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European Parliament declares Russia to be a state sponsor of terrorism
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20221118IPR55707/european-parliament-declares-russia-to-be-a-state-sponsor-of-terrorism, posted Nov '22 by peter in eu politics russia terrorism ukraine war
Parliament calls on the European Union to further isolate Russia internationally, including when it comes to Russia’s membership of international organisations and bodies such as the United Nations Security Council. MEPs also want diplomatic ties with Russia to be reduced, EU contacts with official Russian representatives to be kept to the absolute minimum and Russian state-affiliated institutions in the EU spreading propaganda around the world to be closed and banned.
Against the backdrop of the Kremlin’s escalating acts of terror against Ukrainian civilians, the resolution further calls on EU member states in the Council to swiftly complete its work on a ninth sanctions package against Moscow.
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Russia’s War Against Ukraine Has Turned Into Terrorism
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/07/russia-war-crimes-terrorism-definition/670500/, posted 2022 by peter in politics russia terrorism ukraine war
We Americans and Europeans are used to thinking of terrorism as something involving fertilizer bombs or improvised weapons, and of terrorists as fringe extremists who operate conspiratorially in irregular gangs. When we speak of state-sponsored terrorism, we are usually talking about clandestine groups that are supported, covertly, by a recognized state, in the way that Iran supports Hezbollah. But Russia’s war in Ukraine blurs the distinction among all of these things—terrorism, state-sponsored terrorism, war crimes—for nothing about the bombing of Serhiivka, or Kremenchuk, or Kharkiv, is surreptitious, conspiratorial, or fringe.
Instead Russia, a legitimate, recognized world power—a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council—is directing constant, repetitive, visible terrorist violence against civilians, many of whom are nowhere near the fighting. The attacks are not errors or accidents. The planes carrying bombs can be tracked on radar screens. Occasionally, Moscow issues denials—the shopping-mall bombing was, like many others, described by Russian state media as “faked”—but no apologies. The Russian army will not punish the murderers. On the contrary, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has already awarded medals to the brigade that committed so many atrocities in the town of Bucha.
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Australia is becoming a surveillance state
https://ia.acs.org.au/article/2021/australia-is-becoming-a-surveillance-state.html, posted 2021 by peter in fascism law opinion politics privacy terrorism toread
The government's approach to technological surveillance is leading us down a dark path, experts warn, as it prepares to give law enforcement agencies new hacking powers.
Currently before parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee, the Surveillance Legislation Amendment (Identify and Disrupt) Bill 2020 is the government's latest attempt to gain a watchful eye over cyber space.
Once the bill passes, it will dish out extra power to the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC), giving the agencies access to new warrants that will let them modify and delete data, collect intelligence from online communities, and even take over the online accounts of supposed criminals.
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Mass Surveillance Isn’t the Answer to Fighting Terrorism - NYTimes.com
mobile.nytimes.com/2015/11/18/opinion/mass-surveillance-isnt-the-answer-to-fighting-terrorism.html?_r=1&referer=, posted 2015 by peter in fascism opinion privacy security terrorism usa war
It’s a wretched yet predictable ritual after each new terrorist attack: Certain politicians and government officials waste no time exploiting the tragedy for their own ends. The remarks on Monday by John Brennan, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, took that to a new and disgraceful low.
Speaking less than three days after coordinated terrorist attacks in Paris killed 129 and injured hundreds more, Mr. Brennan complained about “a lot of hand-wringing over the government’s role in the effort to try to uncover these terrorists.”
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Så exploderade Islamiska staten i Europas ansikte
mobil.dn.se/nyheter/varlden/sa-exploderade-islamiska-staten-i-europas-ansikte/, posted 2015 by peter in history inswedish terrorism war
Med terrordådet i Paris har Islamiska staten (IS) tagit steget från största terrorskaparen i Mellanöstern till ett akut globalt säkerhetshot.
Men historien om IS börjar redan år 2003.
