Here is just another way the government shows how much it appreciates and
supports our troops and vets;
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Secret Pentagon Documents Classify Central Coast Group - Veterans for Peace -
as a "Threat"
Santa Barbara Chapter of Veterans for Peace revealed to be a Pentagon
surveillance target
http://www.ksby.com/home/headlines/4738066.html
New details tonight about a secret Pentagon database used to monitor anti-war
protests and activists. Recently-disclosed documents reveal that some of the
surveillance targets include an organization with ties to the Central Coast.
Secret Pentagon documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union
provide details of how the organization called "Veterans for Peace" was
considered a threat.
Every Sunday for the past three years, members of the Santa Barbara Chapter
of Veterans for Peace place a cross in the sand near Stearns Wharf for every
American soldier killed in Iraq.
First started in Santa Barbara, the "Arlington West" display has been copied
by other chapters of Veterans for Peace in communities all across the country.
It's intended to honor and acknowledge those who have lost their lives and to
reflect upon the costs of war.
The actions of this veterans organization have not gone unnoticed at the
Pentagon. A previously secret intelligence report calls the group a "threat to
military installations." The report lists the group's upcoming events and warns
that while it's a "peaceful organization," "there is potential that future
protests could become violent."
"As to attacking any base or anything else, that is ridiculous," says
Veterans for Peace group member Ron Dexter. "We support the troops one hundred
percent."
Ron Dexter isn't surprised by the revelations that the Department of Homeland
Security is checking up on his organization.
"If we aren't investigated by the government, we probably aren't doing our
job," says Dexter. "That is pretty radical, but anybody who has been a real
threat to what government wants to do, they are going to check on them and try
to stop them."
The documents also suggest for the first time that agents of the Department
of Homeland Security played a role in monitoring anti-war activities.
The Pentagon admits it made a mistake in collecting information on anti-war
protests, but claims the problem has been fixed.
At least one Senate Democrat wants to investigate not just what data was
collected by the Pentagon, but why and how it was used.
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"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that
among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness...."
~ The Declaration of Independence - July 4th, 1776
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