(c/o TK)
Spying and Lying by the Pentagon
By Col. DAN SMITH
"Most people just don't understand how pervasive government surveillance
is. If you place an international phone call, the odds that the [U.S.]
National Security Agency are looking is very good. If it goes by oceanic
fiber-optic cable, they are listening to it. If it goes by satellite, they
are listening to it. If it is a radio broadcast or a cell phone
conversation, in principle, they could listen to it. Frankly, they can get
what they want."
John Pike (U.S. military analyst)
John Pike made that observation in late February 2002, a mere five months
after nearly 3,000 individuals were killed by the explosive force of
fuel-laden jets plowing into the World Trade Center and the subsequent
collapse of the Twin Towers.
But more than buildings were brought down that September 11. Historical
protections of speech, assembly, protest, and privacy enjoyed by U.S.
citizens and legal residents ("U.S. persons"), also came under attack as a
stampeded Congress, goaded by a panicked and paranoid administration,
abdicated its constitutional role--rather, its constitutional duty--to
prevent the undue concentration of power in the Chief Executive. The
immediate result was the "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing
Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorists Act of
2001"--better known by its acronym, USA PATRIOT Act
This law, as has become more and more clear over the last three months, was
but the initial move by the Bush administration in what has become an
extended and coordinated attack on the civil liberties of U.S. persons in
the name of national security and--ironically--in the name of bringing
democracy and civil liberties to Iraq.
The extent of this frontal assault suggests the depth of the ideological
aversion of many Bush advisors and confidents to the underlying principles
on which the entire American democratic experiment rests. These include
protecting the rights of all citizens, especially those of various
minorities, against an overbearing majority; providing basic services and
infrastructure on an equitable basis, and being responsive to the concerns
and safety of the people. In short, it seems that key administration figures
and confidants have difficulty with the proposition that "government of the
people and for the people" refers to all the people.
[ major snip ]
http://www.counterpunch.org/smith01292006.html
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