For situations like this M61s and tractor trailor loads of ammo are
absolute miracle workers. Better yet, they are cheaper than elections
(or recalls), tie up less TV air time, and such solutions are long
term and very effective. :D
ACLU: Military skirting law to spy By LARRY NEUMEISTER, Associated
Press Writer
Tue Apr 1, 7:42 PM ET
NEW YORK - The military is using the FBI to skirt legal restrictions
on domestic surveillance to obtain private records of Americans'
Internet service providers, financial institutions and telephone
companies, the ACLU said Tuesday.
The American Civil Liberties Union based its conclusion on a review of
more than 1,000 do***ents turned over by the Defense Department after
it sued the agency last year for do***ents related to national
security letters. The lawsuit was filed in Manhattan federal court.
The letters are investigative tools used to compel businesses to turn
over customer information without a judge's order or grand jury
subpoena.
ACLU lawyer Melissa Goodman said the do***ents the civil rights group
studied "make us incredibly concerned that the FBI and DoD might be
collaborating to evade limits put on the DoD's use of NSLs."
It would be understandable if the military relied on help from the FBI
on joint investigations, but not when the FBI was not involved in a
probe, she said.
The FBI referred requests for comment Tuesday to the Defense
Department. A department spokesman, Air Force Lt. Col. Patrick Ryder,
said in an e-mail that the department had made "focused, limited and
judicious" use of the letters since Congress extended the capability
to investigatory entities other than the FBI in 2001.
He said the department had acted legally in using a necessary
investigatory tool and noted that "unusual financial activity of
people affiliated with DoD can be an indication of potential espionage
or terrorist-related activity."
Ryder said the information in the ACLU claims came in part from an
internal review of DoD's use of the letters.
"We have since developed training and provided it to the services for
their use," he said.
He said that there was no law requiring it to track use of the letters
but that the department had decided it was in its best interest to do
so.
Goodman, a staff attorney with the ACLU National Security Project,
said the military is allowed to demand financial and credit records in
certain instances but does not have the authority to get e-mail and
phone records or lists of Web sites that people have visited. That is
the kind of information that the FBI can get by using a national
security letter, she said.
"That's why we're particularly concerned. The DoD may be accessing the
kinds of records they are not allowed to get," she said.
Goodman also noted that legal limits are placed on the Defense
Department "because the military doing domestic investigations tends
to make us leery."
In other allegations, the ACLU said:
* The Navy's use of the letters to demand domestic records has
increased significantly since the Sept. 11 attacks.
* The military wrongly claimed its use of the letters was limited to
investigating only Defense Department employees.
* The Defense Department has not kept track of how many national
security letters the military issues or what information it obtained
through the orders.
* The military provided misleading information to Congress and
silenced letter recipients from speaking out about the records
requests.
Goodman said Congress should provide stricter guidelines and
meaningful oversight of how the military and FBI make national
security letter requests.
"Any government agency's ability to demand these kinds of personal,
financial or Internet records in the United States is an intrusive
surveillance power," she said.
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