SURVEILLANCE

Administration Set to Use New Spy Program in U.S.

Congressional Critics Want More Assurances of Legality

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told lawmakers that a new spying office won't violate rights. (By Paul Sakuma -- Associated Press)     » Links to this article

By Spencer S. Hsu

Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, April 12, 2008; Page A03

 

The Bush administration said yesterday that it plans to start using the nation's most advanced spy technology for domestic purposes soon, rebuffing challenges by House Democrats over the idea's legal authority.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said his department will activate his department's new domestic satellite surveillance office in stages, starting as soon as possible with traditional scientific and homeland security activities -- such as tracking hurricane damage, monitoring climate change and creating terrain maps.

Sophisticated overhead sensor data will be used for law enforcement once privacy and civil rights concerns are resolved, he said. The department has previously said the program will not intercept communications.

"There is no basis to suggest that this process is in any way insufficient to protect the privacy and civil liberties of Americans," Chertoff wrote to Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.) and Jane Harman (D-Calif.), chairmen of the House Homeland Security Committee and its intelligence subcommittee, respectively, in letters released yesterday.

"I think we've fully addressed anybody's concerns," Chertoff added in remarks last week to bloggers. "I think the way is now clear to stand it up and go warm on it."

His statements marked a fresh determination to operate the department's new National Applications Office as part of its counterterrorism efforts. The administration in May 2007 gave DHS authority to coordinate requests for satellite imagery, radar, electronic-signal information, chemical detection and other monitoring capabilities that have been used for decades within U.S. borders for mapping and disaster response.

But Congress delayed launch of the new office last October. Critics cited its potential to expand the role of military assets in domestic law enforcement, to turn new or as-yet-undeveloped technologies against Americans without adequate public debate, and to divert the existing civilian and scientific focus of some satellite work to security uses.

Democrats say Chertoff has not spelled out what federal laws govern the NAO, whose funding and size are classified. Congress barred Homeland Security from funding the office until its investigators could review the office's operating procedures and safeguards. The department submitted answers on Thursday, but some lawmakers promptly said the response was inadequate.

"I have had a firsthand experience with the trust-me theory of law from this administration," said Harman, citing the 2005 disclosure of the National Security Agency's domestic spying program, which included warrantless eavesdropping on calls and e-mails between people in the United States and overseas. "I won't make the same mistake. . . . I want to see the legal underpinnings for the whole program."

Thompson called DHS's release Thursday of the office's procedures and a civil liberties impact assessment "a good start." But, he said, "We still don't know whether the NAO will pass constitutional muster since no legal framework has been provided."

DHS officials said the demands are unwarranted. "The legal framework that governs the National Applications Office . . . is reflected in the Constitution, the U.S. Code and all other U.S. laws," said DHS spokeswoman Laura Keehner. She said its operations will be subject to "robust," structured legal scrutiny by multiple agencies.

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An Examination of Activist Groups in the USA under Surveillance

Over the past few years, the federal government has returned to the bad old days of unchecked spying on ordinary Americans, part of a broad pattern of the executive branch using "national security" as an excuse for encroaching on the privacy and free speech rights of Americans without adequate oversight.

For five years, the National Security Agency has been reading email and tapping phones without a warrant—actions explicitly forbidden by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. This legislation was the result of the violations the last time a president—President Nixon—authorized the wiretapping of Americans.

The FBI and Pentagon are watching and keeping files on peaceful activists, and placing informants inside groups like Greenpeace and PETA. In January 2007, the president announced that he has allowed opening of Americans' mail, and we also learned about undisclosed Pentagon and CIA demands for citizens' financial records.

This is largely due to the passing of the Patriot Act, which we have talked about in our class several times. The Patriot Act continues to threaten civil liberties as the FBI delivers tens of thousands of National Security Letters that demand personal records from businesses, and gags recipients from telling anyone about the letter. Working in cooperation with the federal government, phone companies are giving the NSA access to customers' records.

Under the guise of fighting terrorism, the FBI has monitored the activities of U.S. civil liberties, antiwar and environmental organizations. A lawsuit brought by activist groups charging that the FBI has targeted critics of the Bush administration forced the Justice Department to reveal that the FBI has amassed more than 3,500 pages of documents on progressive American advocacy organizations.

Thus far, the FBI has identified 1,173 pages related to the American Civil Liberties Union and 2,383 pages detailing surveillance of the environmental group Greenpeace. Other documents provide evidence of the bureau's monitoring of peace groups such as the national anti-Iraq war coalition United for Peace and Justice that had organized a series of large protests at last Republican National Convention in New York City.

