Everything is Terror Now. Didn’t You Know?
Apparently even the Dutch, those most contemplative guardians of high civilization, have begun using Washington’s crude definition of “terrorism” — that is, Anything We Don’t Like. Sunny Ofehe, a Netherlands resident and activist from Nigeria’s Niger Delta region, was brought up on charges of sabotage of oil pipelines, people smuggling, and fraud. It’s irrelevant whether or not these charges are true; Ofehe says they are a conspiracy against him and his case should be dropped while a Dutch judge says they’re not and the case will continue.
Notable here is the classification of even the bombing of pipelines as “terrorism.” Pipeline bombings, whatever their merits, are not done to strike fear, and they are not targeted at civilians — these are two indisputable requisites for terrorism. They are carried out specifically to damage the corrupt Nigerian central government that siphons the resources of the Niger Delta region and recklessly despoils its delicate ecosystem. And also to make it less profitable for foreign oil companies to make their ill-gotten profits as well — in this case, shock of shocks, Royal Dutch Shell.
The Niger Delta is home to several insurgent groups, rebels who demand they benefit from the loot that flows to elites in the capital and profiteers in Amsterdam.
Similar to American terror cases, judges refuse to allow Ofehe to see evidence against him. This stretching of the definition of terror makes it ever easier for the government to shut down inconvenient dissent.
News Flash: Those in charge are looking out for their own interests, whether in the Netherlands, Nebraska, or the nether regions of Nigeria. They just have different ways of managing the plebes.
csmallo
September 6th, 2011 at 10:07 am
Attacking an oil pipeline is pretty much an act of terrorism. Unless you wouldn't fear thousands of gallons of flaming oil? You sound like one of the idiot greenies who claims that burning down ski lodges and torching SUV dealerships aren't acts of terrorism.
RickR30
September 6th, 2011 at 4:49 pm
That's disappointing on the part of the Dutch "justice" system but not entirely unexpected as the neoconcolonization of the West continues. How did this guy end up being charged in a Dutch court anyway? Are areas surrounding a Shell pipeline considered Dutch territory now?
Avi of Mondoweiss
September 7th, 2011 at 5:57 am
Does attacking power stations, dams and sewage systems constitute "terrorism" in your view?
If so, then both the US and Israel are guilty of committing acts of Terrorism.
the liberty, weekly › Dutch Government Stretches Definition of Terror
September 7th, 2011 at 6:52 am
[...] prosecuting a man for terrorism because he bombed an oil pipeline. He didn’t intend to hurt people, only profits. What this man did was wrong, of course. But [...]
Jeremy Sapienza
September 7th, 2011 at 9:06 pm
No. As I stated, and this is not up for interpretation, terrorism aims to strike fear and targets civilians. Bombing a pipeline owned by the government and its crony collaborators in order to deter them stealing what is rightly more locally owned oil may be sabotage, it may be a property crime, but it is not terrorism.
Antiwar.com’s Week in Review | September 9, 2011 « Antiwar.com Blog
September 9th, 2011 at 3:58 pm
[...] another media attempt to tie Iran to al-Qaeda. Jeremy Sapienza explained how the war on terror is not a uniquely American response and how much worse the battered country of Iraq is as a result of the U.S. war. Matt Barganier [...]
Lear K
September 10th, 2011 at 6:14 pm
Nowdays even thinking is considered an act of terrorism.
Treaty
September 12th, 2011 at 12:45 pm
We here that Mr. Sunny Ofehe is a fierce critic of Shell in The Netherlands and we know the Dutch own Shell with its HQ in The Hague. This tells you that the Dutch government is protecting their own interest whether in Nigeria, it doesn't matter. Politics of money and power.