Apocalyptic Hope ......... Martial Law Index

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Michael Mukasey, 66, sworn in as Attorney General -- Nov. 9, 2007 .. NY Fed. Judge, retired
[ Ed: MM believes in "habeus corpus" : holding prisoners without trial or conviction ;
MM is endorsed by Spector, Schummer, Feinstein ]
His backers praised him as a strong choice to restore morale at the Justice Department and independently oversee federal prosecutions in the final months of the Bush administration

[Ed: Both sides of Leahy's ( D ) mouth ] .......
“I am not going to aid and abet the confirmation contortions of this administration,” said Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont and chairman of the Judiciary Committee. “I do not vote to allow torture.” ( ny times )
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/09/washington/09cnd-mukasey.html?hp

Leahy said he'll work closely with Mukasey, and expects to have weekly conversations with the nation's top law enforcement official.
"I will work with him, as I would any attorney general," Leahy said. "I will try to make him succeed"
"This was not so much a vote against Micheal Mukasey as it was a vote against the policies, the above-the-law policies of this administration," Leahy added. "That's why he got the lowest number of votes of anyone for attorney general in over 50 years."
"Congress, Leahy added, shouldn't have to name every interrogation technique -- such as "thumb screws or amputations" -- when it drafts laws against torture."
http://www.reformer.com/headlines/ci_7425019

Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, said she was confident that Mr. Mukasey would be nonpartisan and that his refusal to make a judgment on torture without knowing all the facts of interrogation policy should not keep him from the post.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/09/washington/09cnd-mukasey.html?hp

He will oversee 110,000 employees ...
The scandal, which led to Gonzales' ouster in September, tarnished the Justice Department's long-held independent stance and prompted a flood of resignations from its senior officials. Twelve of the highest-ranking department jobs - including the Nos. 2 and 3 spots and six assistant attorneys general - currently are held by officials who have not been confirmed by the Senate. Two other senior officials have announced their resignations and are expected to leave shortly
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/nation_world/20071110_Facing_troubled_agency__attorney_general_sworn_in.html

Mukasey refuses to call interrogation-by-force, torture. Says "legal"-- Oct. 31, 2007
Atty. Gen.-designate Michael B. Mukasey, adopting a middle ground on an issue that has become central to his nomination, said coercive interrogation methods, including a form of simulated drowning, were "over the line" and "repugnant." But he declined to say whether he thought so-called water-boarding was a form of torture that would be illegal in all cases.
"He should not be confirmed if he cannot say that water-boarding, a form of mock drowning that has been prosecuted as torture since 1902, is illegal." --J. Daskal

At the same time, Democrats are facing the possibility that President Bush will never send up a nominee who disagrees with his torture policy. If the torture issue becomes a litmus test, that could leave the Justice Department without what even Democrats say is some badly needed leadership for the remainder of the Bush presidency

As described in your letter, these techniques seem over the line or, on a personal basis, repugnant to me, and would probably seem the same to many Americans," Mukasey wrote. "But hypotheticals [ Ed: principles get in the way of pragmatism ..immediate results ] are different from real life, and in any legal opinion the actual facts and circumstances are critical."
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-mukasey31oct31,1,1555983.story?coll=la-news-a_section
The Detainee Treatment Act passed by Congress in 2005 prohibits the military from waterboarding prisoners.
The law does not extend to the CIA. http://www.reformer.com/headlines/ci_7425019

Michael Mukasey next Attorney General ? Oct. 17, 2007 Head of the Justice Department
Another hot-button topic bound to come up at the hearing will be Mukasey's views on legal issues such as the material witness law, which allows the government to hold witnesses temporarily [ Ed: indefinately ] in order to keep them from fleeing court proceedings.
"While he is certainly conservative, Judge Mukasey seems to be the kind of nominee who would put rule of law first
http://www.abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=3738348&page=1

No oath to be taken by Rove, Meirs in firing 8 judges -- March 21, 2007
"-- President Bush set the stage for a political and legal showdown with Congress when he vowed Tuesday that his top aides will not testify under oath before congressional committees on the scandal involving the firing of eight U.S. attorneys."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/03/21/MNGRUOOV9T1.DTL

8 Firings of US Attorneys causes disbelief in the System
" Any implication that a U.S. attorney's employment depends on his or her willingness to protect a president's political allies and persecute his enemies strikes at the heart of public confidence in the system"
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=573479&category=OPINION&newsdate=3/20/2007&TextPage=2
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=573479&category=OPINION&newsdate=3/20/2007

Interpol's US bureau ( National Central Bureau NCB ) under DOJustice
Ronald K. Noble

