Propaganda by the deed in NYC
Mar 6 2008 12:38
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSWEN436220080306
Quote:
Small explosion hits New York's Times Square
Thu Mar 6, 2008 7:06am ESTNEW YORK (Reuters) - A small explosion caused minor damage to a U.S. military recruiting center in New York's Times Square area in the early hours of Thursday but there were no injuries, police said.
Well, somebody must have read a bit too much early Kropotkin and "Catechism of a Revolutionary". The Anarchist and Communist milleau in the US is not strong enough yet to sustain an attack by the Capitalist state.
I'm wondering if this a Reichstaag type of set up, or if this was a genuine example of Propaganda by the deed. It's going to be an interesting day today.
Mar 7 2008 09:44
#2
wangwei wrote:
Well, somebody must have read a bit too much early Kropotkin and "Catechism of a Revolutionary".
More likely, someone's read too much Bonanno...
Mar 7 2008 13:39
#3
The authorities are linking the blast with two similar explosive attacks - against the British Consulate in 2005 and the Mexican Consulate in 2007. The attack against the Mexican Consulate was done in solidarity with the Oaxaca insurrection and in revenge for the murder of Brad Will.
I'd say the current FBI 'Operation Backfire' counts as an "attack by the Capitalist state" which has hit hard, yet the ELF fires are still raging..
Mar 7 2008 14:05
#4
Blowing shit up is pretty pointless without a mass movement to back it up. At best, they've cost the US state a bit of money, at worst they've exposed themselves and anyone associated with them to unnecessary danger, put the lives of other working class people at risk and sent a fucking confession with a photograph to a bunch of politicians.
breakout wrote:
I'd say the current FBI 'Operation Backfire' counts as an "attack by the Capitalist state" which has hit hard, yet the ELF fires are still raging..
To be fair, he said "anarchist and communist", not pseudo-anarchist, borderline fascist, primmo dickheads.
Mar 7 2008 14:12
#5
Troops are on their way home now.
Mar 7 2008 18:12
#6
madas, the media is saying the letter/photograph was totally unrelated and coincidental.
Mar 7 2008 19:20
#7
Well i dont think our milieu will ever be "strong enough to withstand an attack by the us state". I think anyone who thinks in such terms has their head on backwards.
Mar 7 2008 19:34
#8
MJ wrote:
madas, the media is saying the letter/photograph was totally unrelated and coincidental.
I know, but I find that somewhat hard to believe.
Mar 7 2008 19:57
#9
madashell wrote:
MJ wrote:
madas, the media is saying the letter/photograph was totally unrelated and coincidental.I know, but I find that somewhat hard to believe.
Why? The letter and pix were sent by democrats, theyre hardly going to blow up anything.
breakout wrote:
yet the ELF fires are still raging..
SHAKE IN YOUR BOOTS CAPITALISTS! THE ELF'S BURNING FIRE OF INJUSTICE RAGES ON! AGAINST THE CORPSE MACHINE! AGAINST CIVILIZATION! FUCK YOU I WONT DO WHAT YOU TELL ME!
Mar 7 2008 20:10
#10
Quote:
I'm wondering if this a Reichstaag type of set up, or if this was a genuine example of Propaganda by the deed.
I think we had a thread a while back where we established that despite what we were all taught in history lessons the reichstag fire was most likely actually a genuine attack by a genuine council communist.
Mar 7 2008 20:20
#11
guydebordisdead wrote:
Why? The letter and pix were sent by democrats, theyre hardly going to blow up anything.
Does it say that they were definately sent by democrats, or that somebody thinks that? I can't see the original article anymore and I don't remember the wording.
Quote:
SHAKE IN YOUR BOOTS CAPITALISTS! THE ELF'S BURNING FIRE OF INJUSTICE RAGES ON! AGAINST THE CORPSE MACHINE! AGAINST CIVILIZATION! FUCK YOU I WONT DO WHAT YOU TELL ME!
Mar 7 2008 20:33
#12
madashell wrote:
I know, but I find that somewhat hard to believe.
are you using the same internet as the rest of us? 
cnn, as of couple hours ago:
Quote:
Investigators trying to track down the person who set off a small bomb in front of a military recruitment center in Times Square have dismissed one lead and are casting doubt on another.The person who sent letters to members of Congress that included a photo of the recruitment station "is not the bomber" who attacked the building Thursday, law enforcement sources say.
"The letter's really innocuous," New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly told CNN's "American Morning" Friday. "It's really advice to the Democratic Party as to how to win the 2008 election."
The letters drew suspicion because they were delivered to members of Congress the day of the bombing and included a picture of the recruitment station with the words, "We did it."
Kelly said the letter writer claims the picture was the writer's 2006 holiday card and the words "We did it" referred to the Democrats' takeover of Congress in that year's elections.
Because the letters -- full of anti-war rhetoric and sent only to Democrats -- passed through the usual congressional security screening process, they must have been mailed at least several days before the bombing, The Associated Press reported.
"There's nothing particularly threatening in the document," Kelly said.
