This should have been expected since the morning the Twin Towers fell, a reflexive reaction by an agency molded from its beginnings as a political police force. However, the sheer size of the net being cast - to include blond, Catholic, Wisconsin schoolgirls attempting to board a flight to Washington to lobby their congressman against the U.S. war in Columbia - indicates that the "usual suspects," the historical targets of repression, will have unaccustomed, white middle class company.

The Bush regime, it is becoming apparent, is as serious about smashing domestic opposition to its agenda as it is about Saddam Hussein. As Bush told Bob Woodward, "I will seize the opportunity to achieve big goals."

Islam is the FBI's open portal to the African American community at large. The Nation of Islam has a long history of relationships with Middle Eastern and Arab nations, and non-NOI African American Muslims often worship with foreign co-religionists. FBI mumbo-jumbo can fill in the rest of the justifications for the most intensive, general surveillance of Black American Muslims and their associates. Since these Muslims are indigenous, comprising probably 5 percent of African American citizens, their relatives and "associates" include virtually the entire Black population.