Documents Shed New Light on Pentagon Surveillance of Peace Activists

[MonteSano]

Documents released today by the American Civil Liberties Union reveal new details of Pentagon surveillance of Americans opposed to the Iraq war, including Quakers and student groups. The documents show that the Pentagon was keeping tabs on non-violent protesters by collecting information and storing it in a military anti-terrorism database.

"There is simply no reason why the United States military should be monitoring the peaceful activities of American citizens who oppose U.S. war policies," said ACLU attorney Ben Wizner. "When information about non-violent protest activity is included in a military anti-terrorism database, all Americans should be concerned about the unchecked authority this administration has seized in the name of fighting terrorism."

The documents come in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the ACLU earlier this year after evidence surfaced that the Pentagon was secretly conducting surveillance of protest activities, anti-war organizations and groups opposed to military recruitment policies. The Pentagon shared the information with other government agencies through the Threat and Local Observation Notice (TALON) database.

The TALON database was intended to track groups or individuals with links to terrorism, but the documents released today show that the Pentagon gathered information on anti-war protesters using sources from the Department of Homeland Security, local police departments and FBI Joint Terrorism Task Forces.


http://www.aclu.org/safefree/spyfiles/27050prs20061012.html

[Vincardog]

1. That explains why I get such personnel attention at security every time I

fly. Nothing makes me feel secure like being felt up by a bald fat minimum wage guard at an airport security check.

[sce56]

2. I personally know a very respected member of the State Bar that gets

that treatment due to their antiwar anti Bush stance!

I'm sure most of us here on DU are also in a database at the Pentagon and I'm not talking about my AKO account (Army Knowledge Online)
October 17, 2006,Will be remembered as the Enabling day of the 21st Century!
"The government will make use of these powers only insofar as they are essential for carrying out vitally necessary measures..."
~Adolf Hitler, March 23, 1933, before the German Parliament (Reichstag) as he urged them to pass his "Enabling Act"


Got Fascism Yet?


http://www.georgewalkerbush.net/bush-nazilinkconfirmed.htm

[patrice]

3. So, can I request to see my file?

How are these files used?

How do they search them?

Whom do they share them with?

It's not a surprise to me, but I do wonder what would happen if I did something like speak in support of Socialism in a public forum of some sort.