The government uses many different methods of surveying these activist groups, including wiretapping, wireless phone signal intercepting, unauthorized entry into the group’s headquarters, illegally obtaining evidence, intercepting emails, mail, cell phone conversations, etc. There is an obvious need for human rights groups to be concerned with wiretapping: Governments often monitor human rights groups to discover what they know, who their sources are, and what their future activities will be. The lack of secure communications creates the threat of physical harm to many people in the human rights field.

List of activist groups under surveillance:

American Civil Liberties Union is a national organization that works to protect civil rights and civil liberties. ACLU attorneys across the country have provided direct representation to individuals and organizations targeted by the FBI and state and local police for exercising their First Amendment right to criticize government policies, including people who participated in numerous rallies and marches to protest the war in Iraq, who were excluded from meaningful participation at public presidential speeches and who protested at the 2004 Republican and Democratic National Conventions. ACLU of Florida, ACLU of Georgia, ACLU of Pennsylvania, ACLU of Rhode Island, ACLU of Washington and Maine Civil Liberties Union are six state affiliates of the ACLU that advance the mission of the organization at a local and regional level. The ACLU is fighting back to stop expanded spying on Americans. Because of our lawsuits, federal courts have ruled that the NSA cannot wiretap our phones without a warrant, and struck down a version of the National Security Letter law as unconstitutional. We have filed Freedom of Information Act requests on behalf of hundreds of organizations and individuals around the country to expose wrongful FBI and Pentagon spying. We continue to work to end illegal NSA spying and to restore limits on domestic spying by the FBI and the Pentagon.

Greenpeace is an international advocacy organization dedicated to combating the most serious threats to the planet's biodiversity and environment. Since 1971, Greenpeace has been at the forefront of environmental activism through non-violent protest, research and public education. In the past several years, Greenpeace has repeatedly engaged the Bush administration through public protest and activism. In 2001, Greenpeace held public demonstrations outside the personal residences of President Bush and Vice President Cheney, criticizing the administration's environmental and energy policies. Greenpeace has also actively publicized the Bush administration's ties to the oil industry, especially Exxon Mobil. More recently, a team of Greenpeace experts exposed the United States' military's failure to secure and contain nuclear waste facilities in Iraq.

Center for Constitutional Rights is a legal advocacy organization based in New York, USA, which was founded as a non-profit entity in 1966. During the 1970s, the Center for Constitutional Rights brought and won the case Monell v. Department of Social Services, which enabled private individuals and civil rights groups to enforce the Constitution in court. Recently the CCR has filed lawsuits on behalf of Guantanamo Bay detainees. The CCR has also sought criminal investigation in Germany of U.S. officials, notably United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, for alleged war crimes in the Abu Ghraib prison.

CCR has also been an outspoken supporter of radical lawyer Lynne Stewart whom was sentenced to a 28 month prison sentence for "providing material support to terrorists and defrauding the U.S. government".

CCR has called for the impeachment of US President George W. Bush. Critics of the Center for Constitutional Rights describe it as a left wing anti-American law firm that is attempting to undermine the foundations of American society.

Food not Bombs is one of the most widely reported examples of the government spying. Spying on Food Not Bombs came to light on December 13, 2005, when MSNBC reported that the Pentagon had spied on 1,500 peace protests in the United States from November through May of 2004. The Department of Defense database, published by MSNBC, states that from November 19, 2004 to November 21, 2004 the Pentagon monitored the "Planned Demonstration at Fort Huachuca AZ Sierra Vista." They also listed it as a "Threat" and that it is "Open/Unresolved" and "Credible." The current activity of "Food Not Bombs" indicates that the group plans yet another confrontation with the police. The three groups now in alliance with "Food Not Bombs" are all involved in the Concord Naval Weapons Depot demonstrations, are all advocates of civil disobedience tactics, and non-cooperation with law enforcement agencies.