DN:s korrespondent Erik Ohlsson berättar om hur Islamiska staten kunde växa från en obskyr mördarsekt till en maktfaktor som stöpt om världspolitiken.
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Radical Atheists Bomb ‘The Flintstones’ For Contradicting Theory of Evolution
dailycurrant.com/2015/01/14/radical-atheists-bomb-the-flintstones-for-contradicting-theory-of-evolution/, posted 2015 by peter in humor religion terrorism
The suspects, who fled the scene in a car driven by a female accomplice, are part of the radical atheist sect, the Charles Darwin Martyrs Brigade, which has links to the extremist group Al Kinda. Witnesses state that as they opened fire, the two suspects yelled, “God is not great, because God does not exist!”
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US drone strikes kill 28 unknown people for every intended target, new Reprieve report reveals
www.reprieve.org/us-drone-strikes-kill-28-unknown-people-for-every-intended-target-new-reprieve-report-reveals.html, posted 2014 by peter in fascism propaganda terrorism usa war
US drone strikes in Yemen and Pakistan have killed as many as 1,147 unknown people in failed attempts to kill 41 named individuals, a report by human rights charity Reprieve has found.
The report looks at deaths resulting from US drone strikes in Yemen and Pakistan between November 2002 and November 2014. It identifies 41 men who appeared to have been killed multiple times – drawing into question the Obama administration’s repeated claims that the covert drone programme is ‘precise.’
While the US drone programme is shrouded in secrecy, security sources regularly brief the media on the names of those suspected militants targeted or killed in the strikes. Frequently, those individuals are reported to have been targeted or killed on multiple occasions.
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I worked on the US drone program. The public should know what really goes on | Heather Linebaugh
www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/29/drones-us-military, posted 2013 by peter in opinion terrorism usa war
The US and British militaries insist that this is such an expert program, but it's curious that they feel the need to deliver faulty information, few or no statistics about civilian deaths and twisted technology reports on the capabilities of our UAVs. These specific incidents are not isolated, and the civilian casualty rate has not changed, despite what our defense representatives might like to tell us.
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Cost-benefit analysis and state secrecy: Foiled plots and bathtub falls | The Economist
www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2013/06/cost-benefit-analysis-and-state-secrecy, posted 2013 by peter in fascism opinion politics privacy terrorism usa
The thrust of this argument is simple: terrorism is such a minor threat to American life and limb that it's simply bizarre—just stupefyingly irrational and intellectually unserious—to suppose that it could even begin to justify the abolition of privacy rights as they have been traditionally understood in favour of the installation of a panoptic surveillance state. Would Americans give up their second-amendment rights if it were to save 3000 lives? Well, it would, but we won't. Surely the re-abolition of alchohol would save more than 3000 lives, but we're not about to discuss it. Why not? Because liberty is important to us and we won't sell it cheaply. Why should we feel differently about our precious fourth-amendment rights?
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With The NSA, The GCHQ, The FRA Planting Crypto Backdoors In Infrastructure, They Are Now The Enemy Of All Mankind - Falkvinge o
falkvinge.net/2013/09/06/with-the-nsa-the-gchq-the-fra-inserting-crypto-backdoors-into-infrastructure-they-are-now-the-enemy-of-all-mankind/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Falkvinge-on-Infopolicy+%28Falkvinge+on+Infopolicy%29, posted 2013 by peter in crapification opinion privacy security terrorism war
The news broke this morning that the NSA (US), the GCHQ (UK), and the FRA (Sweden) have been actively working to subvert the cryptography that makes our society tick, by planting backdoors in most if not all commercial cryptography software. This means that these agencies have deliberately made all of us vulnerable as we conduct our banking business, as we go to the hospital, and as we talk privately online. Our society depends on our ability to keep secrets, and the deliberate planting of backdoors, the deliberate subversion of our infrastructure, is nothing short of a declaration of war. Even according to U.S. Generals.