| Wednesday, June 23, 2004 |
11:22 - Presented as Fact
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/3820079.stm
|
(top)  |
This is how the British government educates its people as to the true nature of life in the US.
A few days later I ended up in the Arab quarter of Brooklyn, where stories are plentiful about harassment of the Arab-Muslim community.
The talk is not only about Guantanamo Bay, but also about young men disappearing for weeks on end, forced deportations, being hauled in for questioning for speaking out of line.
They talk in detail about Section 215 - the bit which deals with personal records, and of the Metropolitan Corrections Facility on the corner of 29th Street and Third Avenue, where people are held without trial and access to lawyers.
"I don't know what's happening to this country," said Ihab Tabir, a Brooklyn immigration lawyer who is originally from Jordan.
"If you say anything against what is happening in Iraq for example, you can be arrested.
"You can't speak openly on the street anymore. I tell you, everyone is afraid."
Obviously he doesn't know what's happening to this country. Section 215, for example, has never been invoked.
I wonder if this guy took part in one of those six-digit-attendance anti-war protests. You know, the ones where everyone was rounded up and sent off to the camps.
The guy is a lawyer. An immigration lawyer. And he says stuff like this.
How, first of all, does a person in his position reach such a ludicrous state of mind? And how, more importantly, does Britain reach the point where its citizens' taxes pay for investigative reporting that seeks out people like this and presents what they say as the unvarnished truth about life over here in the Nazi States of America?
Do people over there believe this stuff? Or do they sort of dismissively wave it off with a "Pff, it's the Beeb, you know"? Even as they pay for the privilege?
Via Tim Blair, whose commenters (as is their wont) add vital details and refreshing reaction. Don't miss them.
|
|
Brian Tiemann
