If they haven’t already, Mr. Bush’s secret army of snoops & snitches may soon be infiltrating a neighborhood near you-- and you may never even know it.
Of course, right now it’s only happening in a finite number of states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and Washington, D.C. But chances are, it’s only a matter of time until this super-secret army comes a’ huntin’ terrorists dissidents at your neighborhood hangout, wherever you live in America. So, who are these sleuthhounds? That’s just it. We may never know who they are. They could be a store clerk at K-Mart; a latte barista at Starbucks or even a cable-tv installer from Comcast -- all no doubt someone's neighbor -- but all recruited by the government to be so-called "terrorism liaison officers."
The altruistic paramedic responding to your neighbor’s frantic 911 call might just be a TLO. That bearded utility worker huggin’ the top of the telephone pole down the block could be one too. In Bush’s Orwellian world you can never tell. You’re either a spy or a suspect. (the domesticated version of "You're either with us or ag'in us.")
The truth is, I doubt if we’ll ever discover the full scale of the Bush administration’s assault on law and reason; at least not in my lifetime. All we can really do right now is prod and poke into BushCo’s maddening modus operandi whenever we get the chance. And, since we’re stuck with this complicit Congress, those chances are few and far between.
The Denver Post, however, has documented 181 TLOs currently on the streets in Colorado; at least according to Bruce Finley:
Hundreds of police, firefighters, paramedics and even utility workers have been trained and recently dispatched as "Terrorism Liaison Officers" in Colorado and a handful of other states to hunt for "suspicious activity" — and are reporting their findings into secret government databases.
It's a tactic intended to feed better data into terrorism early-warning systems and uncover intelligence that could help fight anti-U.S. forces. But the vague nature of the TLOs' mission, and their focus on reporting both legal and illegal activity, has generated objections from privacy advocates and civil libertarians.
Incidentally, guidelines for TLO training define "suspicious activity" as any behavior (in the eye of the beholder) that could conceivably lead to a terrorist act. If they find something they deem "suspicious," the TLOs then report their findings to their superiors. (which end up in secret government databases) According to a joint draft document from the Department of Justice/Major Cities Chiefs Association that behavior includes:
• taking photos of no apparent aesthetic value
• making measurements or taking notes in a public place
• espousing extremist beliefs
• conversing in code
Of course, all this is bête noire to opponents of domestic surveillance.
Yet U.S. intelligence and homeland security officials say they support the widening use of TLOs — state-run under federal agreements — as part of a necessary integrated network for preventing attacks.
"We're simply providing information on crime-related issues or suspicious circumstances," said Denver police Lt. Tony Lopez, commander of Denver's intelligence unit and one of 181 individual TLOs deployed across Colorado.
"We don't snoop into private citizens' lives. We aren't living in a communist state."
Mark Silverstein of the Colorado ACLU says that some of the 181 TLOs in Colorado are from the private sector; corporations like Xcel Energy.
Matthew Rothschild, the editor of The Progressive has more:
Mark Silverstein of the Colorado ACLU told Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! that this reminds him of the old TIPS program, which "caused so much controversy that Congress eventually shut it down. But it is reemerging in other forms." Silverstein warns that there will be thousands and thousands of "completely innocent people going about completely innocent and legal activities" who are going to end up in a government database.
On the web, I found a description for a Terrorism Liaison Officer Position in the East Bay.
Reporting to the Alameda and Contra Costa Counties and the city of Oakland, these officers "would in effect function as ad hoc members" of the East Bay Terrorism Early Warning Group, which consists of local police officers and firefighters.
The "suggested duties" of these Terrorism Liaison Officers include: "source person for internal or external inquiry," and "collecting, reporting retrieving and sharing of materials related to terrorism. Such materials might include ... books journals, periodicals, and videotapes."
TLOs would be situated not only in agencies dealing with the harbor, the airports, bus terminals and the railroads, but also university campuses. And, as the program spreads, plans include the involvement of the private sector; expanding to health care personnel and eventually to representatives from private critical infrastructure entities equipped with communications systems specific to their special needs.
In this regard, Terrorism Liaison Officers resemble InfraGard members. (See "The FBI Deputizes Business".) This FBI-private sector liaison group now consists of more than 26,000 members, who have their own secure channels of communication and are shielded, as much as possible, from scrutiny.
Terrorism Liaison Officers connect up with so-called "Fusion Centers": intelligence sharing among public safety agencies as well as the private sector.
In case you were wondering, the DoJ has come up with so-called "Fusion Center Guidelines" that explain the role of private sector participants.
[Perhaps] tying in somehow with the telecom immunity clause in the FISA bill -- the guidelines also encourage fusion center leaders to lobby the appropriate policymakers in Congress in order to push legislation for the protection of private sector data providers. Is it conjecture on my part? Sure it is but remember, Russ Feingold said today on the Senate floor that many senators (including him) don't even know what all is involved in the NSA's TSP.
"To aid in sharing this sensitive information, a Non-Disclosure Agreement may be used. The NDA provides private sector entities an additional layer of security, ensuring the security of private sector proprietary information and trade secrets," the document states.
Yeah, gotta protect that proprietary information at all costs -- human or otherwise.
Man, I sure wish someone would tell Dick Cheney that "1984" was just a freakin’ work of fiction.
Peace