Pentagon Spying on U.S. Citizens
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Ulrika Zugzwang
Magnanimous in Victory
Join date: 10 Jun 2004
Posts: 6,382
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12-16-2005 20:34
I've mentioned this in a couple of other threads, so I thought I would post it. This news was broken by NBC just two days ago. It's interesting to hear after the recent reports of the NSA spying on U.S. citizens without warrants (secretly authorized by Bush) and news of secret CIA interrogation camps in Eastern Europe. Authoritarianism is knocking at the U.S.'s front door. Is the Pentagon spying on Americans?
Secret database obtained by NBC News tracks ‘suspicious’ domestic groups
By Lisa Myers, Douglas Pasternak, Rich Gardella and the NBC Investigative Unit
Updated: 6:18 p.m. ET Dec. 14, 2005
Lisa Myers, Senior investigative correspondent
WASHINGTON - A year ago, at a Quaker Meeting House in Lake Worth, Fla., a small group of activists met to plan a protest of military recruiting at local high schools. What they didn't know was that their meeting had come to the attention of the U.S. military.
A secret 400-page Defense Department document obtained by NBC News lists the Lake Worth meeting as a “threat” and one of more than 1,500 “suspicious incidents” across the country over a recent 10-month period.
“This peaceful, educationally oriented group being a threat is incredible,” says Evy Grachow, a member of the Florida group called The Truth Project.
The Defense Department document is the first inside look at how the U.S. military has stepped up intelligence collection inside this country since 9/11, which now includes the monitoring of peaceful anti-war and counter-military recruitment groups. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10454316/~Ulrika~
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Chik-chik-chika-ahh
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Zuzu Fassbinder
Little Miss No Tomorrow
Join date: 17 Sep 2004
Posts: 2,048
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12-16-2005 21:04
The pentagon tried spying on me for a while, but the psycotherapy bills for the agents involved became too expensive and so they called it off.
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From: Bud I don't want no commies in my car. No Christians either.
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Susie Boffin
Certified Nutcase
Join date: 15 Sep 2004
Posts: 2,151
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12-16-2005 21:10
Tinfoil hats work for me. Try them.
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"If you see a man approaching you with the obvious intent of doing you good, you should run for your life." - Henry David Thoreau
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Zuzu Fassbinder
Little Miss No Tomorrow
Join date: 17 Sep 2004
Posts: 2,048
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12-16-2005 21:23
From: Susie Boffin Tinfoil hats work for me. Try them. Don't listen to her!! she's a mole, or perhaps a shrew or groundhog, for the pentagon. Her position regarding tinfoil hats is already known HERE. BE WARNED!! 
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From: Bud I don't want no commies in my car. No Christians either.
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Siro Mfume
XD
Join date: 5 Aug 2004
Posts: 747
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12-17-2005 02:40
Well we said as soon as the act was passed they'd do it and they did. Lets try to recall the various other things in that act they can now do (and very probably have done given the track record).
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Jeffrey Gomez
Cubed™
Join date: 11 Jun 2004
Posts: 3,522
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12-17-2005 03:05
"The fear of real or perceived outside threats has historically been the justification for the biggest assaults on civil liberties."Who said that original quote, anyway? I heard it here, but...
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Jumpda Shark
Registered User
Join date: 18 Dec 2004
Posts: 41
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12-17-2005 03:58
A protest that might interfere with military recruting IS a potential threat. A very small one though and properly determined to be a constitutionally protected right and therefore not a problem. The document shows the military doing its job identifying potential problems and providing an appropriate response. How the government responds is the important part, not the gathering of information itself. OMG the government knows where you live! Had the military or government acted against the protesters denying them of their rights then there is a problem. This sort of thing has been going on for decades although it is usually the FBI you hear about.
The question is how did NBC recieve these documents and why are they making this public, possbly compromising our country's ability to stop attacks on us? The media seems to do it's level best to hamper our ability to protect ourselves. Did the world need to know we had the technology to monitor cell phone calls anywhere in the world? Now terrorists are much less likely to use cell phones and the millions spent to do it are basically wasted. Or CNN serving as forward firecontol for Iraq in the first gulf war for that matter.. its like there is this collective lack of seeing the big picture with the press. Like Area 51, the press has made this multimillion dollar facility basically useless. Might as well close it and make it a tourist trap.
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Chip Midnight
ate my baby!
Join date: 1 May 2003
Posts: 10,231
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12-17-2005 05:01
From: Jumpda Shark A protest that might interfere with military recruting IS a potential threat. A very small one though and properly determined to be a constitutionally protected right and therefore not a problem. The document shows the military doing its job identifying potential problems and providing an appropriate response. How the government responds is the important part, not the gathering of information itself. Wrong. The gathering of information about US citizens through search or seizure without a warrant is a violation of constitutional rights and is illegal. That would include monitoring people's communications, library records, medical records, correspondance, and so on. It doesn't matter if there's a perceived threat to the military if they don't obtain a warrant. The Pentagon's database, and the many instances of federal and local agents infiltrating activist groups without warrants, are gross violations of both the first and fourth amendments of the constitution. Detaining US citizens without access to legal counsel and without formal charges is also a violation of the first amendment. Bush authorizing the NSA to monitor private communications of American citizens without a warrant, which he has authorized more than three dozen times, is another flagrant violation of the fourth amendment. The Bush administration is not above the law, and any American who would defend any of these actions is forgetting that the primary duty of the president and congress is to defend and uphold the constitution. "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." We can add lying under oath to his list of crimes. Bush needs to be held fully accountable for trampling on the constitution which he swore to defend.
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 My other hobby: www.live365.com/stations/chip_midnight
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Ulrika Zugzwang
Magnanimous in Victory
Join date: 10 Jun 2004
Posts: 6,382
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12-17-2005 12:04
From: Chip Midnight We can add lying under oath to his list of crimes. Bush needs to be held fully accountable for trampling on the constitution which he swore to defend. Excellent point in a very well written post.  ~Ulrika~
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Chik-chik-chika-ahh
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