So, President Barack Obama says we’re not going to prosecute torturers, or their enablers, but…
He can still hold an indictment over the head of Thomas Tamm, the whistle-blower on the National Security Agency’s domestic spying?
Showing posts with label domestic spying. Show all posts
Showing posts with label domestic spying. Show all posts
July 29, 2008
Domestic spying ‘fusion centers’ start with Clinton
Again, I’m not downplaying the much more egregious illegal domestic spying by the Bush Administration. But, pages 4-5 of a special ACLU report (PDF) on so-called “fusion centers,” putting elements of local, state and national police surveillance under one roof, show this started WELL before 2001.
Would that emulation include theft of documents by Marines, for monetary purposes?
Would that include, as the second Union-Trib article noted, confirmed by the ACLU, the use of the military for domestic spying, contra Posse Comitatus Act?
Again, Bush has raised this to a whole new level, but Clinton opened the door.
It gives more background to the FISA vote of Passive Pelosi™ and the Democratic 45 percenters now, doesn’t it?
The San Diego Union-Tribune recently exposed a scandal linking a police task force called the Los Angeles County Terrorism Early Warning Center (LACTEW) to an intelligence fiasco that can only be described as a “perfect storm” of the problems identified in the ACLU’s November 2007 fusion center report.
This one has it all:
• Spying on religious groups in violation of the First Amendment
• Military involvement in domestic spying in violation of the Posse Comitatus Act
• Police officers and military personnel engaged in illegal activity to further their
perceived intelligence mission
• A lack of security over classified material and a lack of oversight over the activities
of “trusted” insiders
• The reported involvement of private defense contractors
• Excessive secrecy that shields all the other problems from public view
LACTEW, established in 1996, has often been described as the first fusion center. It has also been recommended as a model for others to emulate.
Would that emulation include theft of documents by Marines, for monetary purposes?
Would that include, as the second Union-Trib article noted, confirmed by the ACLU, the use of the military for domestic spying, contra Posse Comitatus Act?
Again, Bush has raised this to a whole new level, but Clinton opened the door.
It gives more background to the FISA vote of Passive Pelosi™ and the Democratic 45 percenters now, doesn’t it?
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