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Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Things that go bump in the night


PM: activists 'trained to use napalm'
The activists rounded up in police anti-terror raids had been training to use napalm, Prime Minister Helen Clark confirmed yesterday. Her comment was the first official admission of previously unconfirmed reports about napalm being used at activists' training camps in the Ureweras. Clark's comment yesterday – that those arrested "at the very least" had been training with firearms and napalm – was also unusual, in that she was discussing cases currently before the courts. Police yesterday announced they had sought permission from Solicitor-General David Collins to lay terrorism-related charges against activists arrested in dawn raids two weeks ago. Clark refused to be drawn on whether those arrested were involved in terrorism. She dismissed allegations by the Maori Party that the Government was conspiring with police to target Maori sovereignty activists, saying such a move would be illegal. But she said she had been briefed by police and it was plain those arrested had been training with napalm – something police have not officially confirmed. Following the police announcement of putting the case forwards for Terrorism charges, the Maori Party reined in its strong criticism made at its annual conference over the weekend, saying it would reserve comment until all the evidence was revealed.

In the information vacuum caused by these arrests, many in the activist community automatically assumed (as I did) that this was a gross abuse of power by the Police and the ‘coincidence’ that the new Terror powers were being heard in Parliament was simply too much to believe. I know some of the Urewera 17, (hell one of them works at my station as a cameraman) I respect many of them and share their passion for social justice through activism, and I believe most will be found to have simply been caught up in something they neither supported nor endorsed, but something went wrong up in those spooky mountains, not so much terrorism (we are too laid back in NZ for that) but errorism, a corruption of thinking, a corruption of reason.

I’ve spoken to a lot of people who have seen what the Police have in terms of allegations and everything I hear back suggests it is serious, the manner in which blind support has been whipped up for the Urewera 17 I believe may end up being extremely detrimental to the activist community when the evidence is released, this plays into the hands of right wing reactionaries like Winston Peters, like Michael Laws, like Leighton Smith who will flay the activist community and those who rushed in to support people before they heard what the evidence was. For me, this is a matter of principle, you pick up a gun with a political aim in mind, even to fucking ‘train’ with it, and you are no longer part of a social justice movement, there is no justification for political violence against people in a country with one of the most representative forms of democracy on the planet, yes there is social injustice, yes there is righteous grievance (especially for Tuhoe who never signed the treaty and had over 181 000ha confiscated in 1866), but this fight for social justice is fought with ideas and words, you touch a gun and you should be as marginalized and mocked as much as The National Front are.

I hope that I have gotten the wrong end of the stick on this and that events aren’t about to unfold in the manner I think they are, my position has cost me friends in the activist community who have branded me a traitor, I have been hassled on the street, had viscous emails sent and someone created a carbon copy of my blog profile and has posted awful racist and homophobic comments throughout the NZ blogosphere which has resulted in a lot of angry people believing I’ve posted that shit, and there have been posts here that if I stop talking about this issue the ‘disinfo bomber’ will go away. None of this moves me one iota, and makes me wonder if these people even knew me, I won’t endorse political violence against people for anyone, not left, not right, not center, I am not pro-police (anyone who has read this site would scoff at the mere suggestion that I am) and I believe the idea of giving the Prime Minister sole discretion to decide who is and who isn’t a terrorist under the Terrorism Suppression Act is an absolute disgrace. I agree with symbolic acts against property (stealing battery hens, scratching SUVs, throwing axes through Prime Minsters windows when they confiscate land through legislation) and if you get caught you man up and take the consequences of over stepping the legal line, but the second you plot violence for political means against people, the moment you pick up a gun to train, what are you saying? That you, and you alone know the ‘truth’ and will kill your fellow NZers for that ‘truth’? Sorry baby, that just ain’t my bag. Don’t get me wrong, if the Police start shooting us in the streets, they start torturing us in the cells, they start implementing martial law and suspend elections, I’m with you shoulder to shoulder in armed resistance, but that isn’t happening here, we are so far from it, attempting any defense of armed resistance is almost ludicrous. Nelson Mandela said the oppressor dictates the nature of the struggle, in NZ the ‘oppressor’ uses 3 yearly elections, pepper spray and the odd taser gun, I can’t see how grenade launchers and napalm have any place in that equation.

