Gar Smith - Discover the Networks

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GAR SMITH

Environmentalist writer and activist
Former editor of Earth Island Journal
Advises that the U.S. should "give up its position as the world's reigning Superpower"

Gar Smith is an environmental journalist. He is the former editor of Earth Island Journal, and currently edits Earth Island Institute's weekly "eco-zine" The-Edge. A radical environmentalist organization based in San Francisco, Earth Island Institute (EII) contends that "life on earth is imperiled by human degradation of the biosphere." In response, the group "develops and supports projects that counteract threats to the biological and cultural diversity that sustain the environment." EII's agenda includes numerous measures aimed at crippling or destroying entire industries and capitalism itself. EII's website features an online voter-registration service sponsored by Working Assets - a long-distance, wireless, and credit card company that gives financial support to such leftwing organizations as the American Civil Liberties Union, Grassroots International, Peace Action, Alternet, People For the American Way, and TomPaine.com.

Smith is also a co-founder of Environmentalists Against War - a group that, according to Smith, is "not [only] opposed to this one [Iraq] war, [but is] opposed to all wars," regardless of the circumstances. Smith previously worked for Friends of the Earth, a group whose stated goal is to pursue "smart, effective strategies to protect the planet from one of the greatest threats ever to our environmental laws - the Bush administration."

Since the start of the War on Terror, Smith has stressed that it was the U.S. and its dependency on foreign oil that caused the attacks of 9/11. Advising that America should "give up its position as the world's reigning Superpower," Smith characterizes the Bush administration's military response to 9/11 as "self-righteous arrogance." He further suggests that President Bush will go down in history as "another ruthless leader who 'killed his own people' in a mad bid for power."

Following the establishment of the Office of Homeland Security (OHS), Smith published an article titled, "Now, That's Real Homeland Security: 16 Ways Americans Can Feel Truly Safe Again." The piece is filled with recommendations that would not only overhaul and likely destroy America's capitalist economy, but would severely compromise U.S. national security. These include the following:

1. Create an ombudsman to oversee the OHS's operations. Assign the position to a trusted political leader like Senator Russ Feingold, a Democrat from Wisconsin and the only U.S. senator to vote against the OHS.

2. Shut down nuclear power plants.

3. Phase out all industries that use and stockpile toxic compounds - refineries, plastics plants, chemical
plants.

4. Stop shipping toxic chemicals by rail, road, ship, and air.

5. Stop fluoridating drinking water. (Fluorosilicic acid, the major fluoridation ingredient, is a corrosive,
toxic industrial waste product. Carried by trucks, it can be easily hijacked and used to poison entire
communities.)

6. Close airports permanently. (Replace polluting jets with high-speed rail. A train will never be hijacked and flown into a skyscraper.)

7. Ban chemical fertilizer. (Ammonia nitrate fertilizer was used to make the bomb that destroyed the federal building in Oklahoma City.)

8. Ban chemically dependent agriculture. (Promoting small, family- owned organic farms would eliminate crop dusters as a terrorist tool.)

9. Put a member of the American Civil Liberties Union in the OHS. (The ACLU has warned that the "Patriot Act" grants "expanded power to invade our privacy, imprison people without due process, and punish dissent.")

10. Extend the powers of the Patriot Act to cover the activities of corporations and the wealthy, thereby
allowing citizens to "speak and peek" into private mansions and corporate headquarters to conduct secret searches, download computer files, and snap surveillance photos.

11. Permit citizen groups to obtain "blank" warrants to conduct "intelligence wiretaps" on the private banking practices of the super-rich.

12. Ban autos, trucks, and vans from downtown streets since they can be used to deliver bombs. (City streets can then be turned into pedestrian zones with orchards, vegetable gardens, playgrounds, and bike paths.)

13. Phase out oil and gas pipelines and chemical storage facilities near population centers.

14. Close the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. (In 1978, 16,000 barrels of oil spilled when terrorists blew up the
pipeline near Fairbanks.)

15. Decentralize the power grid. (Turning every rooftop into a solar power plant would make it impossible for terrorists to black out a city.)

16. Fight anthrax by banning junk mail. (Require the postal service to deliver only personal mail. Business mail would be handled by bonded couriers hired by the businesses themselves.)

Smith also suggests that the U.S. government should "put a member of the American Civil Liberties Union [ACLU] in the OHS [Office of Homeland Security]." This recommendation is notable because the ACLU, which ranks among the leading opponents of the USA Patriot Act, has been in the vanguard of the movement to protect and expand the civil rights and liberties of terrorists, be they on the loose or already in custody. Moreover, the ACLU is part and parcel of the open borders movement, advocating the effective dissolution of American borders, unchecked mass immigration, and amnesty and expanded rights for illegal aliens already residing in the United States.

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