Military Expands Domestic Surveillance

[ckramer]

The Pentagon has been using a little-known power to obtain banking and credit records of hundreds of Americans and others suspected of terrorism or espionage inside the United States, part of an aggressive expansion by the military into domestic intelligence gathering.

The C.I.A. has also been issuing what are known as national security letters to gain access to financial records from American companies, though it has done so only rarely, intelligence officials say.

Banks, credit card companies and other financial institutions receiving the letters usually have turned over documents voluntarily, allowing investigators to examine the financial assets and transactions of American military personnel and civilians, officials say.

The F.B.I., the lead agency on domestic counterterrorism and espionage, has issued thousands of national security letters since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, provoking criticism and court challenges from civil liberties advocates who see them as unjustified intrusions into Americans’ private lives.


http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/14/washington/14spy.html?hp&ex=1168750800&en=203bd3d1f0cd9644&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[atommom]

1. So the Pentagon and the CIA have been issuing "noncompulsory"

security letters. I'll bet they're able to intimidate most people into giving them whatever they want, whether the letters are officially compulsory or not.

[nosmokes]

2. This is an Outrage!

there's a damn good reason we don't allow the military to operate on home soil and spy on citizens. tthis is cheney's doing i'll be willing to betcha. can you say *police state* boys and girls? can you say *military coup d'etat*? i knew you could!

[sanskritwarrior]

3. Police state makes sense

how is it a coup?? A coup would require the military to overthrow the govt. That would be the Bush White house and Democratic Congress.......

[nosmokes]

4. it's all in the groundwork n/t

[sanskritwarrior]

5. How?

n/t

[nosmokes]

9. recall the infiltration of animal wlelfare activists for picketing honeybakedham

that was military intelligence. aside from the fact that it's illegal and unconstitutional for MI to operate on US soil against US citizens that's exactly what happened. some generals somewhere signed the orders to make that happen. it's not a big stretch from breaking the constitutional oath in that instance to deciding the civilian leadership doesn't know WTF it's doing( whether they're correct or not) and authorizing a MI operation to take someone in power who's standing in their way out. and that's the first step towards a coupd'etat. it doesn't hafta be done w/ bullets and tanks. lies and disinformation can be just as, if not more effective.

[lala_rawraw]

16. it is treason imho

where is autorank, when he sees this he will remember something very interesting. god, you guys, i wish i could tell you what happened to me... i really wish i could scream it. blah!

[midnight]

22. Hi lala it is nice to see a post from you . I guess we will have

to do some creative thinking until you can say some things. I think the last post I read was about your cousin. I hope all is going well.

[lala_rawraw]

32. her extradition hearing is in July

but she is out on bail (yes, on bail for no crime... cannot talk more about it until over... there are concerns of retaliation). will update you when I can:) thanks for asking

[Supersedeas]

41. When will the corp media whore accomplices get the memo

[Divine Discontent]

21. yep.. definitely darth cheney's doings..

we know shrubya doesn't have a frickin clue as to making policy... this is deceitful and I wonder if someone can find out if they've been spied upon and know they're not a terrorist and sue them for this right up to the supreme court...

bush is literally turning into a dictator very quickly... wake up congress... fast.



www.cafepress.com/warisprofitable <<-- antibush prodem stickers/shirts

[atommom]

6. It all fits in with the push to make the military in charge of intelligence. Scary stuff.

The expected confirmation of retired Navy Adm. Mike McConnell as director of national intelligence will complete the Pentagon's takeover of the intelligence community and end any pretense of civilian influence, let alone control, of the community. Flag officers are now in control of the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Counterterrorism Center as well as the key position of undersecretary of defense for intelligence.

The militarization of intelligence is a reversal of the kind of community that President Harry Truman began to create 60 years ago and will complicate efforts to rebuild the nation's strategic intelligence capabilities.

Over the past decade, the Department of Defense has gradually become the chief operating officer of the $45 billion intelligence industry. The Pentagon controls more than 80 percent of the intelligence budget as well as more than 85 percent of all intelligence personnel. Most collection requirements flow from the Pentagon, and the deference within the policy community and the congressional intelligence communities for the ''warfighter'' has meant that tactical military considerations have overwhelmed collection for strategic geopolitical considerations.

There are major risks in the military domination of the important field of satellite imagery, which is used to justify the defense budget, to gauge the likelihood of military conflict, and to verify and monitor arms control agreements. Gen. Colin Powell's memoir, An American Journey, details the military's willingness to suppress sensitive imagery intelligence. During Desert Storm in 1991, Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf said that a smart bomb had destroyed four Iraqi Scud missile launchers. Intelligence imagery demonstrated that it had actually destroyed four Jordanian fuel tanks. Schwarzkopf's intelligence officers would not tell him he was wrong, nor would Powell, who concluded that preserving Schwarzkopf's ''equanimity'' was more important than the truth.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/16441485.htm

[Contrite]

19. Notice the budget.

$45 billion. Want to guess who's collecting those fees? From Wiki: "There is growing concern among critics of recent trends in government intrusion into the personal lives of American citizens over the privatization of government intelligence activities. Booz Allen is among the central players in this area."