Justice Dept. : No hearings for detainees -- Oct. 18, 2006
In addition to the request to throw out lawsuits by detainees seeking to have their day in court, judges will be asked to decide new legal questions about the fairness of the tribunal process. Both issues may end up before the Supreme Court.
The legislation sets new rules for the CIA to conduct interrogations and allows for the prosecution of terrorism suspects before military tribunals
The enactment of the law — four months after the Supreme Court said that an earlier system for handling terrorism cases violated U.S. law — was welcome news for Bush and came as casualties have mounted in Iraq and his handling of the war on terrorism has come under intensifying criticism.
"Democrats want terrorists who kill Americans tried, convicted and punished through a constitutionally sound process that will be upheld on appeal," Pelosi said
Lawyers for the detainees responded with their own filing Tuesday, requesting time to present legal arguments that the new law violated the Constitution.

Bush said the new interrogation provisions would allow the CIA to restart a program of tough questioning of terrorist suspects that ground to a halt more than a year ago as Congress debated legislation banning the use of torture and questions about whether rough treatment of detainees would subject operatives to prosecution for war crimes.
Administration officials have refused to list any interrogation techniques that would be banned by the act, arguing that it was important to leave "ambiguity in the minds of Al Qaeda" about what the United States might do.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-na-detain18oct18,1,6460769.story?coll=la-headlines-frontpage&track=crosspromo
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-na-detain18oct18,1,6460769.story?page=2&track=crosspromo&coll=la-headlines-frontpage

Rewarding Alberto Gonzales - Jan. 6, 2005
Last week, the Bush administration put another spin on the twisted legal reasoning behind the brutalization of prisoners at military jails, apparently in hopes of smoothing the promotion of Alberto Gonzales, the White House counsel. Gonzales, who oversaw earlier memos condoning what amounts to torture and scoffed at the Geneva conventions, is being rewarded with the job of attorney general.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to question Gonzales on Thursday, even though the White House has not released documents that are essential to a serious hearing. The committee has an obligation to demand these documents, and to compel Gonzales to account for administration policies, before giving him the top law-enforcement job.
This time it rejected Bybee's bizarre notions that the president could be given the legal go-ahead to authorize torture, simply by defining the word so narrowly as to exclude almost anything short of mortal injury. We were glad to see that turnaround, although it was three years too late. Prisoners have already been systematically hurt, degraded, tortured and even killed. The international reputation of the United States is deeply scarred.

For instance, the Geneva conventions say that it is torture when a prisoner suffers mentally from the use of mind-altering drugs or the threat of imminent death. But the administration's lawyers have decided that temporary trauma doesn't count, and that mental suffering is real only if it lasts for years.
http://www.iht.com/bin/print_ipub.php?file=/articles/2005/01/05/opinion/edgonzales.html
http://www.iht.com//articles/2005/01/05/opinion/edgonzales.html

Gonzales promises to abide by treaties --Jan. 6, 2005
President Bush, he says, is protecting the United States and its citizens in a "manner consistent with our nation's values and applicable law, including our treaty obligations."
"I pledge that, if I am confirmed as attorney general, I will abide by those commitments," Gonzales says in the draft statementThe administration has staunchly maintained it does not allow torture. Last month, the Justice Department issued a new memo more broadly defining actions that would be considered torture.

Gonzales paid a publicly unannounced visit to Capitol Hill Tuesday to meet with at least one committee Democrat, Sen. Richard Durbin [Ed. note: against torture ] of Illinois, whose demand for memos written by Gonzales has been rebuffed.
Responding to such demands was Sen. John Cornyn, [ vs. Durbin ] a Texas Republican and also a member of the judiciary panel.
"Despite a good-faith effort by the Bush administration to provide Senate Democrats with all relevant information on the nomination, critics continue to expand the scope of their demands, and then cavil loudly about the administration's 'secrecy' and 'refusals' when the goal posts are moved," Cornyn said.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/01/05/gonzales.hearing/

Alberto Gonzales, Next Attorney General head of the Justice Department--Nov. 10, 2004
http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=246540
http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=246536
http://www.commondreams.org/news2004/1110-17.htm

http://www.wpherald.com/North_America/storyview.php?StoryID=20041110-050626-2498r
http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=17392
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000717474
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-11-10-gonzales-inside-usat_x.htm

david limbaugh believes in gonzales http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=41981
that should tell you something

American Police State 2004?
www.cybertime.net/~ajgood/ps.html

From the Newswire :

