Date: June 26, 2005 6:49:41 AM PDT
Subject: [Spy News] State Guard forms anti-terrorism intelligence unit
Posted on Sun, Jun. 26, 2005
State Guard forms anti-terrorism intelligence unit
Officials deny civil libertarian claims
that the group will monitor American citizens,
which is prohibited
By DION NISSENBAUM
San Jose Mercury News
SACRAMENTO - Three decades after aggressive military spying on Americans
created a national furor, California's National Guard has quietly set up a
special intelligence unit that has been given ''broad authority'' to
monitor, analyze and distribute information on potential terrorist threats,
the Mercury News has learned.
Known as the Information Synchronization, Knowledge Management and
Intelligence Fusion program, the project is part of an expanding nationwide
effort to better integrate military intelligence into global anti-terrorism
initiatives.
Although Guard officials said the new unit would not collect information on
American citizens, top National Guard officials have already been involved
in tracking at least one recent Mother's Day anti-war rally organized by
families of slain American soldiers, according to e-mails obtained by the
Mercury News.
Creation of California's intelligence unit is already raising concerns for
civil libertarians who point to a string of abuses in the 1960s and 1970s
when the military collected information on more than 100,000 Americans,
infiltrated church youth groups, posed as reporters to interview activists,
monitored peaceful protests and even attended an elementary school Halloween
party in search of a ''dissident.''
''The National Guard doesn't need to do this,'' said Christopher Pyle, a
former Army intelligence officer who first exposed the military's domestic
spying operations in 1970. ''Its job is not to investigate individuals, but
to clear streets, protect facilities and help first responders.''
Top Guard officers said that they have no intentions of breaking
long-established rules barring the military from gathering information on
Americans and that the evolving program is meant to help California and the
nation thwart terrorist attacks.
''We do not do any type of surveillance or human intelligence or mixing with
crowds,'' said Lt. Col. Stan Zezotarski. ''The National Guard does not
operate in that way. We have always had a policy where we respect the rights
of citizens.''
Forming the unit|
Generally, the National Guard is called upon to help the state deal with
natural disasters and riots. But the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have put
major strains on the military, which has started drawing more on Guard
soldiers to fight overseas. And now Guard units are being integrated into
anti-terrorism efforts in the United States.
The intelligence unit was quietly established last year by Major Gen. Thomas
Eres, the National Guard leader who was forced by the Schwarzenegger
administration to retire earlier this month. Eres left amid allegations that
he failed to prove his shooting skills for a trip to Iraq, set up a
questionable military flight for a Republican friend's political group, and
improperly used money meant to stem the flow of drugs for anti-terrorism
programs.
Just before Eres retired, the Guard hired its first director for the
intelligence unit who has ''broad authority'' and is expected to ''exercise
a high degree of independent judgment and discretion,'' according to the job
description obtained by the Mercury News.
''However, highly controversial or precedent-setting decisions, directives
and policies are discussed with the appropriate senior leadership prior to
implementation,'' the description states.
Col. Robert J. O'Neill, a veteran intelligence officer who started last week
as director of the new program, said he envisions his team as being a
one-stop shop for local, state and national law enforcement to share
information. Intelligence officers will have access to sensitive national
security information that they can analyze and potentially share with state
and local law enforcement, he said.
''We are trying to integrate into their systems and bring them information
that they don't have,'' O'Neill said.
He said his unit would not cross any legal lines into spying on Americans.
But the Guard's role in monitoring at least one demonstration has already
alarmed civil libertarians.
Tracking the rally|
Last month, a group of anti-war activists, including the parents of American
soldiers killed in Iraq, held a small Mother's Day rally at the Vietnam
Veteran's Memorial near the California Capitol to call for the return of all
National Guard troops by Labor Day.
Three days before the rally, as a courtesy to the military, an aide in Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger's press office alerted the Guard to the event,
according to e-mails obtained by the Mercury News.
The information was passed up the chain of command directly to Eres and
other top Guard officials including Col. Jeff Davis, who oversees O'Neill's
operation.
''Sir,'' Guard Chief-of-Staff Col. John Moorman wrote in the e-mail to Eres
that was copied to Davis and other top commanders. ''Information you wanted
on Sunday's demonstration at the Capitol.''
In response, Davis indicated that Guard intelligence officers were tracking
the rally.
''Thanks,'' Davis wrote. ''Forwarding same to our Intell. folks who continue
to monitor.''
That rainy Sunday, the protest organized by Gold Star Families for Peace,
Raging Grannies and CodePink, drew about three-dozen supporters.
Guard spokesman Zezotarksi said that the monitoring did not involve anything
more than keeping tabs on the protest through the media and that no one went
to observe the demonstration.
But he said the military would be ''negligent'' in not tracking such
anti-war rallies in the event that they disintegrate into a riot that could
prompt the governor to call out troops.
''It's nothing subversive,'' said Zezotarksi. ''Because who knows who could
infiltrate that type of group and try to stir something up? After all, we
live in the age of terrorism, so who knows?''
Civil libertarians scoffed at such defenses.
''That's ludicrous,'' said Joseph Onek, a former Carter and Clinton
administration official who now heads the Liberty and Security Initiative
for The Constitution Project at Georgetown University. ''That's not what the
American people expect its military to be doing.''
"Mission creep"|
Pyle, the Army officer who exposed the abuses in the 1970s and is now a
professor at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, said the evolving
intelligence programs are susceptible to dangerous ''mission creep'' that
led to overaggressive tactics during the Vietnam War.
Since the Civil War, the United States has tried to create firm barriers
preventing the military from getting involved in domestic issues. The 1878
Posse Comitatus Act prevents the U.S. military from taking part in domestic
law enforcement.
The Army got involved with collecting intelligence on Americans in the 1960s
when it was called in to deal with civil rights protests and riots. Its role
expanded as the decade wore on and the anti-Vietnam War movement grew more
confrontational.
At the time, according to congressional records, the military collected
files on more than 100,000 Americans and embraced aggressive tactics to try
to undermine anti-war groups, including attending a Halloween party for kids
and infiltrating church youth groups.
In response, Congress and the military set up new rules to strictly regulate
military spying in the United States.
But Sept. 11 raised concerns that the controls had gone too far. Since then,
the FBI and military have been expanding their intelligence operations.
Intelligence centers|
The notion of creating intelligence ''fusion centers'' is slowly gaining
momentum. Massachusetts is setting up one, but it is housed in the State
Police headquarters, not its National Guard.
Currently, federal law allows the U.S. military to gather information on
Americans under exceptionally tight restrictions. The intelligence must be
essential to its mission, publicly available or related to national security
issues.
The Pentagon has created a new operation in Colorado known as the Northern
Command to help protect the nation from terrorist attacks. Its leader, Gen.
Ralph Eberhart, raised some concerns among civil libertarians last year
after telling a National Guard group that ''we can't let culture and the way
we've always done it stand in the way'' of gathering intelligence.
Last year, the U.S. military came under fire after it was reported that two
Army lawyers in civilian clothes attended a forum on sexism in Islam and
later demanded a roster of attendees, along with a videotape of the
conference, after being questioned by three Middle Eastern men during the
event.
Army officials said the attorneys had ''exceeded their authority'' and
ordered a refresher course for agents.
Contact Dion Nissenbaum at
or (916) 441-4603.
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