Animal Liberation Front is a name used internationally by animal liberation activists who engage in direct action on behalf of animals. This includes removing animals from facilities, and sabotaging facilities in protest against animal testing, fur farming, and other animal-based industries. According to ALF statements, any direct action that furthers the cause of animal liberation, and where all reasonable precautions are taken not to endanger life, may be claimed as an ALF action. The ALF was named as a "terrorist threat" by the United States' Department of Homeland Security in January 2005. On January 20, 2006, as part of Operation Backfire, the U.S. Department of Justice announced charges against nine American and two Canadian activists calling themselves the "Family," who are alleged to have engaged in direct action in the name of the Animal Liberation Front and Earth Liberation Front. The defendants are alleged to have committed what the Justice Department called acts of "domestic terrorism," including arson attacks against meat-processing plants, lumber companies, a high-tension power line, and a ski center, in Oregon, Wyoming, Washington, California, and Colorado between 1996 and 2001. Activists and some media sources criticized the 2005/06 investigations, calling them a "witch hunt" and "the Green Scare" - an allusion to the anti-Communist Red Scares of the 20th century.

Earth Liberation Front is the collective name for anonymous and autonomous individuals or groups that, according to the now defunct Earth Liberation Front Press Office, use "economic sabotage and guerrilla warfare to stop the exploitation and destruction of the natural environment. The ELF was classified as the top domestic terror threat in the United States by the FBI in March 2001. However, supporters and sympathizers of the group usually object to being called terrorists because no human has been injured by any action claimed by the ELF. The ELF's guidelines require that individuals or groups acting on its behalf take all necessary precautions against harming any animal — human and nonhuman.

United for Peace and Justice is a coalition of more than 1,300 local and national groups throughout the United States that have joined together to oppose the war in Iraq. Since its founding in October 2002, UFPJ has spurred hundreds of anti-war protests and rallies across the country and sponsored the four largest demonstrations against the Iraq war. UFPJ organized a rally outside the United Nations in New York City that drew more than 500,000 participants as part of a global day of protest against the war. Two days after the bombing of Iraq began; UFPJ mobilized more than 300,000 people for another protest march in New York City. UFPJ also organized the anti-war march in New York City on the eve of the Republican National Convention, with 500,000 people. UFPJ coordinated more than 700 local protests across the country. Many of these were at or near military facilities, including recruitment stations.

Veterans for Peace is a national organization founded in 1985. The organization includes men and women veterans from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War and other conflicts in addition to peacetime veterans. Based on the experience of its members, the organization believes that wars are easy to start and hard to stop, and that those hurt are often the innocent. Thus, other means of problem solving are necessary. Veterans for Peace draws on the personal experiences and perspectives of veterans to raise public awareness of the true costs and consequences of militarism and war - and to seek peaceful, effective alternatives.

Anarchist Black Cross Network is a world-wide decentralized and egalitarian network of organizations committed to the original ideals of the Anarchist Black Cross movement -- of seeing prisons and the poverty, racism and genocide that accompanies them to be symptoms of a social order whose last days are near.

Anarchist Black Cross Network was formed in 2001. Many prison abolition groups who didn't want to or couldn't join Anarchist Black Cross Federation have joined in. In addition to that many new groups have started up or changed their inner politics to support this struggle.

Operation Rescue is a pro-life group founded by Randall Terry in the late 1980s. Operation Rescue sprang to prominence during the 1988 Democratic Convention in Atlanta, Georgia, where hundreds of arrests for peaceful civil disobedience took place, capturing national attention. In June 2006, Operation Rescue bought the building housing Wichita’s smaller abortion clinic, Central Women’s Services, (once known as Wichita Family Planning), after the business had been purchased by Dr. George Tiller. Dr. Tiller was cleared of any charges of medical neglect in the death of Christine Gilbert. The group claims to have contributed to a 16% drop in abortions in Kansas over a three year period; however this is not substantiated by any data. Operation Rescue operates a fleet of so-called "Truth Trucks," large panel vehicles that bear images of aborted fetuses. These "Truth Trucks" travel around the nation showing what Operation Rescue calls the "grisly truth about abortion." Such images are often criticized as intentionally shocking and insensitive given how sensitive an issue abortion often is. Operation Rescue lost its tax-exempt status following charges of improper use of contributions, and illegal endorsements of political candidates. Operation Rescue is currently under investigation on charges of money laundering and tax evasion.

The Broward Anti-War Coalition (BAWC) is a grassroots coalition of several peace organizations, centered in Fort Lauderdale that joined together in the fall of 2001 in opposition to U.S. military intervention in Afghanistan. BAWC has organized or participated in every major anti-war demonstration in South Florida since 2001, and has participated in major social justice events such as the Miami-FTAA demonstrations in November 2003 and the Organization for American States protest in June 2005. In December 2005 it was revealed, through the leaking of a secret Defense Department report that BAWC events have been subject to covert surveillance by U.S. Military Intelligence on multiple occasions. It was discovered (in January 2006) that BAWC's participation in the Alliance for Justice in the Americas' OAS-related meetings in 2005 were infiltrated by a paid FBI undercover informant.

