Inventing-Terrorists-study

ENDNOTES 1 It can be argued that the preventive strategy of preemptive prosecution, under onename or another, has been part of American law enforcement for most of our history.This study focuses on the particular period after 9/11, but recognizes that preemptiveprosecution has long played a role in perpetuating injustice in America.2 Chris Hedges, “First They Come for the Muslims,” Truthdig, April 16, 2012,http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/first_they_come_for_the_muslims_20120416/3 See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COINTELPRO4 See Diala Shamas, “Where’s the Outrage When the FBI Targets Muslims?”, TheNation, October 31, 2013, http://www.thenation.com/article/176911/wheres-outragewhen-fbi-targets-muslims#;Andrew Rosenthal, “Liberty and Justice for Non-Muslims,”New York Times, Taking Note blog, March 30, 2012,http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/30/liberty-and-justice-for-non-muslims/;and Elaine Cassel, “Is Playing Paintball and Firing Legal Guns Terrorism? ThreeDisturbing Convictions Strongly Suggest Discrimination Against Muslim Americans,”Findlaw, March 25, 2004, http://writ.news.findlaw.com/cassel/20040325.html5 The MEK (Mujahadeen-e-Khalq) case is relevant here. A number of prominent U.S.politicians accepted money from MEK in exchange for lobbying to have MEK removedfrom the State Department’s list of designated terrorist organizations (DTOs). Althoughtheir actions clearly constituted material support for terrorism under the straineddefinition in the Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project decision, none of the politicianswere ever prosecuted for their coordinated speech and advocacy for MEK. This studydoes not suggest that they should have been prosecuted, but only notes the disparitybetween Muslims who are prosecuted for speech not specific to any designated terroristgroup, and prominent politicians who are not prosecuted for paid advocacy on behalf ofa specific designated terrorist organization, MEK. See Scott Shane, “For ObscureIranian Exile Group, Broad Support in U.S.,” New York Times, November 27, 2011,http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/us/politics/lobbying-support-for-iranian-exilegroup-crosses-party-lines.html6 Free association charges involve guilt by association––charges based on the target’sassociation with others.7 Many defendants to whom the authors spoke, who were convicted of trying to defendMuslim communities abroad from attack, were shocked that the U.S. considered theirconduct criminal rather than laudatory, especially when (as in the case of Bosnia) the44