"It's an ugly coincidence," a law enforcement source who requested anonymity said.
Meanwhile they found a bike
Mar 7 2008 20:55
#13
Fair does, don't remember anything about the content in the other link. That's quite a mad coincidence.
Either way, setting fire to recruitment centres is fucking stupid in the absence of a mass anti-war movement.
Mar 8 2008 09:51
#14
Meh, bit silly, but seems like no-one's getting caught, so who knows what the motivation was - could have been a disgruntled soldier, and it's unlikely to be anarchists. I mean it's not like the average insurgent type would be able to resist crowing about it for a start...
Mar 9 2008 12:47
#15
Saii wrote:
Meh, bit silly, but seems like no-one's getting caught, so who knows what the motivation was - could have been a disgruntled soldier, and it's unlikely to be anarchists. I mean it's not like the average insurgent type would be able to resist crowing about it for a start...
There is plenty of crowing going on though. Check indymedia new york.
Mar 9 2008 14:08
#16
They're crowing about it happening, no-one's taking responsibility or saying why they did it - which would be kind of the whole point of propaganda by the deed no?
Mar 9 2008 14:21
#17
wangwei wrote:
I'm wondering if this a Reichstaag type of set up
wangwei, please stop your hysterical analogies to everything.
ALso, the reichstag was burned down by a council communist, not the nazis:
http://libcom.org/history/lubbe-marinus-van-der-1911-1934
Mar 9 2008 15:31
#18
I don't know about the English media, but over here every story I hear about this, a "New York anarchist group" is getting blamed. It is also interesting the gov't and the media keep referring to the bomb as an "improvised explosive device" (IED), which is the exact same language used to refer to bombings in Iraq.
Mar 9 2008 15:53
#19
ncwob i think that just means it didn't have advanced explosives like a dyamite or plastic explosive base... Its a bit of a faddish term yeah. The point is probably to associate the bombers with iraqi insurgents as much as to point out they do not have access to professional explosives.
Mar 9 2008 16:59
#20
not just any New york anarchist group, but
Quote:
chaos-crazed anarchy groups
Mar 9 2008 19:18
#21
That'll be them mad 'atters at WSA then...
EDIT: Tomorrow's headlines: CHAOS-CRAZED ANARCHY GROUP IN ROW OVER ANARCHIST SPACE IN MANHATTAN.
Mar 10 2008 08:50
#22
Quote:
no-one's taking responsibility or saying why they did it - which would be kind of the whole point of propaganda by the deed no?
Doesnt the action in itself send a pretty clear message about why they did it, no? And why would anybody claim responsibility and thereby put themselves at risk at getting arrested? there is no glory in martyrdom and its better to stay free and be able to fight another day, no?
Mar 10 2008 12:36
#23
MD wrote:
Quote:
no-one's taking responsibility or saying why they did it - which would be kind of the whole point of propaganda by the deed no?Doesnt the action in itself send a pretty clear message about why they did it, no? And why would anybody claim responsibility and thereby put themselves at risk at getting arrested? there is no glory in martyrdom and its better to stay free and be able to fight another day, no?
thats what i was thinking. If you smash up a recruitment station its pretty clear its an anti war action. Likewise a brick through starbucks windows is not going to be coming from somebody who thinks £3.20 is too much for their latte.
Mar 10 2008 13:26
#24
Smashing up a recruitment station is anti-war but not necessarily for any reasons we'd consider political. It might be someone connected to someone killed or wounded or it might be byu a reservist pissed off at getting called up again. Youmight smash a starbucks becaue you hate capitalism, you might also do it because they drove the shop you worked at out of business, or because you do find the idea of paying £3.20 for a coffee offensive. People are much more likely to do things based on personal reasons.
Mar 10 2008 13:32
#25
So what? The personal is political.
Mar 10 2008 14:59
#26
Quote:
Doesnt the action in itself send a pretty clear message about why they did it, no?
No.
As I said earlier, it could be a pissed off soldier. It could also be someone pissed off that they were rejected for being too sickly for all we know, or someone who thinks the army isn’t Christian enough or disagrees with allowing blacks in the armed forces or dislikes the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell rule’. It could be an ex-pat Palestinian, Somali, Colombian etc angry at the US army continually enabling the killing of their family and friends.
Without a context, propaganda by the deed is meaningless.
Mar 10 2008 15:22
#27
Quote:
Without a context, propaganda by the deed is meaningless.
Worse still, messages aren’t useful in general, unless to reinforce what the consumer already believes.
Mar 10 2008 15:37
#28
This was a little more than propaganda by the deed since the windows broke. It was vandalism.
Mar 10 2008 19:34
#29
Propaganda doesn't convince many of "us". The promise of sex or maybe some harmless adventure would get us moving for sure. As for this incident in particular, it's not really a deed at all.
Mar 10 2008 20:38
#30
Well, i would say that the result of the action is the important thing, not "the message".
From what i've read, authorities are trying to link this to some other bombings, maybe near embassies? I can't remember at the moment.
Either way, it appears someone is ready to take credit for it: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Times-Square-Blast-Letters.html