Patriot Act 2 -- Subpoena electronic data without a Court Order -- May 19, 2005
WASHINGTON - The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee is working on a bill that would renew the Patriot Act and expand government powers in the name of fighting terrorism, letting the FBI subpoena records without permission from a judge or grand jury.
But the measure being written by Sen. Pat Roberts (news, bio, voting record), R-Kan., would give the FBI new power to issue administrative subpoenas, which are not reviewed by a judge or grand jury, for quickly obtaining records, electronic data or other evidence in terrorism investigations, [ Ed : generic term ] according to aides for the GOP majority on the committee who briefed reporters Wednesday.
Roberts' planned bill also would make it easier for prosecutors to use special court-approved warrants for
secret wiretaps and searches of suspected terrorists and spies in criminal cases, the committee aides said.
[ Ed : applied at whim ? ]

Eight expiring sections of the law that deal with foreign intelligence investigations would become permanent, they said.
[ Ed : Remember how they said these emergency measures were only temporary and would be lifted shortly ??? ]
While we're fighting to bring provisions ... back into balance with the Bill of Rights, here we have the intelligence committee moving to give the government more power outside the judicial system to gain access to records of Americans," said former GOP Rep. Bob Barr of Georgia, a critic of the law.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and other administration officials have been adamant that the expiring provisions become permanent, with few changes.
Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., the panel's senior Democrat, has not said publicly whether he would support the entire bill that Roberts was working on or seek changes.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050519/ap_on_go_co/patriot_act_1

Patriot 2 (repackaged, renamed, and in little pieces) May 23, 2004
More covert power over the citizenry; making the unlawful, lawful (awful !)
"Covert" mean something covered or hidden..."Occult" means the same thing.
Daniel Bryant, the assistant attorney general for legal policy, said the Patriot Act has helped law enforcement detect and disrupt terrorist plots.

A. Are its provisions being used widely -- in ordinary cases having nothing to do with terrorism? The attorney general has said he hasn't used some powers. If so, are such powers needed?" asked former Rep. Bob Barr, a conservative Georgia Republican and civil liberties advocate."These questions should be examined before we consider new legislation."

"The Anti-Terrorism Intelligence Tools Improvement Act of 2003."
The provision would allow the government to conduct secret surveillance on suspected terrorists or spies without proving that they have any affiliation with a foreign government or terrorist organization. Critics worry that the government would use this change to snoop on people even if officials had no proof that they were part of a terror network.
The bill has two powerful co-sponsors, Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Porter Goss, R-Fla., the chairman of the Intelligence Committee.

B. No Checks and Balances ......
In addition to the lone-wolf provision, the bill would strengthen national security letters, which the FBI can use in counterterrorism or espionage cases to obtain business and financial records, as well as electronic communications from third parties, such as Internet service providers, medical offices or credit reporting agencies, with no judicial oversight.
The legislation would punish someone who discloses that he or she has received a letter with up to five years in prison and allow the attorney general to seek a judge to enforce the letter if someone refuses to hand over the information the FBI wants.

C. In addition to the Sensenbrenner-Goss bill, a separate bill is moving through the House Judiciary Committee, sponsored by Rep. John Carter, R-Texas, that would broaden the government's ability to bring the death penalty in terrorism cases.

D. The chief of the Justice Department's criminal division, Christopher Wray, has also called for lawmakers to expand the material support law, which makes it a crime to provide financing, lodging, training or other assistance to terrorist organizations.
http://www.kentucky.com/mld/heraldleader/8729961.htm

CIA Director John McLaughlin (mid- July 2004 )
Deputy CIA director John McLaughlin will take over in mid-July, when Tenet's resignation becomes effective.
Analysts said no permanent replacement is expected until after the November 2 presidential election. Any new nomination before the election would require Congress confirmation hearings that could reopen the wounds over Iraq and September 11. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20040603/pl_afp/us_attacks_iraq_cia_040603214905&e=2

J. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Ashcroft seeks maximum penalties --Sept. 23, 2003
Federal prosecutors were ordered Monday by Attorney General John Ashcroft to pursue maximum criminal charges and sentences whenever possible and to seek lesser penalties through plea bargains only in limited circumstances.
The policy change is the latest example of Ashcroft's attempts to bring greater symmetry — critics say inflexibility — to the federal justice system. During the summer Ashcroft instructed U.S. attorneys to seek the death penalty whenever applicable, overruling some who would not, and to vigorously oppose sentences imposed by judges that are lighter than recommended by federal guidelines.

