The War at home- U.S. vs Us

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Last year, The USA PATRIOT Act was signed into law. Civil Libertarians screamed and the ACLU dedicated virtually their entire web site to addressing the problems with this sweeping piece of legislation. Being a college teacher, I talked about it in my classes. However, no large public outcry went up to throw out this frightening legislation. Now, this legislation is coming home to roost. Court challenges and appeals are largely over and John Ashcroft has been given carte blanch to do what he wants. Again this year, the call went out “Beware the Homeland Security Act!” It is now law and is going into action much quicker than the USA PATRIOT did. If you are not afraid of what our government is doing to our Constitution and to our nation, you should be.

Last year, The USA PATRIOT Act was signed into law. Civil Libertarians screamed and the ACLU dedicated virtually their entire web site to addressing the problems with this sweeping piece of legislation. Being a college teacher, I talked about it in my classes. However, no large public outcry went up to throw out this frightening legislation. Now, this legislation is coming home to roost. Court challenges and appeals are largely over and John Ashcroft has been given carte blanch to do what he wants. Again this year, the call went out “Beware the Homeland Security Act!” It is now law and is going into action much quicker than the USA PATRIOT did. If you are not afraid of what our government is doing to our Constitution and to our nation, you should be.

The USA Patriot Act of 2001 is actually an acronym for Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT ACT) Act of 2001. It became Public Law No: 107-56 on 10/26/2001. This is a broadly sweeping law that weakened the barriers between the intelligence and justice communities, and between foreign and domestic surveillance. It also broadened the powers of the justice department and police forces to pre-1973 levels. After the massive invasions of personal rights and liberties of the civil rights and Vietnam era, significant barriers were put in place to keep such from happening in the future.

The USA PATRIOT Act weakened surveillance oversight, allowed indefinite detention of non-citizens, expanded the ability to engage in secret searches, and access business and confidential information on “suspects,” gave the Attorney General the right to declare domestic groups as terrorist organizations and open large scale investigations for “intelligence” purposes. Because of the “cooperative thrust of the legislation, it has blurred the lines between intelligence and justice agencies, and between citizen/non-citizen-domestic/foreign differentiations” (ACLU, USA Patriot Act of 2001 and Civil Liberties http://www.aclu.org/congress/l110101a.html ).

After a year of court rulings and appeals, on November 18, 2002 the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review gave the Justice Department (and cooperating police forces) the right to engage in detailed surveillance activities against ordinary US citizens (11/19/02, NY Times, A Green Light to Spy). The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review is a top-secret appointed subgroup of the U.S. Supreme Courts and normally handles FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) issues. This ruling extends the more lenient rules for investigations of non-citizens to citizens. Attorney General John Ashcroft is moving rapidly to take advantage of the ruling (Eric Lichtblau, 11/24/02, “Justice Department Acts to Use New Power in Terror Investigations, NY Times ).

However, even without the ruling things have changed dramatically. You may have noticed the changes in the information sharing brochures from financial institutions, credit companies, and utility companies, stating that the are now required to share your information with investigators under the USA PATRIOT Act. Likewise, libraries, bookstores, and internet vendors are required to turn over their records of your transactions (Joan Bertin, 9/16/02, "Now They Check the Books You Read," Newsday http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0916-06.htm ). Further, under the law, these organizations cannot inform you that your records have been turned over.

It seems that virtually every piece of legislation has some security aspect attached. For example, between the PATRIOT Act and the Leave No Child Behind Act, any school receiving federal funding (that covers all public and most private institutions) are required to turn over student records to the government upon request, and to allow military recruiters on campus or risk losing federal aid. Student records have been considered confidential and only released with a valid court ordered search warrant. Now they are up for grabs by intelligence agencies; and police who may be acting as their proxies.

And what about those "warrants?" Ashcroft has said that warrants are still required - which is true. However, warrants in the past required some sort of solid proof of link to a crime and were issued by judges. Now warrants are "related to an ongoing investigation" and subject only to administrative Justice Department review - yep, the same folks doing the "investigating."

As if the extension of government power under the USA PATRIOT Act were not enough, enter the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (became Public Law No 107-296 on 11/25/02). Even the most uninformed would find this legislation frightening. Among the many areas covered by the law, it gave official authorization to a Defense Department program known as "Total Information Awareness System" operated under DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) and run by none other than John Poindexter of Iran-Contra infamy. TIA is a comprehensive "data-mining" system that collects all data available on an individual from all sources (commercial, public, private and government sources). For a look at the project itself, go to http://www.darpa.mil/iao/TIASystems.htm . Conservative editorialist William Safire is certainly up in arms, and his short article "You Are a Suspect" (article) says a lot about how invasive this system is. You might be asking why the US Defense Department is working on a system for surveilling US citizens??? I am too. However, the program was included under the Homeland Security Act and it was recently announced that President Bush has authorized $900,000,000 ($900 MILLION) as seed money for the project.

