## Book Review:

# War at Home

## December 23, 2000

This small paperback is perfect for carrying with you whenever you face anyone who may not want to believe that the U.S. government will commit crimes against U.S. citizens. This inexpensive book will force a questioner to either declare the information wrong (and the many good references given) or accept that crimes against citizens happen to U.S. citizens.

Original COINTELPRO documents site

I strongly recommend this is one you will want to keep handy for both your writing and speaking.

    WAR AT HOME: COVERT ACTION AGAINST U.S. ACTIVISTS
    AND WHAT WE CAN DO ABOUT IT
    Copyright 1989, Brian Glick
    Paperback, 92 pages, $5.00 US
    ISBN 0-89608-349-7
    http://www.amazon.com
    http://www.bn.com (Barnes and Noble)

    Since this book is a fairly straightforward "debating tool" for our
    war effort, I'm not going to give you a whole lot of my gab.  Rather,
    I'm going to extract here some highlights, so you can make up your
    mind if it's worth $5.00:

    Let me start by giving three of the review blurbs on the back cover:

        The breadth and scope of the massive FBI investigation of
        CISPES indicates that the Bureau was engaged in an illegal
        campaign to stifle dissent, that its violation of Consti-
        tutional rights of citizens who oppose unpopular U.S. wars
        continues.  War at Home is a timely and important book
        which every activist working for peace and justice at home
        and abroad must read.
        --Angela Sanbrano, Committee in Solidarity with the People
          of El Salvador (CISPES)

        Brian Glick has given us not only a brilliant and chilling
        account of the government's dirty war against its own
        people, but has provided a complete battle plant to combat
        it.
        --Haywood Burns, National Lawyers Guild and
          National Conference of Black Lawyers

        War at Home describes activities that can only be
        described as GOVERNMENT-SPONSORED TERRORISM aginst those
        of its own citizens who are so brash as to engage in a
        serious struggle for justice, democracy, and peace.  It
        shows that every disgraceful tactic that our government
        uses in its "covert" activities abroad it ALSO uses in its
        little understood covert "war at home."
        --David Dellinger, peace activist

    Next, let me share the first paragraph in the book's Introduction. Note
    the names of the groups targetted:

        In January 1988 the people of the United States learned
        of a secret nationwide FBI campaign against the domestic
        opponents of U.S. policy in Central America.  Government
        documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act
        show that from 1981 through at least 1985, the FBI infil-
        trated the Committee in Solidarity With the People of El
        Salvador (CISPES) and disrupted its work all across the
        country.  The investigation eventually reached into nearly
        every sector of the anti-intervention movement, from the
        Maryknoll Sisters, the Southern Christian Leadership
        Conference, and the New Jewish Agenda to the United
        Auto Workers, the United Steel Workers, U.S. Senator
        Christopher Dodd, and U.S. Representatives Pat Schroeder
        and Jim Wright.

    Next, the table of contents:

    Introduction .........................................   1

                   A HISTORY TO LEARN FROM

    COINTELPRO: Covert action against domestic dissidents    7
     of the 1960s
        How we learned about COINTELPRO ..................   7
        How COINTELPRO worked ............................   9
        COINTELPRO's main targets ........................  10
        How COINTELPRO helped destroy the movements ......  13
         of the 1960s

                     THE DANGER WE FACE

    Domestic covert action remains a serious threat today   19
        Domestic covert action did not end in the 1970s ..  20
        Domestic covert action has peristed through ......  29
         the 1980s
        Domestic covert action has become a permanent ....  33
         feature of the U.S. Government

                   PROSPECTS FOR THE FUTURE

    What we can do about domestic covert action ..........  39
        Learning the methods of COINTELPRO and ...........  39
         how to protect ourselves against them
            1.  Infiltration by agents and informers .....  41
            2.  Psychological warfare from the outside ...  45
            3.  Harassment through the legal system ......  53
            4.  Extralegal force and violence ............  59
        Exposing domestic covert action as undemocratic ..  65
         and a form of terrorism

    COINTELPRO documents .................................  74
    Notes ................................................  82
    Further Reading ......................................  91
    About the Author .....................................  91

        Brian Glick is a lawyer who was active in SDS and the
        civil rights and antiwar movements of the 1960s, and
        who continues to work in the social justice and anti-
        intervention movements.  Co-author of The Bust Book:
        What to Do Until the Lawyer Comes and The Jailhouse
        Lawyer's Manual, he has served as legal counsel for
        Geronimo Pratt, the Republik of New Afrika, the New
        York 3, and other targets of political repression.  He
        currently represents community groups in New York City.

    Resource Organizations ...............................  92

        [EW NOTE:  THESE PROMISING HEADINGS DON'T
        SEEM, TO ME ANYWAY, TO LIST ORGANIZATIONS
        WHICH WOULD HAVE MUCH INTEREST IN MC. Of
        course, I haven't tried them either.]

        For educational materials and campaigns

        For legal advice and assistance

        For help with research and investigation

    Sample excerpt.

    Your choice!

    Eleanor

    ======== COMMENTS FROM OTHERS ===========================

    From:             James Graf
    To:               Eleanor White
    Subject:          Re: Book review:  "War at Home"
    Date sent:        Fri, 24 Nov 2000 20:08:05 -0500

    Dear Eleanor:

    _War At Home_ is a very handy little book. This almost-unknown chapter of
    American history set the stage for much of the horror going on today.

    Along with _War At Home_, "Here's How It All Came About" on my web site at
    http://www.angelfire.com/nj/jhgraf/hereshow.html mentions _Break-Ins, Death
    Threats, and the FBI_ by retired Pulitzer-Prize-winning reporter Ross
    Gelbspan. Mr. Gelbspan's work, which I consider the single most important
    book of the second half of the twentieth century, convincingly documents the
    campaign of state-terrorism waged against peaceful people protesting the
    death squads of El Salvador and Guatemala and the atrocities perpetrated by
    the illegally-funded Nicaraguan Contras. This is when -- this is how -- the
    US Government decided that its people had no rights that it was bound to
    respect. This, above all, is when "national security" destroyed human rights
    and silly rationalization defeated conscience and common sense.

    In 1992, Gary Null did an interview of Ross Gelbspan on WBAI-FM in New York.
    Its text is available on the web at
    http://www.etext.org/Politics/Conspiracy/DiNardo/FBI.Terrorize.Citizens/

    James Henry Graf

    Date sent:        Sat, 25 Nov 2000 20:10:59 +0800
    To:               Eleanor White
    From:             Betty Daly-King
    Subject:          Re: Book review:  "War at Home"

    Dear Eleanor,

    Put Brian Glick's book together with William Blum KILLING HOPE that
    documents 'war on allied countries and other'  and you have why humane
    citizens of USA move to Canada - such as yourself and the Geri and Alfred
    Webre, and why Harlan Girard wants to *retire* out of USA!  I suggested he
    headed our way and, with current rate of exchange, doubles his money right
    now!!  We are being sold cheap on Wall St. - that'll teach us for getting
    uppity about East Timor (when USA wanted the status quo) and for protesting
    WTO decisions!  I'm sure there would be more!

    Betty

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