So what if it is a huge beat up, a disgraceful use of police powers to justify arrogant boasts made after a late night session amongst a bunch of wannabe soldiers who felt a certain vanity and power by making such boasts? What if it is a bullshit over reaction by the cops? Well if that is the case, I’ll be the first to demand resignations from the cops and will personally apologise to every single member of the Urewera 17 for ever backing the Police and I will protest every day at Court over such an obscene abuse of Police power, and I believe it would be the destruction of any credibility the Police force will ever have with NZers. But until that moment, I think we should all wait to see what the Police have before we damn them as fascist bully boy thugs because sometimes, just sometimes, the Police are the people who protect us from the things that go bump in the night.

21 Comments:

At 30/10/07 7:31 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Respect.

 
At 30/10/07 9:50 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Bomber I can see your hurting, but you keep talking about grenade launchers, napalm, & terrorist polts as if they're true.
They're wild allegations in as you so rightly put a news vacum.
I know those who believe the cops do shoot "us" in the street. None are taking up arms, but are weary.
Problem is you've now become the number one spokesman for TSA. Is that where you want to be?

 
At 30/10/07 9:53 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

anyone know what the TSA is?

 
At 30/10/07 10:51 pm, Blogger Mana said...

Transylvania's sausage Assn?

 
At 30/10/07 10:58 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Helen says napalm, I don't like the evil wench, but I deeply doubt a woman who covers her arse as well as she does would go out on a limb without knowing that, and wasn't lockett the one trying to buy a grenade launcher? Perhaps he could afford it with the $500 000 he won off underworld kingpin Mark Lyons?

I don't agree with a hell of a lot of your posts bomber, but you've won a lot of respect with your stance on this

 
At 30/10/07 11:08 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

TSA Terrorisim Suppression Act

Michael

 
At 30/10/07 11:21 pm, Blogger Barnsley Bill said...

How many more times is clarke going to shoot her mouth of inappropriately.
from slandering a man as a murderer, through raping air nz shareholders and continually commenting on stuff before the courts (and lets not forget the weekly leaks to the SST which saw the police commissioner forced out in the court of public opinion based on shocking lies spread by her). What a fucking mickey mouse country we have become when our leading citizen is a heinous big mouth with absolutely no checks and balances. Welcome to hell everybody.

 
At 30/10/07 11:29 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

...I believe it would be the destruction of any credibility the Police force will ever have with NZers...

- or the destruction of your credibility, of course Bomber.

 
At 30/10/07 11:58 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Not bad Bomber, not accurate, but not bad; still its a bit deeper, the police have missed it.

They will have to create the story to make the terrorism charges stick..

Hated By Most

 
At 31/10/07 6:15 am, Blogger Bomber said...

...
Problem is you've now become the number one spokesman for TSA. Is that where you want to be?
Anon, I was blogging about my opposition to giving the Prime Minister these powers well before anyone else was talking about it.

- or the destruction of your credibility, of course Bomber.
That would be a very small cost to me Anon if we could prove the cops are lying

Hated - bro I've watched what you've had to post on issues of the underworld, and I would guess you are no virgin to that world, what is your view of Jamie Lockett?

 
At 31/10/07 11:40 am, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Well school in terms of NZ law and loves his game with the police and govt confrontations, I have met the man a couple of times, yet him and Iti share the same problem; there mouths are to big.

I don't know the man well enough to comment totally about his character, yet I admire his persistants in regards to the police. But I still don't trust him, that said I don't really trust many people, so that more about me than him.

Hated By Most

I'll share this much bomber, none of this was done in a corner, there were tv shows about ex army standing for Maori, don't you remember them? starting and army doesn't make them terrorist, having guns don't make them terrorist; the police have the wrong people for the accusations but because of the hype they now need to make these charges stick, it will look bad if they don't.

 
At 31/10/07 1:31 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

So what does make a terrorist hated? Please enlighten us.

 
At 31/10/07 3:06 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

shit more entrapment anon, then you will take what I say add shit to it and then claim I said, have you heard of breaking the cycle?

as the act says;
(5) To avoid doubt, the fact that a person engages in any protest, advocacy, or dissent, or engages in any strike, lockout, or other industrial action, is not, by itself, a sufficient basis for inferring that the person—
(a) is carrying out an act for a purpose, or with an intention, specified in subsection (2); or
(b) intends to cause an outcome specified in subsection (3)

If any of them have done this how can they be class as a terrorist now? but heres a question: If a bunch of RAM players go running through native bush playing war games, does that make them a terrorist? because reality you couldn't tell the difference if you stumbled across them.

look heres weapons you can buy in NZ today. can you tell me if there real or fake:
http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/2207/1232082nt6.jpg
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/8113/akta7.jpg
http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/564/ak4ib1.jpg

Hated By Most

 
At 31/10/07 3:56 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

what I want to know is how you "train to use napalm" ????????

