In the name of defense against terrorist attack, the military has expanded its ability to gather, exchange, and store information on people in this country. They have set up programs to analyze this information in greater depth and with more sophisticated techniques. The organizations executing this analysis-- the latest to be ‘outed’ is CIFA, the Pentagon’s Counter Intelligence Field Activity - are doing so essentially without public oversight - gathering what they want, drawing the conclusions they want. Now, according to the Washington Post, they want to be able to act. They want the authority to secretly carry out domestic criminal investigation and ‘operations against potential threats inside the United States’. They’d like to get this ability by presidential fiat, without any congressional approval.
I’m opposed to this. I don’t trust organizations without oversight. I don’t trust organizations that get to affect my life without needing my approval. I wouldn’t agree to let people put in streetlights without knowing who they were. I certainly don’t agree to establishing yet another spy agency. Is that always the answer? Establish more organizations with bigger budgets, blacker operations, and better turf battles? I think its insane.
But I bet I know what Tricky Dick Cheney thinks about it.
No comments:
Post a Comment