The U.S. army is monitoring and collecting information on anti-war activists
- From: "refugeedeveloper@xxxxxxxxxxx" <refugeedeveloper@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: 17 Dec 2005 15:00:23 -0800
Courtesy AlJazeera.com
Pentagon spying on anti-war groups - Report
12/17/2005 7:00:00 PM GMT
The U.S. army is monitoring and collecting information on anti-war
activists
A Pentagon document shows that the U.S. army is monitoring and
collecting information on anti-war activists across the United States,
NBC reported.
The network obtained a classified Pentagon document which lists four
dozen anti-war meetings or demonstrations that took place in the U.S.
over a 10-month period.
The document also included anti-nuclear protests staged in Nebraska on
the 50th anniversary of the U.S. nuclear bombing of Nagasaki.
The Pentagon describes all of these events as threats, says William
Arkin, the former Army intelligence officer, who obtained the secret
documents.
According to NBC, the document says that the U.S. military is even
monitoring Internet traffic. The network quoted one Pentagon briefing
document, stamped "secret", as saying: "We have noted increased
communication and encouragement between protest groups using the
Internet."
Correspondents say the revelation shows how Washington stepped up
intelligence collection since the September 11, 2001 attacks.
American citizens have been wary of any monitoring of anti-war groups
since the Vietnam war when the Pentagon spied on anti-war and civil
rights organizations. In the 1970s, the Congress recommended tough
restrictions on military spying inside the United States.
Following the NBC report, the Pentagon said it ordered a review of the
military intelligence program, indicating, but not admitting, that some
of the gathered information had been handled improperly.
A Pentagon spokesman said that "the Department of Defense uses
counterintelligence and law enforcement information properly collected
by law enforcement agencies.
"The use of this information is subject to strict limitations,
particularly the information must be related to missions relating to
protection of DoD installations, interests and personnel," he said,
according to Reuters.
The Pentagon has already acknowledged the existence of a
counterintelligence program known as the "Threat and Local Observation
Notice" (TALON) reporting system, which the military says is aimed at
gathering "non-validated threat information and security anomalies
indicative of possible terrorist pre-attack activity."
"Psychological war"
USAToday reported that the Pentagon has a $400 million psychological
warfare campaign that includes plans to plant pro-American stories in
global media outlets.
One of the army officials involved in the program was quoted as saying
that the operation is aimed at altering foreign audiences'
perceptions to back American policies.
The program, run by psychological warfare experts at the U.S. Special
Operations Command, would operate throughout the world, the report
said.
According to Reuters, one of the three firms handling the campaign
include the Lincoln Group, a company under investigation by the
Pentagon for paying Iraqi newspapers to run pro-American stories.
Pentagon officials involved in the program say that they don't plan
to secretly plant false stories in foreign media outlets. But Mike
Furlong, deputy director of the Joint Psychological Operations Support
Element, told USAToday that the army would not always reveal its role
in distributing pro-American messages.
"While the product may not carry the label, 'Made in the USA,' we will
respond truthfully if asked" by reporters, he said.
USAToday said Furlong refused to give examples of specific products,
which he said would include articles, advertisements and public service
announcements.
.
- Prev by Date: Re: Islam - The religion of peace
- Next by Date: Hamas participation in PLC elections
- Previous by thread: Re: Islam - The religion of peace
- Next by thread: Hamas participation in PLC elections
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
|