I'm thinking the gaining of a piolet licence and a bit of practice bombing runs must be needed .................

and guerrillatzzi's has two rr'zs

 
At 31/10/07 4:27 pm, Blogger Mana said...

must be a point system on distance lol

 
At 31/10/07 8:42 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

As per TSA
Agreed on your past position on TSA Bomber but it's your current statements that are out of line with that position - accepting allegations as fact.
Cynics have said it's a ratings thing "How Bomber turned Terrorism to his own cause of self promotion"

Hated
That guy from the Army didn't last a year - a nut-bar who couldn't hold a job in the Army is no terrorist threat - mentally criminal - maybe but not a terrorist threat

Cheers Michael

 
At 31/10/07 9:10 pm, Blogger Bomber said...

...
As per TSA
Agreed on your past position on TSA Bomber but it's your current statements that are out of line with that position - accepting allegations as fact.

With all due respect, I have spoken to enough people to get that there are serious allegations and I fear that middle nz will not see the Police action as an over reaction at all when they see pictures of people running around in balaclavas and ak47s.

Cynics have said it's a ratings thing "How Bomber turned Terrorism to his own cause of self promotion"
Christ I love how scathing those cynics can be about me, but none of the Urewera 17, that’s convenient – and pray explain what ratings am I getting out of this? Are you seriously suggesting that I’d want this level of abuse and shit I’ve received for effectively pointing out that none in our movement should be fucking around with guns so that it can play right into the hands of right wing reactionary fuckwits who will use this to rip our movements credibility to shreds when the full allegations come out, pray explain what fucking self promotion have I wanted from this? The Herald approached me last week, not the other way around. This is a blog, I speak my mind, I had no idea we were shutting down debate on the left, please inform me of the official line so that I can mouth it along with everyone else.

 
At 31/10/07 9:30 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hated
That guy from the Army didn't last a year - a nut-bar who couldn't hold a job in the Army is no terrorist threat - mentally criminal - maybe but not a terrorist threat
Cheers Michael


Seem like he was doing pretty well last time I saw him a week ago, him and a couple of other ex legion looked pretty well, but I guess a lot happens in a week, what you know Micheal?

The govt goes on about security, yet do you realise the amount of gear that you can get your hands on, shit like thermal imaging cams, night vision, fiber optic cams lol its endless, stamped with the govts seal of approval lol its nuts..


Hated by Most

 
At 1/11/07 5:54 am, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Bomber - It's a bit of a feed-back loop when the critisim of using allegations as fact then becomes shutting down debate.

Hated - So the nut bar didn't make a year in NZDF but did his 5yrs in the French/Spain Legion?

As for all the toys - they may help (as a balaclava does) but in themselves I don't see the harm. I've played with them all except fiber optic cams.
First you gotta be that nutbar and the simplist plans are always the best anyway.

Michael

 
At 1/11/07 8:12 am, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Well then I am not sure if we are talking about the same guy then, at first you kinda had me, but now you have clarified the 1 year thing, I have doubt if its the same guy; I know he did much longer than a year in the NZAF, 2 of the ex legion I met I had know before, back in the old day and probably still now, most people on the run from the law would sign up with the French foreign legion, to escape jail; process was simple, apply at the French consult office in Wellington paper takes 2 weeks tops, approval from France, then get your ass to the embassy in Wellington before the cops catch you, construct in the legion is 7 seven in which they promise you will see active duty.

I don't about the nutbar stuff its either that or dead serious... as these toys are not cheap.

Hated By Most

 
At 1/11/07 4:17 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Must be at cross purposes. The guy I was talking about had 20/20 or 60mins on his trail a few years back & it looked a little sad (& no mention of FFL)
To do 2yrs FFL is odd - on the run from France now or discharged on psyc/medical grounds?
I heard 2nd hand they gone a bit PC for a while & rocks in the mouth for speaking English etc had officially gone out.

 

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