scribblings from a deist transhumanist libertarian minarchist citizen soldier

President authorized domestic spying

Posted by Trevor in under other on Dec 17th, 2005 | View Comments |

I understand that sometimes people need to be monitored. On the other hand, governments need to be monitored even more.

The current headlines about domestic spying are garnering my interest.

The revelations come amid a fierce congressional debate over reauthorization of the USA Patriot Act, an anti-terrorism law passed after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The Patriot Act granted the FBI new powers to conduct secret searches and surveillance in the United States.

Most of the powers covered under that law are overseen by a secret court that meets at Justice Department headquarters and must approve applications for wiretaps, searches and other operations. The NSA’s operation is outside that court’s purview, and according to the Times report, the Justice Department may have sought to limit how much that court was made aware of NSA activities.

Public disclosure of the NSA program also comes at a time of mounting concerns about civil liberties over the domestic intelligence operations of the U.S. military, which have also expanded dramatically after the Sept. 11 attacks.”

Should we spy on people we think are terrorists? Probably. Should we have secret courts that make decisions about who terrorists are? Probably not, in my humble opinion. I think we need to tread really, really carefully here. I’m not a fan of the Patriot Act. Not at all.

A conference report by Senate and House negotiators to extend for four years provisions of the USA Patriot Act includes a comprehensive anti-methamphetamine package restricting the sale of products containing ingredients needed to cook the drug and providing new tools to police and prosecutors to combat dealers.”

We are already seeing extra-special drug war clauses getting thrown in. Drug addicts are not terrorists. What else will Congress add as the years go by? Mission creep is gonna get us if we’re not careful.

The renewal of the Patriot Act has been blocked. Good. Let’s talk about it some more before we do anything most of us will live to regret.

Similar Posts:

Print This Post |

Dan Cameron Rodill

Trevor,

I know the "Why not just make it all legal?" argument and even agreed with the "logic" of it, once upon a time. Like, "Hey, just take the profit out of it and...." It does sound perfectly "rational" in theory, doesn't it? Why not let a whole country, or at least it's "youth," dope itself blind, if that's what they want? Isn't that true "liberty"? "Progressive" Billionaire George Soros and his acolytes are for it. It sounds, well, so "logical." The air-tight logic of theory. Do you know of any countries which would serve as a good "model" for this theory? Especially "major" countries which tend to be more complex than Switzerland or Sweden? China is out, ever since the Brits apparently failed to "control" it with opium. To bring it a little closer to home, why not "libertarianize" the U.S. military, so that service personnel in Anbar Province can "amphetamize" their tour, or spice it up with acid of Ecstasy or whatever? Or if that's not quite the thing for "Drug America," and you don't really want such a "Libertarian Military," would the growth industry in American civilian dopers do something for the future U.S. military? In other words, since the ACLU profs etc don't want recruiters on campus, would detox centers become a major venue for military recruitment? I suspect that Al-Quaeda, China, Canada, George Soros and Howard Dean etc might applaud, but I haven't done a "scientific survey."

dcr (from Vietnam to Iraq---now it can be blogged[?])

Trevor

Jake,

Taxpayers already foot the bill for the Drug War. The ONDCP (Office of National Drug Control Policy) has a budget of $40 billion annually for law enforcement actions. I'm saying we should use some of that or most of it for treatment instead.

I believe treatment options work better than prison terms. From what I've seen and read, we are taking a group of non-violent drug offenders and turning them into violent hardcore criminals by locking them up with animals.

GunnNutt,

I understand the need for secrecy. Believe me. I am just concerned when I hear about courts and don't know who they answer too. I think every facet of our government has to be answerable to the people of the United States in one form or another. I want to keep the secrets to the bare minimum necessary. Certainly, I don't think all information should be releaseable under FOIA. That would be silly.

Thanks for your comments...

GunnNutt

Jake's got a point. If drugs were legalized and the government made money off taxing them, why should there be a govt. social program to treat abusers?

As for secret courts, I think they are necessary. The NYT has been crossing its legs holding this story for so long until if finally decided "to hell with National security". Imagine if it had the ability to use FOIA to get public court documents about highly sensitive surveylance operations? Nothing would make them happier than to blast these kinds of headlines on a daily basis.

There are always going to be treasonous 'tards who leak info, but we don't need to make it easy for them.

Jake

And use the taxes collected on the sale of drugs for public treatment programs and drug education.

Why not let them pay for themselves it is there problem I would use the money to pay down the national debt.

Trevor

Dan,

You completely fail to mention that if drugs were legalized, the black market that you mention would dry up.

The Drug War, in my opinion, has done nothing to curb drug use. It has merely raised the prices and made the stakes higher.

The government created the current market climate surrounding drugs, not terrorists. Terrorists are taking advantage of an artificially induced situation that could easily be rectified by rescinding legislation that should be illegal anyhow. Telling Americans what they can and cannot do with their own bodies is wrong and morally bankrupt if you believe in free will as I do.

So I'm not buying the argument you're making.

People will do drugs either way. Legalize them. Tax them. And use the taxes collected on the sale of drugs for public treatment programs and drug education.

Dan Cameron Rodill

In the real world everything, sooner or later, is connected. That would include drugs and terror. The Left, of course, for a long time has accused the CIA et al of using drugs to finance covert operations. In the new War on Terror, charges are now surfacing re the Islamo Terror, charges which may annoy Friends of Junkies.

Drugs and Terror: Understanding the Link and the Impact on America

"It's so important for Americans to know that the traffic in drugs finances the work of terror, sustaining terrorists, that terrorists use drug profits to fund their cells to commit acts of murder. If you quit drugs, you join the fight against terror in America."
President George W. Bush

There is an undeniable link between acts of terror and illicit drugs. Law enforcement officials around the world have long recognized this close connection, but a changing world and recent events have made this link more relevant in the daily lives of all Americans. The bottom line is simple: terror and drug groups are linked in a mutually-beneficial relationship by money, tactics, geography and politics. Americans must understand that our individual choices about illicit drug use have the power to support or undermine our nation's war on terrorism.

Drugs form an important part of the financial infrastructure of terror networks. Twelve of the 28 terror organizations identified by the U.S. Department of State in October 2001 traffic in drugs. Drug income is the primary source of revenue for many of the more powerful international terrorist groups. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) receives about $300 million from drug sales annually. The United Self Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) relies on the illegal drug trade for 40-70 percent of its income. Peru's Shining Path is more dependent on drug money than ever before. And the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, which provided safe haven to Osama Bin Laden and his Al Qaeda network, used revenues from opium and heroin to stay in power. In 2000, Afghanistan was responsible for more than 70 percent of the world's opium trade, resulting in significant income to the Taliban.

http://www.theantidrug.com/drugs_terror/underst...

Jake

I remember after 9/11 they had tv ads saying if you buy illegal drugs you are funding terrorism.

I will continue to fight big government in the 2006 elections. Every supporter of the Patriot Act should be kicked out.

Everyone has became a terrorist suspect now and I don't like the idea.