CIA expands its watchful eye to the US

The Christian Science Monitor ^ | December 17, 2001 | By Abraham McLaughlin

[expose]

December 17, 2001 CIA expands its watchful eye to the US

It will gather intelligence at home to curb terrorism. Critics see era of Big Trenchcoat.

By Abraham McLaughlin | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

WASHINGTON - The Central Intelligence Agency is poised to get involved in domestic surveillance and investigations in ways that are unprecedented in its history. The CIA's intelligence gathering has long been kept as separate as possible from domestic law enforcement, which is bound by strict evidence-gathering rules and legal safeguards protecting the rights of those investigated.

But as the nation girds itself against global terrorism carried out on American soil, the barriers between covert, stealthy intelligence and by-the-book domestic law enforcement investigations are beginning to melt.

Suddenly, for instance, the CIA will now have access to testimony collected by federal grand juries.

And the CIA, FBI, and other federal agencies are, for the first time, being allowed to share vast amounts of information ranging from phone records and credit cards statements to profiles of suspected terrorists.

These shrinking restraints come as new antiterrorism legislation adopted this fall grants the FBI far broader wiretapping and other investigative powers.

And while many see the new cooperation as essential in combating the enormous threat, for others it raises civil-liberties concerns - and resurrects dark memories of CIA monitoring of domestic groups, including 1970s antiwar protesters.

Those domestic intrusions drove Congress and the president to tighten restrictions dating back to the 1947 creation of the CIA that bar the agency from any "domestic police function."

"Traditionally, there's been a sharp demarcation between FBI and CIA turf ... but now there's more ambiguity," says Loch Johnson, author of "America's Secret Power: The CIA in a Democratic Society."

One of the most-significant changes is the CIA and other government agencies' new access to one of the most powerful domestic investigative tools - federal grand-jury proceedings - under the USA Patriot Act, which passed in the wake of Sept. 11. Now, if any grand-jury investigation involves matters of "foreign intelligence or counterintelligence" its fruits may be shared with relevant federal agencies, the statute reads.

"That's a big change in criminal law," notes Robert Davis, founder of the University of Mississippi's Journal of National Security Law.

Critics worry that "foreign intelligence" information is a very broad category that extends far beyond just fighting terrorism. They also worry the information flow won't just be one way. Instead, the CIA may eventually suggest certain avenues for investigation.

Defenders of the change argue prosecutors will be zealous about defending their grand-jury proceedings from outside interference.

What really worries critics is the CIA's past history of domestic operations. In the 1960s and '70s, for instance, Operation CHAOS included CIA involvement in spying on US citizens including antiwar protesters, black militant groups and even congressmen.

President Nixon's White House encouraged these activities, convinced that foreign powers stood behind anti-war radicals.

Yet advocates of the changes say the present threats on American soil differ significantly from the domestic snooping conducted by the Nixon administration.

In fact, supporters point out that drastic government measures - such as Abraham Lincoln's suspension of habeas corpus during the Civil War - have typically been temporary. Indeed, the most-controversial elements of the USA Patriot Act do eventually expire.

In the meantime, the stepped-up cooperation is crucial, says ex-Director Gates, who argues the relevant historical parallel is not Operation CHAOS but Pearl Harbor.

In 1941 - as in 2001 - "disparate government agencies had bits of information" that pointed to an attack.

"But there was no single agency to pull everything together in a coherent analysis of the threat," Gates says.

The new information sharing is the only way to prepare against new attacks. The USA Patriot act allows the CIA, FBI, the Border Patrol, and the Immigration and Naturalization Service to share information broadly. And it's likely to lead to FBI and CIA agents working closely together here in the US.

This greater cooperation comes at a time of significantly increased federal investigation powers. For instance, under the PATRIOT act, law enforcement can now more easily conduct secret searches of homes and businesses, while a change to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act makes it easier for law enforcement to obtain wiretaps.

Such activity may help prevent future terrorist acts. But there is also concern that it will lead to a blending of the intelligence and law-enforcement cultures.

Yet there are hints it won't be so easy for the two agencies to work together, given the history of antagonism between the two and the CIA's reluctance to repeat its past mistakes.

Somehow, experts say, the agencies must strike a tricky balance. "The concept of keeping them separate makes good sense in general," says University of Virginia law professor John Norton Moore. But after Sept. 11, "it's inconceivable not to have the two talking to each other."

