil liberties violationsescalated when Washington lost control over the FTAA process, so will repression increase as the Bush crewfaces the ultimate threat: losing control over the White House.

Already, Jim Wilkinson, director of strategic communications at U.S. Central Command in Doha, Qatar, (theoperation that gave the world the Jessica Lynch rescue), has moved to New York to head up media operations forthe Republican National Convention. "We're looking at embedding reporters," he told the New YorkObserver of his plans to use some of the Iraq tricks during the convention. "We're looking at new andinteresting camera angles."

The war is coming home.

Naomi Klein is the author of No Logo and Fences andWindows. Courtesy, Znet