The Nazz
14-12-2005, 16:40
The answer seems to be Yes (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10454316/).
Now before this goes too far, I want to make something clear here--I believe the DoD should have some limited intelligence capability inside the US, for the express purpose of protecting their bases and personnel. I'll be the first to admit that there are some extremists in the anti-war movement who believe violence against the US military is justified, and the DoD is right to try to protect itself.
But what the article points out is that it seems the DoD may be overstepping those limited bounds and collecting information on people without cause.
WASHINGTON - A year ago, at a Quaker Meeting House in Lake Worth, Fla., a small group of activists met to plan a protest of military recruiting at local high schools. What they didn't know was that their meeting had come to the attention of the U.S. military.
A secret 400-page Defense Department document obtained by NBC News lists the Lake Worth meeting as a “threat” and one of more than 1,500 “suspicious incidents” across the country over a recent 10-month period.
“This peaceful, educationally oriented group being a threat is incredible,” says Evy Grachow, a member of the Florida group called The Truth Project.
“This is incredible,” adds group member Rich Hersh. “It's an example of paranoia by our government,” he says. “We're not doing anything illegal.”
The Defense Department document is the first inside look at how the U.S. military has stepped up intelligence collection inside this country since 9/11, which now includes the monitoring of peaceful anti-war and counter-military recruitment groups. The entire article is three pages long, so I won't excerpt any more of it here, but I have to say that this bothers me greatly. I shouldn't have to worry that my face and my identity will wind up in a DoD database simply because I exercise my right to protest, especially if I do so in a peaceful manner.
Now before this goes too far, I want to make something clear here--I believe the DoD should have some limited intelligence capability inside the US, for the express purpose of protecting their bases and personnel. I'll be the first to admit that there are some extremists in the anti-war movement who believe violence against the US military is justified, and the DoD is right to try to protect itself.
But what the article points out is that it seems the DoD may be overstepping those limited bounds and collecting information on people without cause.
WASHINGTON - A year ago, at a Quaker Meeting House in Lake Worth, Fla., a small group of activists met to plan a protest of military recruiting at local high schools. What they didn't know was that their meeting had come to the attention of the U.S. military.
A secret 400-page Defense Department document obtained by NBC News lists the Lake Worth meeting as a “threat” and one of more than 1,500 “suspicious incidents” across the country over a recent 10-month period.
“This peaceful, educationally oriented group being a threat is incredible,” says Evy Grachow, a member of the Florida group called The Truth Project.
“This is incredible,” adds group member Rich Hersh. “It's an example of paranoia by our government,” he says. “We're not doing anything illegal.”
The Defense Department document is the first inside look at how the U.S. military has stepped up intelligence collection inside this country since 9/11, which now includes the monitoring of peaceful anti-war and counter-military recruitment groups. The entire article is three pages long, so I won't excerpt any more of it here, but I have to say that this bothers me greatly. I shouldn't have to worry that my face and my identity will wind up in a DoD database simply because I exercise my right to protest, especially if I do so in a peaceful manner.