Gerald Lefcourt, past president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, said the change "creates a system that is not only inflexible and problematic, but becomes a sort of immovable object. You're adding more unfairness to the system."
Nearly all federal criminal cases are resolved before they go to trial. According to Justice Department statistics for fiscal 2001, more than 96 percent of criminal defendants pleaded guilty to the offense charged or to a reduced charge, or had their cases dismissed.
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=542&u=/ap/20030922/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/ashcroft_plea_bargains_4&printer=1

Ashcroft pushes Patriot 2 Act; more law enforcement ...... June 13, 2003
With that in mind, the Justice Department continues to work on what is popularly referred to as PATRIOT II, which would further broaden law enforcement's mandate. Ashcroft already is publicly lobbying for three changes - making it unlawful to fight for a designated terrorist organization, imposing the death penalty for various terrorist actions and extending pre-trial detention for those arrested for terrorism-related offenses.

Several members of Congress, including Republicans like Rep. James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, have expressed concerns about providing law enforcement with much more authority, raising questions about civil liberties.
http://www.knoxstudio.com/shns/story.cfm?pk=BUSH-ASHCROFT-06-12-03&cat=WW

VeriChip Corporation Increases Its Washington, D.C. Presence -- Sept. 29, 2003
Retains Stanley L. Reid to Market Subdermal RFID VeriChip to Federal Agencies
Mr. Reid has particular expertise in selling new, introductory technologies to government agencies, including the Departments of Defense (DoD), Energy (DoE) and State, as well as the agencies that have been incorporated into the Department of Homeland Security. [ 22 agencies within Homeland Security ]

Retaining Mr. Reid to lead the VeriChip marketing effort in Washington, D.C. continues the Company's ongoing program, first announced last year in the "Protected by VeriChip" awareness initiative, to demonstrate VeriChip's potential as a secure identification technology with a variety of applications in the areas of homeland security and defense
http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/f_headline.cgi?day0/232725722&ticker=adsx

Ashcroft seeks tougher laws for terrorism -- June 6-2003
[ note :Fallout from the Rudolph case ]
John Ashcroft, is calling upon Congress to expand the present provisions in a way that would allow the Government to detain more suspects for an indefinite period of time as well to extend the death penalty to more persons accused of terrorist crimes.

The country's top law enforcement officer has also argued that he would like to address the attitude of some courts which have taken the position that persons taking training and joining up with terrorist groups abroad could not be charged in this country under the material support statute. "We need the law to make it clear that it's as much a conspiracy to aid and assist the terrorists, to join them for fighting purposes as it is to carry them a lunch or to provide them with a weapon'', Mr. Ashcroft told a House of Representatives Committee.

My fear is that we may go to the point of changing the culture of America, the First Amendment protections and the Fourth Amendment protections'', said Sheila Lee Jackson, Democrat from Texas. "Some of us find that the collateral damage is greater than it needs to be in the conduct of this war'', maintained Howard Berman, Democrat from California.
http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/stories/2003060700751500.htm

Watch : When Christians become labeled as "combatants" and "anarchists" because we refuse the Mark of the Beast, then anyone who shares food with us ("carry them a lunch") will be penalized as one who helped bring down the WTC towers. It's coming. Sure as night follows day.

Cracking down on "material supporters" (those who assist, even minimally) --June 6, 2003
Dr. Alice Bartee, an SMS professor of political science and pre-law, said she wants to see documentation of such threats and said the country does not need to move backward as it did around World War I, when neighbors spied on neighbors and everyone was looked at with tremendous suspicion.
"They are turning us into a police state," Bartee said. "The government already has tremendous power under the Patriot Act — some would say it has too much. Civil libertarians are not bleeding-heart liberals. Instead, they are dedicated Americans."

Bartee said Ashcroft is basing much of his case on "what appears to be a myth" and that the Patriot Act has not produced anything other than stripping citizens of their constitutional rights.
"If we lose what has made us unique out of fear, then we have truly lost," Bartee said.

Springfield attorney Thomas Carver called Ashcroft's request before Congress "alarming."
"It just seems like he is taking the idea to an extreme — in order to protect our liberties we have to take everyone else's away," Carver said. "I don't think that's what America is about."

"If we want to be more like the former Soviet Union where there is an informant on every corner and you have secret police operating outside of a legitimate system, then maybe we could be more effective in preventing terrorist attacks. We don't need to throw the Constitution out the window just so we can make what are going to be only minor gains in the war on terrorism."

The law expires in October 2005, and while House Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner praised Ashcroft's work so far, he added, "My support for this legislation is neither perpetual or unconditional."
"I believe the department and Congress must be vigilant toward short-term gains which ultimately may cause long-term harm to the spirit of liberty and equality which animate the American character," the Wisconsin Republican said.
http://news.ozarksnow.com/news/0606-Ashcroftas-71190.html

Secretive Intelligence gathering; no checks and balances--March 24, 2003
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16287-2003Mar23.html

More Accountability needed for Intelligence Gathering--Dec 12, 2002
http://www.iht.com/articles/79999.html

Peter Swire : privacy rights are vanishing--Dec 11, 2002
There really is not that much leadership on privacy coming from the White House right now," he said. "There's less accountability on privacy. At the same time, the administration has less oversight of law enforcement. We don't have leadership looking into individual rights, but we have leadership that might be taking away individual rights."
Swire said relying on constitutional protections might not be enough.