The Fort Lauderdale Friends Meeting is part of the worldwide Religious Society of Friends ("Quakers"). Their service in the world originates from their meeting for worship and is guided by their testimonies of Simplicity, Integrity, Peace, Equality and Community. In belief that policies of the present administration run contrary to their stated testimonies, they act to oppose those policies.

Bruce Gagnon is a coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space. He was the organizer of the Cancel Cassini Campaign, a campaign to stop the launch of 72 pounds of plutonium into space in 1997. Between 1983 and 1998 he was the state coordinator of the Florida Coalition for Peace and Justice. Gagnon has worked on space issues for over 20 years. In 1987, he organized the largest peace protest in Florida history when over 5,000 people marched on Cape Canaveral in opposition to the first flight test of the Trident II nuclear missile. Project Censored named Gagnon's story on space weaponization the eighth Most Censored story in 1999. In 2003, anti-nuclear activist Dr. Helen Caldicott appointed Gagnon senior fellow at her Nuclear Policy Research Institute, where he also serves on the Advisory Board. He has led campaigns in opposition to the Patriot Act in Florida and Maine, and is host of a local cable access TV show called "This Issue" that runs in four Maine cities. Gagnon's articles have appeared in many publications and he co-produced a video titled Arsenal of Hypocrisy that spells out U.S. plans for space domination. He travels and lectures all over the world.

American Friends Service Committee carries out service, development, social justice and peace programs throughout the world. Founded by Quakers in 1917 to provide conscientious objectors with an opportunity to aid civilian war victims, AFSC's work attracts the support and partnership of people of many races, religions and cultures. AFSC's work is based on the Quaker belief in the worth of every person and faith in the power of love to overcome violence and injustice. The organization's mission and achievements won worldwide recognition in 1947 when it accepted the Nobel Peace Prize with the British Friends Service Council on behalf of all Quakers.

The Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space was created in 1992 to build an international movement to prevent the arms race from moving into space. Each year the Global Network holds an international space organizing conference in a different part of the world bringing together the growing numbers of concerned citizens who wish to keep space for peace. Through the production of video documentaries, organizing protests, speaking tours, and media work the Global Network has been able to take its message throughout the United States and around the world. For the past several years the Global Network has organized "Keep Space for Peace Week" during the first week of October. This week of local actions around the world is held to show the growing opposition to Star Wars.

The Haiti Solidarity Committee is based in south Florida and has organized numerous protests and lobbying campaigns against the Bush administration's support for the current regime in Haiti. It also organized the Committee to Free Father Jean-Juste, which spearheaded a much broader and successful effort that led to the priest's freedom. Last year the committee played a leadership role in The Alliance for Justice, an ad hoc coalition of peace and justice groups that organized a mass protest that included several thousand Haitians outside of the Organization of American States Conference in Fort Lauderdale.

The Melbourne, Florida Counter Inaugural was created by Brevard County citizens who joined together to symbolically "mourn" the election of President Bush and the threat they felt he represented to their civil rights. The group crafted headstones demarking the civil rights they believed were in jeopardy under the continued Bush administration and conducted a mock funeral procession on January 20, 2005, the day of the president's inauguration.

Jeff Nall is a community activist and freelance writer. In 2003, Nall helped found Patriots for Peace and lead the anti-war movement in Brevard County, producing two demonstrations that were attended by approximately 500 people. Since then he has gone on to help organize numerous peace vigils and demonstrations as well as rallies for marriage equality, reproductive rights and civil liberties. Jeff also helped organize the Space Coast Progressive Alliance. And in 2005 he helped reorganize the Brevard chapter of the National Organization for Women. Nall also regularly contributes to progressive publications like Toward Freedom, the Humanist and Impact Press.

Patriots for Peace is an informal citizen group drawn from Brevard and Indian River residents who oppose the war in Iraq. The group began organizing demonstrations against the war in the lead up to the invasion of Iraq. In 2003 Patriots for Peace organized rallies on February 15, March 15 and March 22. The group also organized several anti-war vigils. Since 2003 the group has continued to help organize anti-war demonstrations, vigils and other events.

