I just got around to reading the National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism, which was released a couple of weeks ago. It is alarming.
There is no reason to think that the coming domestic war on terrorism will end any better than the George W. Bush administration's global war on terrorism.
The threat, according to the document, is not primarily from terrorist organizations, such as the Ku Klux Klan or al Qaeda, but from lone individuals, such as recent mass shooters, and ad hoc groups, such as the pro-Trump protesters on Jan. 6.
To protect society, it is not only necessary to suppress and disrupt inflammatory material on the Internet that might inspire violent action, but to conduct a society-wide educational campaign to counteract terrorist and pro-violence propaganda.
It is necessary to be aware of "inconography, symbology and phaseology" used by many domestic violent extremists, and to use "data-driven guidance" on how to identify them.
This could be used to develop watch lists of "known and suspected" terrorists to bar them from sensitive employment or put them on no-fly lists.
All this requires a coordinated effort involving federal, state, local, tribal and territorial governments, but also bringing in civil society, the technology sector, academia and friendly foreign governments.
The document is full of boiler-plate language about the need to respect freedom of speech and other constitutional rights, but I do not take this seriously.
I recall the eclipse of civil liberties in the post 9/11 era, and I also am aware of how government and social media companies work together in the present era to suppress dissident opinion.
Interestingly, the document does not propose any legislation. As I myself and others have pointed out, the legal and administrative machinery for dictatorship already exists. All that is needed is to activate it.
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