Former CIA agent believes that Republicans and Islamists are the same
Source: (
https://bit.ly/3Up87Gl)
Former Senior Intelligence Service officer at the CIA, Marc
Polymeropoulos published a Sunday piece declaring that that
techniques once used to fight radical Islam should be turned
against the against the right-wing in America.
Polymeropoulos' piece for NBC News Think warned that
propagandists, whether Islamic terrorists or Republicans, should
be subject to counterterrorism and counterradicalization techniques.
"I worked in counterterrorism operations for nearly my entire
career at the CIA before retiring in 2019. The battle we engaged
in with international terrorist groups like Al Qaeda wasn't just with
their legions of foot soldiers but with their highly effective
propaganda arms as well," he wrote. "The U.S. and our allies
considered those propagandists fundamental cogs in a terror group's
machinery, and just as culpable as any other terrorist. So we held
them accountable when innocent civilians were killed."
Polymeropoulos suggested that the attack of Paul Pelosi was evidence
that the American government needs to take a firmer approach to its
own citizenry.
"Lone wolves are a thorn for domestic U.S. law enforcement as well,
as we saw last week when a man not affiliated with any known group
but immersed in right-wing propaganda attacked Paul Pelosi, the
husband of Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi," he wrote.
"While the authorities have taken appropriate action against him,
there are few signs that the government is taking the big-picture
approach needed to combat the violence-inducing propaganda
behind his crime."
He appeared to lament that the U.S. Constitution gives American
citizens more rights than foreign enemies.
"The Constitution confers certain free-speech protections for
extremist propaganda in the U.S. that prevent authorities from
exactly replicating our foreign counterterrorism strategy here
at home. But there are important lessons we can and should apply,"
he said. "For one thing, we can exercise free speech to proclaim that
the normalization of violence against politicians is dangerous and
unacceptable. Some violent rhetoric might not be illegal, but it is
all morally repugnant."
Polymeropoulos also seemed to equivocate demonizing an
opposing politician with calling for violence against them.
"To start with, we need to clearly identify what crosses the line
into the realm of dangerous rhetoric. That means calling out those
in the right-wing ecosphere who for years have demonized, and
at times even promoted and encouraged, attacks on Pelosi," he
claimed.
There are more bizarre, rambling, semi-coherent, partially partisan
political ravings at the source. He seems to have spent just a little
too much time inside the intel machine. All a hammer sees, after
all, are nails.
