Extraordinary rendition, anyone?
See? It works!
We have been told that our very safety, our “homeland security,” is dependent on the federal government having extraordinary powers to snoop, listen and search without the traditional (pronounced “constitutional”) checks provided by judicial review.
One part of this equation works as advertised – the incursion into civil liberties. But as for the safety part? That’s another story.
The L.A. Times reports that domestic spying warrants granted by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court were up 9 percent in 2007 over 2006 – and more than 50% since 2001.
National security letters – the instruments served on the Internet Archive — were up from 9,254 in 2005 to 12,583 in 2006. (Notes the Times: “They have caused a stir because consumers do not have a right to know that their information is being disclosed and the letters are issued without court oversight.”)
So where are the terrorism prosecutions? Down more than 50% between 2007 and 2002.
And Syracus University found the number of cases dropped 19% in just the last year.
“The number of Americans being investigated dwarfs any legitimate number of actual terrorism prosecutions, and that is extremely troubling — for both the security and privacy of innocent Americans as well as for the squandering of resources on people who have not and never will be charged with any wrongdoing,” said Lisa Graves, deputy director of the Center for National Security Studies, a Washington-based civil liberties group.
But there may be other explanations, said administration officials. Maybe prosecutions isn’t the right measure …
“The fact that the prosecutions are down doesn’t mean that the utility of these investigations is down. It suggests that these investigations may be leading to other forms of prevention and protection,” said Thomas Newcomb, a former Bush White House national security aide. He said there were half a dozen actions outside of the criminal courts that the government could take to snuff out potential threats, including using diplomatic or military channels.
Extraordinary rendition, anyone?
