emma_goldman
14th October 2006, 14:16
http://www.informat ionclearinghouse .info/article152 93.htm
Documents Reveal Scope of U.S. Database on Antiwar Protests
By ERIC LICHTBLAU
10/13/06
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes. com/2006/ 10/13/washington /13protest. html?ei=5070& en=1517093ff7cfd 498&ex=116140320 0&emc=eta1& pagewanted= print
WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 -- Internal military documents released
Thursday provided new details about the Defense Department's
collection of information on demonstrations nationwide last
year by students, Quakers and others opposed to the Iraq war.
The documents, obtained by the American Civil Liberties
Union under a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, show, for
instance, that military officials labeled as "potential
terrorist activity" events like a "Stop the War Now" rally
in Akron, Ohio, in March 2005.
The Defense Department acknowledged last year that its
analysts had maintained records on war protests in an
internal database past the 90 days its guidelines allowed,
and even after it was determined there was no threat.
A department spokesman said Thursday that the "questionable
data collection" had led to a tightening of military
procedures to ensure that only information relevant to
terrorism and other threats was collected. The spokesman,
Maj. Patrick Ryder, said in response to the release of the
documents that the department "views with great concern any
potential violation" of the policy.
"There is nothing more important or integral to the
effectiveness of the U.S. military than the trust and good
will of the American people," Major Ryder said.
A document first disclosed last December by NBC News showed
that the military had maintained a database, known as Talon,
containing information about more than 1,500 "suspicious
incidents" around the country in 2004 and 2005. Dozens of
alerts on antiwar meetings and peaceful protests appear to
have remained in the database even after analysts had
decided that they posed no threat to military bases or
personnel.
Some documents obtained by the A.C.L.U. referred to the
potential for disruption to military recruiting and the
threat posed to military personnel as a result.
An internal report produced in May 2005, for instance,
discussed antiwar protests at the University of California,
Santa Cruz, and was issued "to clarify why the Students for
Peace and Justice represent a potential threat to D.O.D.
personnel."
The memorandum noted that several hundred students had
recently protested the presence of military recruiters at a
career fair and demanded that they leave.
"The clear purpose of these civil disobedience actions was
to disrupt the recruiting mission of the U.S. Army
Recruiting Command by blocking the entrance to the
recruiting station and causing the stations to shut down
early," it said.
But the document also noted that "to date, no reported
incidents have occurred at these protests."
The documents indicated that intelligence reports and tips
about antiwar protests, including mundane details like the
schedule for weekly planning meetings, were widely shared
among analysts from the military, the Federal Bureau of
Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security.
"There is simply no reason why the United States military
should be monitoring the peaceful activities of American
citizens who oppose U.S. war policies," said Ben Wizner, a
lawyer for the A.C.L.U.
Joyce Miller, an official with the American Friends Service
Committee, a Quaker group that learned that information on
some of its antiwar protests was in the military database,
said she found the operation to be a "chilling" and
troubling trend.
Documents Reveal Scope of U.S. Database on Antiwar Protests
By ERIC LICHTBLAU
10/13/06
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes. com/2006/ 10/13/washington /13protest. html?ei=5070& en=1517093ff7cfd 498&ex=116140320 0&emc=eta1& pagewanted= print
WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 -- Internal military documents released
Thursday provided new details about the Defense Department's
collection of information on demonstrations nationwide last
year by students, Quakers and others opposed to the Iraq war.
The documents, obtained by the American Civil Liberties
Union under a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, show, for
instance, that military officials labeled as "potential
terrorist activity" events like a "Stop the War Now" rally
in Akron, Ohio, in March 2005.
The Defense Department acknowledged last year that its
analysts had maintained records on war protests in an
internal database past the 90 days its guidelines allowed,
and even after it was determined there was no threat.
A department spokesman said Thursday that the "questionable
data collection" had led to a tightening of military
procedures to ensure that only information relevant to
terrorism and other threats was collected. The spokesman,
Maj. Patrick Ryder, said in response to the release of the
documents that the department "views with great concern any
potential violation" of the policy.
"There is nothing more important or integral to the
effectiveness of the U.S. military than the trust and good
will of the American people," Major Ryder said.
A document first disclosed last December by NBC News showed
that the military had maintained a database, known as Talon,
containing information about more than 1,500 "suspicious
incidents" around the country in 2004 and 2005. Dozens of
alerts on antiwar meetings and peaceful protests appear to
have remained in the database even after analysts had
decided that they posed no threat to military bases or
personnel.
Some documents obtained by the A.C.L.U. referred to the
potential for disruption to military recruiting and the
threat posed to military personnel as a result.
An internal report produced in May 2005, for instance,
discussed antiwar protests at the University of California,
Santa Cruz, and was issued "to clarify why the Students for
Peace and Justice represent a potential threat to D.O.D.
personnel."
The memorandum noted that several hundred students had
recently protested the presence of military recruiters at a
career fair and demanded that they leave.
"The clear purpose of these civil disobedience actions was
to disrupt the recruiting mission of the U.S. Army
Recruiting Command by blocking the entrance to the
recruiting station and causing the stations to shut down
early," it said.
But the document also noted that "to date, no reported
incidents have occurred at these protests."
The documents indicated that intelligence reports and tips
about antiwar protests, including mundane details like the
schedule for weekly planning meetings, were widely shared
among analysts from the military, the Federal Bureau of
Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security.
"There is simply no reason why the United States military
should be monitoring the peaceful activities of American
citizens who oppose U.S. war policies," said Ben Wizner, a
lawyer for the A.C.L.U.
Joyce Miller, an official with the American Friends Service
Committee, a Quaker group that learned that information on
some of its antiwar protests was in the military database,
said she found the operation to be a "chilling" and
troubling trend.