Just a look at the agencies included in the Homeland Security reorganization is enlightening. All or part of the following agencies and programs will be reorganized to the agency (from the DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY REORGANIZATION PLAN November 25, 2002):

Whole Departments

> Coast Guard.

> Customs Service,

> Transportation Security Administration

> Federal Protective Service the FPS),

> Office of Domestic Preparedness (the ODP),

> Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (the FLETC).

> United States Secret Service.

> Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

> Integrated Hazard Information System of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which shall be renamed FIRESTAT.;

Programs or functions

> Critical Infrastructure Assurance Office (CIAO) of the Department of Commerce,

> National Communications System (the NCS),

> NIPC of the FBI (other than the CIOS),

> National Infrastructure Simulation and Analysis Center (NISAC;),

> Energy Assurance Office (EAO) of the Department of Energy,

> Federal Computer Incident Response Center of the General Services Administration (FedCIRC)

> functions of the Immigration and Naturalization Service ;the INS),

> the functions of the Secretary of Agriculture relating to agricultural import and entry inspection activities under the laws specified in Section 421(b) of the Act from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

> Major programs from the Department of Energy

> National Bio-Weapons Defense Analysis Center of the Department of Defense.

> National Domestic Preparedness Office of the FBI, including the functions of the Attorney General relating thereto.

> Domestic Emergency Support Team of the DOJ, including the functions of the Attorney General relating thereto.

> Metropolitan Medical Response System of the Department of Health and Human Services,

> National Disaster Medical System of the Department of Health and Human Services

> Office of Emergency Preparedness and the Strategic National Stockpile of the Dept. of HHS

> Plum Island Animal Disease Center of USDA.

Obviously this is a creation of an agency that is massive in its scope and frightening in its reach - especially when we consider the implications of previously discussed legislation. Of course, the Office of Homeland Security, does not mean that all intelligence and activities are gathered in one place. The Defense Department and each branch of the military, Department of Justice, CIA, FBI, and NSC (to name a few) all have their own programs and all of them are operating with increasing freedom domestically now that FISA has been determined to apply to U.S. citizens.

The President has determined that he has the power to broaden the designation of "enemy combatant" to those who were not. Previously, this designation has meant that a U.S. citizen was actively fighting with a foreign force against the U.S. Now you just have to be labeled. That means that you can be picked up, detained indefinitely without charges or access to council (Lane 12/01/02, Washington Post, Terror's Parallel Legal System, http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/4641556.htm ), or even killed. The President has given the order to the CIA that they can kill U.S. citizens they think are "enemy combatants" - whether they are abroad, or theoretically even domestically (CBSNEWS.COM, 12/4/02, CIA's License to Kill http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/12/03/attack/main531596.shtml ). In short, the CIA can assassinate people (including U.S. citizens) without a trial or conviction.

I have heard more times than I care to hear from people that "I don't have anything to worry about, because I'm not involved in that stuff" Almost universally, I hear this from "white" folks, who think that ";if you don't have anything to hide," then you "shouldn't be worried." This has been the "common" thought process for a long time ... back in the 1980s when police were setting up roadblocks to check every driver for alcohol; when in the "war on drugs" police were allowed to break down doors and force searches; and now ... when the government wants a life dossier on every person in the U.S.

I can't believe that people can be so trusting or so naive. Or so stupid.

If you are not concerned, or think that no one would ever think you did anything, then think again. What if it is a "simple mistake?" Someone's name is almost like yours, or your social security number is somehow messed up in data entry or a computer glitch, or the new threat "identity theft." What if you bump into a "suspected terroris" on the street and the security cameras catch it, or someone in deep cover is a member of your golfing club? Any piece of information can be wrong, and any piece of information can be taken out of context - especially by those who cast the widest possible net. Under the new rules, you could be locked away for months without even being able to ask friends and family to start straightening out the error.

In these times, with these laws, you are guilty until proven innocent - except the mechanisms for proving innocence are no longer in place. It is almost impossible to prove a negative. That is why our court system was designed to prove a crime rather than to prove one's innocence.

If you think these laws and these actions are going to make you safe from terrorism, then think again. The definition of terrorism is so broad as to be meaningless at this point. Are you, or someone you know, a member of Green Peace (they have engaged - under the new laws - in "eco-terrorism;). Are you, or someone you know, a member of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) members of this group have "attacked" research labs. Are you, or someone you know, a member of Right to Life (members of this group have attacked womens'; clinics). Any common association, someone you know casually but interact with regularly, could be labeled as being a "suspect" and if they are you are.

Now is the time to act. Waiting until they sweep you or your loved ones up is way too late. Our Constitution is being deconstructed right in front of us. Demand that your elected representatives act. Support organizations that are fighting for our rights such as the ACLU. Find out what is going on and keep on top of what is going on and share that information with others. Support organizations that are keeping you informed. Write letters to the editor. Protest.

Do not wait silently and passively until you have no voice at all.

Posted by rowan at January 2, 2003 09:52 PM | TrackBack | Printable Version | [eMail this article!] |