Booz Allen Hamilton has been a prime pusher of TIA (Total Information Awareness) and now oversees SWIFT (internation banking transactions) as well as NORAD-USNORTHCOM Advisory and Assistance Support (N2A2S) indefinite delivery indefinite quantity (ID/IQ) contract vehicle. Who heads Booz Allen Hamilton? Until recently, Mike McConnell. Still there are VP Dov Zakheim* (PNACer, former Pentagon comptroller under Reagan, who "lost" about $2.6 billion before he stepped down, a loss reported by Rummy the day before 9/11), VP James Woolsey (PNACer, former CIA director,and American Enterprise Institute resident scholar) and Dale Watson (former FBI director), along with other CIA and FBI "formers" including Miles Copeland Jr. (Iran-Contra CIA player). They also spearheaded the NRO (National Reconnaisance Office) satellite spy network, first launched just before 9/11.**

*Before becoming the Pentagon's money-manager, Zakheim was an executive at System Planning Corporation, a defense contractor specializing in electronic warfare technologies including remote-controlled aircraft systems.

**The NRO (National Reconnaissance Office) demonstrated its new satellite capabilities (NRO payload launched into space on September 8, 2001) and the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA - "the eyes of America") gained a new director one month prior to that fateful day. Considering all of this, one gets a pretty clear picture of where all those 'Star Wars' dollars went. James R. Clapper is the man named to head NIMA and he comes from Booz, Allen, & Hamilton.

[crickets]

31. Yikes, what a rogue's gallery nt

[Contrite]

34. What to know more?

http://www.onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_1047.shtml

This will open your eyes.

[Rose Siding]

7. Even if the info clears you, they hang on to it

snip>
But even when the initial suspicions are unproven, the documents have intelligence value, military officials say. In the next year, they plan to incorporate the records into a database at the Counterintelligence Field Activity office at the Pentagon to track possible threats against the military, Pentagon officials said. Like others interviewed, they would speak only on the condition of anonymity.

They say that "by their reading" it's all made legal by the "Patriot" Act. The rot in our govt runs very deep :(

[atommom]

8. I assume anti-war sentiment is a "threat to the military"?

That's going to be a massive database.

[Straight Shooter]

10. Not just data on an individual, I bet, but on all associates and family.

Our *cough cough* government believes strongly in the theory of guilt by association.

Wingnuts won't rise up in outrage until the next step is implemented, compulsory registration in a federal database of all firearms. The more tyrannical the government, the higher the level of paranoia.

It's like they're just begging for a confrontation.

edit incorrect word

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

30. Yep, it seems that way, does it not? When our local anchors were reporting this latest assault on

our Constitutionally protected liberties, they could barely stumble over the words on the TelePrompter. The words that were supposed to explain why the executive branch can access your bank accounts without a subpoena and it's not something about which to be outraged.

Wait till they're forced to announce the new limits imposed on the 2nd amendment.

Who knows, we liberals may end up in bed with the NRA...strange days make for strange bedfellows.

I guess those of us who aren't among the top 2% in wealth and power are all in this together, whether we like it or not. Us realists and pragmatists will be stuck defending this country alongside the armed paranoid and rapture ready (but not really) "warriors".

I hope we can find a thread of similarity somewhere.

MKJ

[Jcrowley]

11. Military Expands Intelligence Role in U.S.- NY Times

January 14, 2007
Military Expands Intelligence Role in U.S.
By ERIC LICHTBLAU and MARK MAZZETTI

WASHINGTON, Jan. 13 — The Pentagon has been using a little-known power to obtain banking and credit records of hundreds of Americans and others suspected of terrorism or espionage inside the United States, part of an aggressive expansion by the military into domestic intelligence gathering.

The C.I.A. has also been issuing what are known as national security letters to gain access to financial records from American companies, though it has done so only rarely, intelligence officials say.

Banks, credit card companies and other financial institutions receiving the letters usually have turned over documents voluntarily, allowing investigators to examine the financial assets and transactions of American military personnel and civilians, officials say.

The F.B.I., the lead agency on domestic counterterrorism and espionage, has issued thousands of national security letters since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, provoking criticism and court challenges from civil liberties advocates who see them as unjustified intrusions into Americans’ private lives.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/14/washington/14spy.html?ei=5065&en=d84fecd8f4b5e4cf&ex=1169355600&partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print

[Robson]

12. Does Congress Approve?

I don't have a huge problem with the new Homeland Security stuff as long as it is done with the full concurrence and knowledge of a Congress with the power of the political opposition. However when only lapdogs reside in the Capitol, I was beginning to have grave concerns. Congress must be privy to all details and stand behind the Constitutionality. I'd prefer an automatic 4 year sunset clause on every aspect.

[MadMaddie]

13. Just courious if they are looking at the Timothy McVeighs in the US

I highly doubt it...they are going after outspoken Americans who have no intention of committing crimes...

This is bullshit...

[54anickel]

14. And the updated army manual messes with wiretapping

Deletions in Army Manual Raise Wiretapping Concerns

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2688037




http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/14/washington/14spyside.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

WASHINGTON, Jan. 13 — Deep into an updated Army manual, the deletion of 10 words has left some national security experts wondering whether government lawyers are again asserting the executive branch’s right to wiretap Americans without a court warrant.