Maria Telesca-Whipple has worked extensively for many years in Brevard County, Florida, as an organizer for the Global Network Against Nuclear Weapons & Power in Space and has attended just about all of the Melbourne Peace rallies. Along with Jeff Nall and Bruce Gagnon, she was mentioned frequently in files created and maintained by the Brevard County Sheriff's Office.

The Truth Project, Inc. is a Florida non-profit corporation, located in Palm Beach County, consisting of peace and social justice activists whose meetings in 2004 and 2005 took place in a Quaker church in Lake Worth. The Truth Project provides educational resources to high school students, regarding the facts surrounding military enlistment. As reported in December 2005 by NBC Nightly News, the Truth Project's meetings were placed under surveillance by the 902nd Military Intelligence Group, headquartered in Fort Meade, Maryland, which is also the location of the National Security Agency. A secret Department of Defense report characterized the Truth Project as a "credible threat" to national security.

Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition developed out of statewide opposition to President Bush's decision to attack Iraq, announced in the summer of 2002. Atlanta activism first coalesced around a national campaign to present petitions opposing war to all 100 U.S. Senators across the country on August 28, 2002. As a broad volunteer network of faith, student and community groups, the Coalition has organized dozens of non-violent vigils and marches, petition campaigns and educational campaigns opposing the Iraq War and calling for justice on issues ranging from globalization to Katrina relief.

School of Americas Watch is an independent organization that seeks to close the US Army School of the Americas through vigils and fasts, demonstrations and nonviolent protest, as well as media and legislative work. Today the SOA Watch movement is a large, diverse, grassroots movement rooted in solidarity with the people of Latin America. SOA Watch also seeks to change U.S. foreign policy in Latin America by educating the public, lobbying Congress and participating in creative, nonviolent resistance. The Pentagon has responded to the growing movement and Congress' near closure of the SOA with a PR campaign to give the SOA a new image. In an attempt to disassociate the school with its horrific past, the SOA was renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation in January of 2001.

The American Friends Service Committee: Maine Program on Youth and Militarism is an organization committed to bringing balanced information about military recruitment to Maine high school students. AFSC: Maine seeks to ensure that students know that they have a right to discuss the military without being forced to enlist, and to participate in open dialogue about militarism and society. AFSC: Maine has helped lead efforts in Maine to help high school students protect private information from recruiters from the Department of Defense by encouraging the prominent placement of "No Child Left Behind" opt-out forms. AFSC: Maine meets monthly at the Meetinghouse of the Midcoast Friends.

The Maine Coalition for Peace and Justice is a statewide organization of individual citizens and Maine group representatives working collectively and nonviolently for social equality, economic justice, direct democracy and regenerative environmental policies. Members of the Maine Coalition for Peace and Justice have organized rallies and marches across Maine in opposition to the war in Iraq. In 2006, in response to a Maine Civil Liberties Union FOIA request, the FBI revealed that it has conducted surveillance of the Coalition's e-mail.

CODEPINK Pittsburgh joins its sister branches worldwide in its struggle for peace and equality. CODEPINK believes women can be instrumental in ending the illegal and immoral invasion and occupation of Iraq. CODEPINK Pittsburgh rejects peace, freedom, and democracy at gunpoint. CODEPINK has organized numerous public actions against the war and says it will continue to express opposition to the U.S. imperialistic foreign policy until all U.S. troops are home safely, and the quality of life of Iraqi citizens is restored.

Pittsburgh Bill of Rights Defense Campaign is dedicated to organizing a grassroots response to defend civil liberties in America today. Along with other organizations, the campaign successfully petitioned the Pittsburgh City Council to pass a resolution to resist the implementation of the Patriot Act.

Pittsburgh Organizing Group is a non-hierarchical, consensus-based activist group working toward systemic change in a wide range of interconnected issues in society. Since its founding in the spring of 2002, POG has organized more than 75 campaigns and actions dealing with issues of war, militarism, labor rights, environmental issues and global financial institutions. POG has learned, as a result of NBC's release of Pentagon documents, that it has been the subject of a Pentagon investigation because of a campaign that POG launched in April 2005 to counter military recruitment. That campaign has included over two dozen pickets at a local recruiting hub station, counter recruitment presentations in multiple cities, educational outreach at local high schools, door-to-door visits in local communities that has convinced many local businesses to remove military propaganda, a petition to restrict access of military recruiters at area schools, and actions that confront recruiters on campuses and in the streets. One of these confrontations – POG's April 26 challenge to military recruiters at Carnegie Mellon University – was noted in the Pentagon document released by NBC as a potential “threat.”

