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Pentagon Seeks A Loophole In The Privacy Act

Posted by timothy on from the war-with-oceania-continues dept.

CygnusXII writes "As reported over @ wired.com. It seems that Homeland Security isn't the only govermental body wanting to keep a database on the good old U.S. population. 'The bill would allow Pentagon intelligence agents to work undercover and question American citizens and legal residents without having to reveal that they are government agents. That exemption currently applies only to law enforcement officials working on criminal cases and to the CIA, which is prohibited from operating in the United States.' Kinda adds a whole new meaning to 'We want you!', or should it be 'We want all your secrets'?"

6 of 304 comments (clear)

  1. A soldier isn't a police officer... by LostCluster · · Score: 5, Insightful

    That exemption currently applies only to law enforcement officials working on criminal cases...

    Which is to say that the DoD is trying to get into the subject area that is presently the property of the FBI along with state and local police forces. It's not that this kind of work can't be done by the US Government, but that the wrong division is asking to do it.

    The DoD runs our armed forces... they are not designed for law enforcement and when they are asked to do so they usually do a poor job of it. This provision in the law should be stricken and replaced with more funding to the FBI and other police forces so that the people who should be gathering info on US soil can continue to do so correctly.

    1. Re:A soldier isn't a police officer... by demachina · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Its only fair since the DOJ is apparently turning in to a global law enforcement agency, and will apparently be tasked to prosecute DOD and CIA contractors for torture in order to deflect attention from the people in the White House and Pentagon who probably ordered the torture in the first place.

      An interesting case is the CIA contractor who apparently beat an Afghan detainee to death and was charged with assault this week. He is apparently being prosecuted under the Patriot Act, by the DOJ, in a really disturbing interpretation and extension of this already overly broad laws reach. The article being used was supposed to be for foreign terrorists who attack U.S. government facilities overseas but they are apparently reinterpreting it to cover a U.S. citizen, and government employee, attacking a foreigner at a government facility overseas.

      The DOJ apparently had to stretch it this way or CIA and DOD contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan could quite literally get away with murder. The problem:

      - Civilian contractors can be court martialled but only if congress officially declared war which it hasn't in Afghanistan or Iraq
      - There is no way the U.S. will turn its citizens, especially a CIA or DOD employee, over to Afghanistan or Iraq which are the only entities with jurisdiction
      -The U.S. has managed to exempt its citizens from prosecution by the international courts who prosecute war crimes wherever they occur. The U.S. blackmailed the U.N. in to this exemption by threatening to withdraw troops and support from peacekeeping operations in the Balkans in particular. China supported this, and helped pass it, but as of yesterday no longer will because of the obvious war crimes the U.S. is committing.
      - The DOJ doesn't normally have jurisdiction outside the U.S. though it is rapidly taking upon itself the right to prosecute anyone for crimes anywhere, and become the worlds first truly global police force. The Bush administration is trying or has already given the DOJ the right to prosecute U.S. citizens who commit sex crimes anywhere in the world which is another huge extension of the DOJ's power. You can no longer count on escaping the long arm of the Bush administration by moving out of the U.S.

      In an interesting twist it is quite possible the Bush administration was intentionally using civilian contractors to perform interrogations and torture, they've hired a lot of them, because they knew they couldn't be charged thanks to this long series of convenient exclusions.

      It may only be because the Bush administration is under heat to make it look like they didn't approve torture in the first place, that they've been forced to go to these new extremes. So they turn to the Patriot Act to find a way to prosecute these contractors who were probably doing what the Bush administration wanted them to do in the first place when they tortured detainees.

      If this use of the Patriot Act it upheld the DOJ gains broad new international law enforcement powers. If its not upheld CIA and DOD contractors guilty of torture and murder are given a get out of jail free card, at least until the UN cancels the U.S. excemption from international war crimes prosecution.

      --
      @de_machina
    2. Re:A soldier isn't a police officer... by welloy · · Score: 5, Insightful
      You are exactly correct. The military should not and cannot be expected to be a domestic police force.

      This essay , which was awarded the top prize for the Strategy Essay Competition at the National Defense University presented by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Colin Powell in 1992, explains why.

      Briefly, the US military has a very important job, namely protection of the US from external threats, which the military should not be distracted from by acting as the police.

  2. Whatever... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful
    question American citizens and legal residents without having to reveal that they are government agents.

    I'm sorry, but if someone wants to ask me questions, and they A) aren't wearing a police uniform or B) identify themselves as law enforcement/criminal investigators, I'm not saying jack.

  3. This is the part I like best. by khasim · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "Pentagon officials say the exemption would not affect civil liberties and is needed so that its agents can obtain information from sources who may be afraid of government agents, such as a green-card-holding professor of nanotechnology who formerly lived under a repressive government."

    And this is supposed to make him feel better how? By HIDING the fact that he's talking to a government agent?

    You're right. The DoD is not designed for law enforcement. And there is no reason for the DoD to have undercover agents checking on US citizens (and legal residents).

    Do you really want Military Intelligence officers spying upon US citizens on US soil?

    From the article:
    "In February, Army intelligence agents improperly sought information about attendees at a University of Texas law school conference about Muslim women. Conference organizers refused to provide a videotape of the event to the officers and publicized the request, leading to an apology by the Army."

    The only way to keep the government honest is to keep it open.

  4. state of the US... by sinner0423 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It really is quite sad.

    The government can raid my house, throw me in prison, and ruin my life - all in the name of national security. It's an extremely disturbing thought.

    Big government / brother is not science fiction anymore, it is a reality. It's disturbing, to say the least. RFID imbedded in to everything you buy, is just the next step. This database doesn't suprise me in the least. They've kept records for years, it's what they do.

    I live in illinois, it's a police state. I've already been fined several hundreds of dollars for jaywalking, and owning a NOT USED, CLEAN, TOBACCO pipe. You are guilty until proven innocent, around here.

    I'm 24, an american, and I want to leave. This is a nightmare. A law may come in to fruition, that if I leave and a draft is reinstated, I will be sent back here and possibly thrown in jail, or be forced to serve for a country I don't believe in. We aren't all greedy capitalist pigs, you know. Some of us are actually decent human beings.

    I hate to be such a pessimist, but if you live in the states, your life is going to be more difficult, and if anything - MORE dangerous than it is now. Throw a wrapper out of the window of your car? You could be signaling terrorists that are on the side of the road planting IED's. Think i'm joking? Just wait. It's a pretty far fetched example, but with this administration, would you expect anything else?