"There is a seductive trap in the (Bush) administration's rhetoric," Swire said. "They are saying that they will protect privacy as provided by the Constitution. That sounds good, but unfortunately most of the effective privacy protections today come from statutes and not from the Constitution itself. That approach is a recipe for repealing all of the laws that we wrote in the 1970s to prevent this lawlessness and abuse of power."
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,55900,00.html

Secret Court OK's Broad New Wiretap Powers-- Nov 18, 2002
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a victory for the Bush administration, a secretive appeals court Monday ruled the U.S. government has the right to use expanded powers to wiretap terrorism suspects under a law adopted after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
The ruling was a blow to civil libertarians who say the expanded powers, which allow greater leeway in conducting electronic surveillance and in using information obtained from the wiretaps and searches, jeopardize constitutional rights.

We are deeply disappointed with the decision, which suggests that this special court exists only to rubber-stamp government applications for intrusive surveillance warrants," said Ann Beeson of the American Civil Liberties Union (news - web sites). The groups had argued that broader government surveillance powers would violate the Fourth Amendment which protects against unreasonable searches and seizures.

The appeal is the first since the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court and appeals court were created in 1978 to authorize wiretap requests in foreign intelligence investigations. Under the procedures, all hearings and decisions of the courts are conducted in secret.
The appeal hearing was not public, and only the Justice Department's top appellate lawyer, Theodore Olson, presented arguments.
This is a major Constitutional decision that will affect every American's privacy rights, yet there is no way anyone but the government can automatically appeal this ruling to the Supreme Court," Beeson said.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=578&ncid=578&e=3&u=/nm/20021118/ts_nm/attack_surveillance_dc

From 'Just cause' to "probable cause"
Broad US Wiretap Laws Upheld--Nov 19-2002
Having found out that the fox has eaten half the chickens, the court has decided the fox should have more authority over the chicken coop with virtually no oversight," said Joshua L. Dratel, who argued against Ashcroft in a brief filed by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. "When you start expanding authority like this to where there's no standards, all you increase are the number of innocent people who are surveilled unnecessarily

Under the rules that govern surveillance of terror and spy suspects, Justice Department lawyers applying for authority to use wiretaps and conduct searches face less formidable legal obstacles than they would in seeking similar measures in regular criminal courts. In essence, they must persuade the FISA court only that there is probable cause to believe that the suspect is an agent of a terrorist group or foreign power.
Under yesterday's ruling, they will now be able to obtain those warrants more easily and pass on the information they gather to criminal prosecutors.

The ruling issued yesterday involves two obscure and usually secretive courts:
the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which oversees intelligence warrants sought by the FBI;
and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review, a special panel set up to handle any appeals.
Both were created by Congress in 1978 as part of FISA, which was approved after revelations of CIA and FBI abuses during the Cold War and civil rights eras.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7720-2002Nov18.html

Justice Dept. 's broad new powers to wiretap-- Nov 18, 2002
In a 56-page opinion overturning a May decision by the ultra-secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, the three-judge panel said the expanded wiretap guidelines sought by Attorney General John Ashcroft under the new USA Patriot Act law do not violate the Constitution.
The special review court ordered the lower court to issue a new ruling giving the government the powers it seeks. The spy court's restrictions, according to the ruling, "are not required by (the law) or the Constitution."
Ashcroft said the decision "revolutionizes our ability to investigate terrorists and prosecute terrorist acts."

The American Civil Liberties Union and several other groups had argued that Ashcroft's proposed guidelines would unfairly restrict free speech and due process protections by giving the government far greater ability to listen to telephone conversations and read e-mail.

The changes permit wiretaps when collecting information about foreign spies or terrorists is "a significant purpose," rather than "the purpose," of an investigation. Critics at the time said they feared the government might use the change as a loophole to employ espionage wiretaps in common criminal investigations.
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20021118/D7NCK3SG0.html

Silberman criticizes Supreme Court; calls it unconstitutional
(while sitting on an unconstitutional court himself)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20021117/ap_on_go_su_co/scotus_criticism_2

Ashcroft uses religious terminology for war on terrorism.....Feb 20-2002
Justice Department spokeswoman Susan Dryden said yesterday's speech was intended as a
multifaith appeal for unity in the war on terrorism.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35555-2002Feb19.html

Ashcroft: Religious groups to be closely monitored
"if religion is hijacked for terrorism"
[ any excuse will do ]
http://www.goodnewsetc.com/81POLT2.htm
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20011202/us/attacks_investigation_41.html

Ashcroft defines "combatants" Jan 9, 2003
"Detention of enemy combatants prevents them from rejoining the enemy and continuing to fight against America and its allies, and has long been upheld by our nation's courts, regardless of the citizenship of the enemy combatant," Ashcroft said in a statement....