Pittsburgh Raging Grannies acts in the tradition of wise women elders, seeks to promote global peace, justice, and social and economic equality by raising public awareness through the medium of song and humor. The Raging Grannies challenge audiences to work to bring about the social changes that are required in order to end economic oppression, particularly of women and children, and to end racial inequality, environmental destruction, human rights violations and arms proliferation. The Raging Grannies have organized and performed at numerous peace rallies in and around Pittsburgh and appear regularly at peace and freedom events throughout the greater Pittsburgh area.

Save Our Civil Liberties Campaign formed in response to the 2003 Free Trade Area of the Americas Ministerial in Miami, and is a national organization. Among other things, the campaign organized highly publicized anti-war protests at both the 2004 Democratic and Republication National Conventions. The organization's members were questioned and subjected to surveillance by U.S. military personnel at those events.

The Thomas Merton Center has been Pittsburgh's center for peace and social justice since 1972. The TMC acts as a resource and organizing center for twenty-five different projects. The TMC comprises people from diverse philosophies and faiths who find common ground in the nonviolent struggle to bring about a more peaceful and just world and work together to raise the moral questions involved in the issues of war, poverty, racism and oppression through protest, public education and advocacy.

The Thomas Merton Center Anti-War Committee emerged in opposition to the imminent invasion of Iraq in January of 2003. The Anti-War Committee has organized a number of marches and events against the Iraq war. In 2005, the Anti-War Committee organized the largest known convoy of Pittsburgh buses to the anti-war march in Washington, DC on September 24. The Committee also organized the March convergence and the Bring Them Home Now Tour with Cindy Sheehan in September. Both events drew thousands of Americans out in protest of the war in Iraq.

Rhode Island Community Coalition for Peace (RICCP) comprises individual members as well as representatives of officially endorsing groups, and has a listserv of more than 300 people. In addition to calling for the immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq, RICCP opposes the Patriot Act. RICCP has organized many public events, including a March 19, 2004 rally and march through downtown Providence, which drew about 500 people and a December 2004 peaceful protest in front of the RI National Guard Office in downtown Providence, which drew approximately 50 people. The December event is the one Rhode Island event that has thus far been publicly disclosed as being contained in the TALON database. RICCP also sponsored an appearance by anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan last July, and helped organize transportation for a substantial Rhode Island presence at the September 24, 2005 anti-war march in Washington, D.C. RICCP remains very active in ongoing counter-recruitment efforts.

The Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane is a local, membership organization committed to involving individuals and local communities in building foundations for a just and nonviolent world through community organizing, nonviolence training, volunteer involvement, human rights education and advocacy. Since its inception, the league has sponsored several large public protests, including anti-war and anti-globalization demonstrations and the largest anti-racism march in the history of the Inland Northwest.

The Raging Grannies of Seattle use song and humor to raise public awareness and promote global peace, justice, and social and economic equality. The Raging Grannies of Seattle have performed at numerous anti-war and anti-globalization events in the Puget Sound region.

Sound Nonviolent Opponents of War (SNOW) is a Puget Sound coalition of organizations and neighborhood groups who oppose human rights abuses, military aggression, and weapons of mass destruction. SNOW advocates for U.S. foreign policies that promote human rights, economic justice and self-determination. Most recently, SNOW's activities have concentrated on protesting the war in Iraq and other Bush administration policies.

In addition to all the above, there are also many college students, university professors and officials under constant surveillance due to their teachings and convictions. Also, several anti-government websites, such as moveon.org are being periodically checked for publishing anti-government articles.

Law and Terrorism

February 14, 2007

References:

Orin S Kerr - Internet surveillance law after the USA Patriot Act: The big brother that isn't., Northwestern University Law Review, March 31, 2003

Webster Griffin Tarpley - 9/11 Synthetic Terror: Made in USA, June 7, 2006

Walter M. Brasch - America's Unpatriotic Acts: The Federal Government's Violation Of Constitutional And Civil Rights, January 30, 2005

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/260424_spies22.html

http://www.antiwar.com/glantz/?articleid=10085

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/17/AR2005071700889_pf.html

http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/january2007/230107surveillance.htm

http://www.aclu.org/safefree/general/17326res20030403.html

http://www.afsc.org/news/2006/SecretSurveillanceFiles.htm

www.wikipedia.org