Tin Pot Trump., page-82

Over the last two decades, BORTAC has operated extensively overseas, assisting in US crimes all over the world. Its rap sheet includes involvement in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, missions in Colombia, Panama, Estonia, Haiti, Peru, Belize, Mexico, Costa Rica, Kenya, Ukraine, Kosovo, Argentina, Honduras, Ecuador, Bolivia, Moldova, Ethiopia, Armenia, Tajikistan and Guatemala. During the “war on terror,” BORTAC agents were deployed to Jordan, Iraq and Afghanistan. They have also been involved in countless “counter-narcotics” operations in South America, most notably in El Salvador and Bolivia.

The deployment of BORTAC in Portland marks a major escalation of the assault on democratic rights and the turn toward dictatorship in the US. The police state scaffolding built up over two decades, ostensibly for use against terrorists, has been turned first against immigrants and now against the working class more broadly.