Constitutional activist called the decision an abdication of the judicial system's duties to protect the rights of U.S. citizens. Some compared it to the decisions upholding internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, when the government was given broad latitude and later was forced to apologize for mistreating citizens.

"It's a we'll-look-the-other-way decision which undermines the system of checks and balances put in place in this country to ensure that power is not abused," said Elisa Massimino, who heads the Washington office of the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights.

Other experts questioned the court's rejection of arguments that Hamdi should be treated either as a prisoner of war, subject to rights under the Geneva Convention, or prosecuted for crimes using traditional methods.
"This decision condones government's creation of a constitutional no man's land," said Susan Herman, law professor at Brooklyn Law School.

The court did not address questions about U.S. citizens arrested as enemy combatants in this country. The government has classified as a combatant Jose Padilla of Chicago, who was arrested at O'Hare Airport after returning from Pakistan.   http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=514&ncid=514&e=3&u=/ap/20030108/ap_on_go_ot/afghan_american_prisoners

USA Today: spying on religious groups
http://www.usatoday.com/news/attack/2001/12/02/ashcroft.htm

Spying on religious and political groups
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-000095617dec01.story?coll=la%2Dnews%2Da%5Fsection

Citizens stripped of Constitutional rights while detained--Jan 8, 2003
A Federal Appeals court rules the U.S. Government may hold U.S. citizens as enemy combatants during wartime WITHOUT the Constitutional protections afforded Americans in criminal prosecutions.

from Rapture Ready Message Board:
My concern is the FOUNDATION this has set. Not this particular case. Loss of feeedom goes less noticed when it is in increments.
Now that the government has this power to strip U.S. citizens of their rights in this case, it is easier in the future in other cases. It is a slippery slope.
What is to stop them from considering a grass roots movement against greater government control as "enemy", and summarily arresting any of these law abiding U.S. citizens as "enemies" of the government? Before you scoff, remember the Patriot Act, the Dept. of Homeland Security, TIPS, etc.....
http://www.rr-bb.com/showthread.php?s=9ca280b04a7c9c0cdca33a2c6dcc3156&threadid=63613

Guy Lewis--key aide to J Ashcroft--Aug 15-2002
Lewis spent over a decade serving South Florida. Prior to being sworn in as the U.S. attorney in 2000, he was a federal prosecutor, serving as Deputy Chief of the Narcotics Section and First Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida.

Lewis specialized in the prosecution of public corruption, espionage, civil rights, endangered species, money laundering and narcotics cases. He received the Attorney General Award for his prosecution of United States v. General Manuel Noriega. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ibsys/20020815/lo_wplg/1290527&e=2

John Ashcroft calls Internet surveillance Orwellian ? Dec 5-2002
He's come a long way baby
http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/itgic/1097/ijge/gj-7.htm

Will you become a victim of Habeas Corpus Abuse ? --Aug 8-2002
THE CASE OF Yaser Esam Hamdi -- the likely American citizen now being held in a Navy brig in Norfolk without charges or access to a lawyer -- is becoming a procedural mess. The Justice Department is contending that it can indefinitely lock up those, like Mr. Hamdi, whom it designates as "enemy combatants" with only the most cursory of judicial review -- during which the accused has no ability to tell his side of the story. The case, therefore, balances civil liberties principles of the highest order -- the right of American citizens to be free of indefinite detention without charge -- against the military's legitimate need to conduct war overseas without answering every step of the way to the judiciary
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57384-2002Aug7.html

House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence to oversee the CIA and FBI
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2001/10/4/113303.shtml

TIPS replaced with "Eagle Eyes"
Airforce gives civilians role in war on terrorism
snitch on neighbors; anything "suspicious"--Dec 14-2002
http://www.littlerock.af.mil/tenants/osi2/ssi_eagleeyes.shtm

Enlisting the citizenry under the Air Force program; WATCH ! REPORT !
http://www.dtic.mil/afosi/eagle/

DoD ( Pentegon's) Surveillance System -- Nov. 27, 2005
Counterintelligence Field Activity, or CIFA [ Ed: staff of 1,000 ]
The Pentagon has pushed legislation on Capitol Hill that would create an intelligence exception to the Privacy Act, allowing the FBI and others to share information gathered about U.S. citizens with the Pentagon, CIA and other intelligence agencies, as long as the data is deemed to be related to foreign intelligence
We are deputizing the military to spy on law-abiding Americans in America. This is a huge leap without even a [congressional] hearing," Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said in a recent interview.
Among the changes was the elimination of a provision to let Defense Intelligence Agency [ Ed: Negroponte ] officers hide the fact that they work for the government when they approach people who are possible sources of intelligence in the United States.