[expose]

H.R.3162 PATRIOT ACT{ YOUR NEW- POLICESTATE- LOOK FOR YOUR SELF}

[verity]

What are you hiding?

[BrucefromMtVernon]

Domestic activity on the part of the CIA is a direct violation of the CIA Charter, which specifies foreign involvement only. Of course, it's understood here that the CIA is just a grandiose make-work project for ex-mental patients. They simply must present a "plan" to Congress to win taxpayer dollars for their multitude of projects. It's all part of "The Plan."

[copycat]

Hi, Mom!

[rdavis84]

Well, no more ranting and kicking the CIA for me, No Sir!!!! I Always was a Big Fan of those guys, always pushed to get them some more money and give them more Authority! Yes Sir!

We're going be O.K. Now! We're in Good Hands! Those guys are Sharp! Best of Luck to them and Hey, if there's ANYTHING I can do to help You Guys out, just let me know! Need some leads on some folks who don't trust the government, I've Got 'Em! No Charge, guys! :-) :-) :-) Hi, there.

[rdavis84]

You might want to use my reply #6 as a guide. Of course, they know I was only posting stuff for you guys. Just to help ya' out. Innocent mistake. Didn't mean anything by it. Not me.

[Cicero]

Very bad idea. There has always been a policy that the CIA works overseas and the FBI works domestically. Clinton first broke this policy by opening FBI offices overseas, and now the CIA is going to start spying on US citizens in this country.

The FBI has been abusive enough. The CIA is likely to be a LOT worse.

[OKCSubmariner]

BUMP!

[Uncle Bill]

CIA links Porton Down To Anthrax Attacks

TELEGRAPH
By Ben Fenton in Washington
December 17, 2001

THE FBI is concentrating its hunt for the source of the anthrax used to terrorise America on laboratories used by the CIA and British government scientists.

Only five laboratories, including the defence science and technology laboratories at Porton Down, Salisbury, have been found to have spores of anthrax identical to the bacteria sent through the post to two Democratic senators and news organisations in New York and Florida.

But frustrated FBI agents say they have not been able to find enough information about security at Porton Down - one of the most secretive establishments in Britain - to decide whether it could be the source of the terrorists' anthrax.

Another focus of the FBI inquiry is the CIA, which has been conducting experiments on anthrax in the interests of defence from germ warfare.

Both Porton Down, directly, and the CIA, indirectly, received their samples of the particular anthrax spores used in the attacks from the US army medical research institute of infectious diseases at Fort Detrick, about 50 miles north of Washington.

Sources in the FBI said the CIA was under investigation because of the bureau's "interest" in a contractor which used to work for the agency in its anthrax project.

The FBI believes the attacks, which have killed five people, to be the work of a domestic terrorist, although they have not ruled out links with Osama bin Laden and his al-Qa'eda network.

U.S. Aiding Russian Germ Warfare

From Russia, with bugs [US subsidizing Russian Biological Warfare Lab]
"CBI is funded by grants from the Defense Department and the National Institutes of Health, and it even boasts an anonymous private investor from the Dallas area who is anticipating a return in the form of sellable products."

[rdavis84]

Looks like some heavy duty internal war going on. The CIA has their puppet in right now, the trick's going to be to keep him in.

May as well set a new "Clinton Death List" so we can see the expendables listed for this admin.

[A.J.Armitage]

I feel safer already!

[Lumberjack]

Traitors and turncoats all if they allow themselves to be used this way. We are not the problem. We are the citizens, their masters, paying their salary. We should not be treated as criminals. The job of the government is to defend us, not "contain and monitor" us.

Face surveillance cameras getting public approval, national id cards getting considered, expanded police powers and AG's who can declare anybody a criminal without a shred of evidence needed, a war without end on an abstract concept, secret tribunals, expanded domestic wiretapping without probable cause, Fibbie surveillance powers now granted without probable cause to monitor churches. Now all we need is a Ministry of Truth and we'd be all set.

[x]

The chickens are coming home to roost. What we're experiencing now is what we went through 40 or 50 years ago. A good cause -- fighting fascism or communism -- is used to justify bad measures, and few object. Then the tide turns and we may see a movement against the unjust or intrusive or oppressive measures, but also against more legitimate security concerns, as we did thirty years ago after Vietnam.

[sneakypete]

The Central Intelligence Agency is poised to get involved in domestic surveillance and investigations in ways that are unprecedented in its history.

Ok,all together now,let's say it,"Thank you,Bubba Bush!"

[nunya bidness]

Go Otto Go!