What's Wrong With This NYTimes Headline..'Military Expands Domestic Surveillance'

[spanone]

Why Is The Military and CIA Spying On Us? WTF?
We may be a lot more screwn that we ever thought

~snip~ 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.

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.

The military and the C.I.A. have long been restricted in their domestic intelligence operations, and both are barred from conducting traditional domestic law enforcement work. The C.I.A.’s role within the United States has been largely limited to recruiting people to spy on foreign countries.
~snip~
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/14/washington/14spy.html?hp&ex=1168750800&en=263bd3d6f0cc9644&ei=5059&partner=AOL

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. Plemty

[Robbien]

2. It is about time they highlight the fact the surveillance is domestic

Of course most of it is domestic.

[peacebird]

3. I thought the Pentagon was not allowed to spy on citizens?

Silly me....

[spanone]

4. They are but this is bush*world where nobody in power has to obey the rules

I don't think Old Uncle Rummy had any political enemies out there now do you?

Maybe that's how Rumsfeld managed to stay in office as long as he did?

[EFerrari]

5. We are a lot more screwn than we know.

Remember all those people rounded up after 9/11? How many? Who were they? A bunch of tapes showed up showing them being mistreated and many were deported.

How many? Who were they? We don't know.

We are more screwn than we know. And anyone who believes CIA is restricted in any way is dreaming: Iran, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Dallas.

[Golden Raisin]

6. Everything. Chilling.

[butterfly77]

7. They are getting ready ...

for marshal law

[tavalon]

8. Yeah I noticed the military thing there

It gave me pause. Not that my government in any capacity spying on the populace doesn't give me pause.

[shance]

9. They are breaking every law on the US books.

However, if we allow them TO DO IT OVER THERE, who doesn't think they will try it over here.

Its up to us and Congress to stop them.

[Hissyspit]

10. Military + Domestic = Tyranny

Didn't we have a revolution that was supposed to change that?

[elehhhhna]

11. NSL's are like fake search-warrants and they're issuing over 30, 000 per year:

The FBI now issues more than 30,000 national security letters a year, according to government sources, a hundredfold increase over historic norms. The letters -- one of which can be used to sweep up the records of many people -- are extending the bureau's reach as never before into the telephone calls, correspondence and financial lives of ordinary Americans.

Issued by FBI field supervisors, national security letters do not need the imprimatur of a prosecutor, grand jury or judge. They receive no review after the fact by the Justice Department or Congress. The executive branch maintains only statistics, which are incomplete and confined to classified reports. The Bush administration defeated legislation and a lawsuit to require a public accounting, and has offered no example in which the use of a national security letter helped disrupt a terrorist plot.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/05/AR2005110501366.html

[annabanana]

16. "National Security Letters" are like signing statements....

If it's on paper, it must be legal, right?

[EVDebs]

12. It's in the present tense, meaning they're already doing it

and they go after dissenters in the US just like during Rev Dr Martin Luther King's experience in the Vietnam era. Speak out and you get the "treatment" ... I wonder too if the IRS is in on the little funandgames.

[salin]

13. a blast from a year ago... political affiliations showing up on IRS database

http://www.truthout.org/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/47/16779

IRS Tracked Taxpayers' Political Affiliation
By Les Blumenthal
The Tacoma News Tribune

Friday 06 January 2006

Washington - As it hunted down tax scofflaws, the Internal Revenue Service collected information on the political party affiliations of taxpayers in 20 states.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., a member of an appropriations subcommittee with jurisdiction over the IRS, said the practice was an "outrageous violation of the public trust" that could undermine the agency's credibility.

IRS officials acknowledged that party affiliation information was routinely collected by a vendor for several months. They told the vendor last month to screen the information out.

Funny thing about this "routine information" collected by the vendor (which wasn't named) and "left on by accident" is that one of the states in which this happened, was Wisconsin. Wisconsin, I believe, doesn't record party affiliation - so to "find" this information in order to "record it as routine" it would have to be sought out in other ways - perhaps going through FEC reports for campaign contributions? Point is the IRS response was ridiculous.

Sadly, the story disappeared and we have no idea whether or not this practice ended.

[Canuckistanian]

14. Posse Comitatus - In it's entirety

Sec. 1385. - Use of Army and Air Force as posse comitatus

"Whoever, except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress, willfully uses any part of the Army or the Air Force as a posse comitatus or otherwise to execute the laws shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both".

[salin]

15. Yet another Consititutional Crisis handed to us by bushco?

How many does this one make altogether?

[Canuckistanian]

18. That depends

Whoever in the military gave the order to do this should be prosecuted. That the government itself is not prosecuting this, is what makes it a gray area.

There are many, many unprosecuted crimes. That in itself should constitute at least a "misdemeanor"
under the articles of impeachment.

[Swamp Rat]

17. THEY have only begun...

... get ready for martial law.