Eagle Eyes is a program set up by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, which "enlists the eyes and ears of Air Force members and citizens in the war on terror," according to the program's Web site.

One CIFA activity, threat assessments, involves using "leading edge information technologies and data harvesting," according to a February 2004 Pentagon budget document. This involves "exploiting commercial data" with the help of outside contractors including White Oak Technologies Inc. of Silver Spring, and MZM Inc., a Washington-based research organization, according to the Pentagon document.

The commission urged that CIFA be given authority to carry out domestic criminal investigations and clandestine operations against potential threats inside the United States
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/26/AR2005112600857_pf.html

"But we can’t be everywhere, and neither can the FBI, the local cops, or the county sheriffs. That’s why I’ve asked all of you to dive wholeheartedly into the “Eagle Eyes” program.
I am reluctant to use the word “force multiplier,” because it’s a term that’s been so overused that it’s practically lost its meaning; but if ever a program was a perfect match for the term, it’s “Eagle Eyes.” When we impart our force-protection knowledge on others and infuse within them enthusiasm about recognizing and reporting potential terrorist-planning activities, then in a very literal sense we’re multiplying our mission-accomplishing presence in the community. And that’s what “Eagle Eyes” is all about. "
http://www.dtic.mil/afosi/global/may_jun_02/eagle_eyes.html
and
http://www.afmc.wpafb.af.mil/HQ-AFMC/PA/news/archive/2002/jun/0622-02.htm

"Where the carcase is there will the eagles be gathered together" Matthew 24:28

"TALON" .... unverifiable data on citizens tainting profiles --June 30, 2003
anything at all reported by "concerned citizens"
“Talon,” a cutting edge Department of Defense database designed to snare and distribute “raw, non-validated” reports of “anomalous activities” within the United States, according to a report in Wired.
Talon, which will collect and share reports “by concerned citizens and military members regarding suspicious incidents,”
Directing the heads of military departments and agencies to begin cranking out Talon reports immediately
.......“elicitation” ( seeking out, drawing forth) attempts that hint at intelligence gathering, according to Wired.
.... " fragmented and incomplete,” “rapid reporting"
"automated information systems or via e-mail attachment,”
Lee Tien of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an online rights group, told Wired that Talon is as worrisome as the defunct Operation TIPs: “What is the value in accelerating the speed of the rumor mill? You have a wealth of really weak data that ends up percolating its way through the system. How will they ensure that there’s no opportunity for people’s dossiers to become tainted?”
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/6/29/204152.shtml

DNA Databases
Ashcroft Seeks Autopsy Authority--Feb. 14. 2003
This authority is not limited and may be delegated to others."

Civil libertarians are less concerned about the federal government seizing U.S. citizens' bodies after their deaths than with the federal government seizing parts of their bodies while they are alive, said American Civil Liberties Union legislative counsel Tim Edgar. Section 302 of the Justice Department proposal would allow the federal government to obtain DNA samples from any "suspected terrorists" and build a DNA database. Currently, the federal government can only obtain DNA samples with a search warrant or from people convicted of serious crimes.

The new proposal "allows for the taking of blood or any (DNA sample) without any conviction of a crime and without a court order," Edgar said.
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/2/13/92850.shtml

US Can Detain Suspects Indefinitely (this goes against habeas corpus) July 12-2002
Habeas Corpus means that a person can not be held indefinitely for trial.
The accused is supposed to have a right to a speedy trial (as soon as possible)
When once you break this maxim, the State can begin to haul thousands of people off to jail over "suspicions" rather than convictions, and the imprisoned may never come to court.
This is tyranny at its worst.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59385-2002Jul12.html

Dem. Senators rethinking Patriot Act (too late)...May 2-2002
http://www.thehill.com/050102/patriot.shtm

anti-terror bill moving along
http://www.wired.com/news/conflict/0,2100,47312,00.html