The manual, described by the Army as a “major revision” to intelligence-gathering guidelines, addresses policies and procedures for wiretapping Americans, among other issues.

The original guidelines, from 1984, said the Army could seek to wiretap people inside the United States on an emergency basis by going to the secret court set up by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, known as FISA, or by obtaining certification from the attorney general “issued under the authority of section 102(a) of the Act.”

That last phrase is missing from the latest manual, which says simply that the Army can seek emergency wiretapping authority pursuant to an order issued by the FISA court “or upon attorney general authorization.” It makes no mention of the attorney general doing so under FISA.

[mrmartinbong]

15. Interesting

So all of the security breaches at credit reporting agencies, gov't agencies, and the like are now starting to make sense. What better way to hide your compliance with the CIA?

[shance]

17. I hope everyone will take 15 -20 copies of this article and talk with your neighbors.

Its quite obvious it looks as though the Bush Administration is going to engage in more potential illegal activity in the name of "terrorism".

The best thing Americans can do now is to circle the wagons and build their neighborhood relationships.

And begin to get more aquainted with the Libertarian philosophy of things.

[NJCher]

18. Agreed on most of your points

But I don't see this as a libertarian thing. It's very simple: republicans gone amok.

If you know the psychological roots of republicans, it all has to do with authoritarianism. That is why I see it as an issue of too much power on their part and also too much of a particular kind of rabid republican.



Cher

[bleever]

20. Uncontrolled growth in nature

is most commonly known as "cancer", because it seeks to reproduce relentlessly, without regard to any circumstances external to itself.

[humbled_opinion]

23. This sucks because typicallly Conservatives would be hard up

against government intrusion in their private lives... Where is the outcry and bipartisan support to hem Bushit in on this crap?

[DemReadingDU]

24. morning kick

[SpiralHawk]

25. republicon fascist dictators ---

low low low

Why do they hate America?

Why do they hate democracy?

[montanto]

26. Makes good sense: send in the dictators, don't bother . . .

[classysassy]

35. they are already here.

[Canuckistanian]

27. So, have they found out who made all those airline "put" options before 9/11?

Remember those Put options on airlines, reinsurance companies and financial companies?

[JohnyCanuck]

28. As per the 911 Commission, they have.....

They assure us it's an "institutional investor" with no conceivable ties to Al Quaida or Islamic terrorists (doesn't mention if it might have any ties to a certain intelligence agency which is known to be in tight with the Wall Street crowd) so there's no need for us peons to give it another thought or for there to be any further investigation into the matter.

From Project Censored:

The New York Times, on September 28, 2001, reported that the “short positions and volume of put options rose sharply across the travel industry— which has been cited repeatedly in news reports as possible evidence of illegal trading.” The London Telegraph quoted Ernst Weltek, president of Bundesbank, on September 23, 2001 as saying that “there are ever clearer signs that there were activities on international financial markets that must have been carried out with the necessary expert knowledge.”10 Dylan Ratigan of Bloomberg Business News said that “this could very well be insider trading at the worst, more horrific, most evil use you’ve ever seen in your entire life. This would be one of the most extraordinary coincidences in the history of mankind if it was a coincidence.”11 CBSNews.com quoted McLucas, former Securities and Exchange Commission Enforcement Director, as saying that “the options trading in particular suggests to me that somebody, somewhere, may have had an inkling that something bad was going to happen to certainly those airlines stocks.”12

The 9/11 Commission report scantly covers the stock options issue. On page 499, footnote #130, the 9/11 Commission reports that, "some unusual trading did in fact occur, but such trade proved to have an innocuous explanation….A single U.S. based institutional investor with no conceivable ties to al Qaeda purchased 95% of the UAL puts on September 6 as part of a trading strategy that also included buying 115,000 shares of American on September 10." This explanation only addresses the UAL and American put-options, ignores trades in other companies, and fails to identify the purchaser, thereby leaving even more unanswered questions.

This issue cannot be discounted, overlooked, or debunked as a conspiracy theory. The questions remain: who put in the calls for these options, and are the calls tied to Krongard, the CIA, the alleged terrorists, or others?

http://www.projectcensored.org/newsflash/unanswered_questions_911.html

I am sure the spooks will look into this important matter as soon as they are done infiltrating those nefarious, subversive groups promoting veganism and animal rights.

[curiousdemo]

29. Just Continue BS..

from these constitution obstructionist assholes.

[PegDAC]

33. My lousy credit

is none of the military's damn business!

[orleans]

36. does this mean i'm gonna have to start sending cash when i donate

to various organizations like greenpeace, amnesty international, sierra club?

damn!

[Contrite]

37. What--not the ACLU? n/t

[orleans]

38. of course the aclu! (i just renewed my membership last month--by check!)

dun-dun-dun....

[Contrite]

39. Oh, I just gave them permission to take my monthly pledge electronically.

I'm an "Angel".O8)

[orleans]

40. electronically? through your BANK? what *will* the pentagon say?

dunn...dunn...dunn........