Mueller, Tenet meet with Palestinian authorities ... May 22-2002
Met with Israeli Intelligence first
Last week, a delegation of senior Israeli intelligence officials met discretely with their US counterparts in Washington, in hopes of deepening counter-terrorism cooperation.
CIA Director George Tenet is considering meeting with Palestinian security officials this week in Washington, to discuss plans to reform the Palestinian security services, sources here said. "It's still in the works, what kinds of consultations will take place," a senior administration official said.
Muhammad Rashid, Arafat's chief economic adviser and an ally of Gaza Preventive Security Service chief Muhammad Dahlan, was here last week to meet with officials. http://www.jpost.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=JPost/A/JPArticle/Full&cid=1021813218975

More surveillance power to Foreign Intelleigence...Dec. 2-2001
The Bush administration is asking Congress for a second major expansion of federal surveillance powers that legal experts say would radically change laws that have long protected the rights of Americans.
A Justice Department proposal would eliminate the chief legal safeguard in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). A CIA proposal seeks legal authority to gather telephone and Internet records from domestic communication companies.
The still-secret proposals would build upon and expand new intelligence-gathering powers that were granted to the FBI and the CIA under the U.S.A. Patriot Act. Signed into law Oct. 26, that anti-terrorism bill laid the foundation for a larger and more powerful domestic intelligence-gathering system.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44003-2001Dec1.html

Secret Arrests in America
http://www.dmregister.com/news/stories/c5917686/16606146.html

Burglars with Badges....Nat Hentoff
The return of black bag jobs
http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0149/hentoff.php

Patriot Act to make Watchdog of Firms
Report how much you spend
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/322/business/Patriot_Act_would_make_watchdogs_of_firms+.shtml

Terrorizing the Bill of Rights [Patriot Act ]
Why should we care ? It's only the Constitution
http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0146/hentoff.php

Only 5 in Congress opposed the Patriot Act
(we have only 5 people AWAKE ???)
Ron Paul, Russ Feingold, Bernard Sanders, Bob Ney,and CL 'Butch' Otter
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2001/11/23/70414.shtml

John Ashcroft vs. The Constitution
http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0148/hentoff.php

ROUNDUP--First They Came for the Middle-Easterners
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=25427

Quotes against this Police State
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1665000/1665557.stm

EXPANDED POWERS...the unlawful laws
Anti-terror laws to be enacted immediately
http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/10/25/inv.investigation.ashcroft.reut/index.html

Justice Dept. to question all males from 18-33
who entered legally into the US since Jan. 1-2000
http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/11/13/inv.terrorism.interviews/index.html

Ashcroft's dangerous cocktail....mixing religion with politics
At Crystal Cathedral
http://www.miami.com/herald/content/news/national/digdocs/064481.htm

Ashcroft seeks enhanced wiretap powers
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010916/ts/attacks_investigation_112.html

DMV - ID card will network more into larger databases .....Nov.4-2001
you can run, but you can't hide
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32717-2001Nov2.html

Constitutional protections eroding
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41055-2001Sep16.html

Dept. of Justice handing out life sentences for even minor criminality
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=24639

Increasing Justice Dept. technological invasiveness
America: Land of Surveillance and Seizures
www.iht.com/articles/32991.html

Price of security will be paid in loss of freedom...Michael Cabbage
electronic eavesdropping, technological invasions, profiling, biometrics
ACLU totally clueless as to if this usurps our liberties
"We are going to have to change the balance between freedom and security,"
said House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt, D-Mo
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/nationworld/orl-asecliberties16091601sep16.story

Congress to approve expanded powers to the Justice Dept.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20011003/ts/attack_congress_security_dc_8.html

The next casualty: your freedom....Michael Hyatt
The government is considering other measures as well. In Britain, Tony Blair has called for the institution of a national identity card. Some voices in the U.S. are asking for this as well. There is also talk of installing high-tech, biometric identity systems in various public places.
These include surveillance cameras tied to iris-scanning and face-recognition software. Many are even suggesting that we should relax our constitutional standards for search warrants and
grant law enforcement new powers in order to cope with the crisis.
http://www.moreprivacy.com/editorials/casualty.htm

Rep. Bono: Get ready to sacrifice your privacy....suggests ID cards
(no freedom is so dear that it cannot be sacrificed for the cause)
http://www.thedesertsun.com/news/stories/local/1000611418.shtml

The "Injustice department".... First Death Camp since Naziism

Execution without trial...Guantanamo Bay Death Camp
The US has floated plans to turn Guantanamo Bay into a death camp, with its own death row and execution chamber.
Prisoners would be tried, convicted and executed without leaving its boundaries, without a jury and
without right of appeal, The Mail on Sunday newspaper reported yesterday.
The plans were revealed by Major-General Geoffrey Miller, who is in charge of 680 suspects from 43 countries, including two Australians.
The suspects have been held at Camp Delta on Cuba without charge for 18 months [note: since Nov-2001 ]
http://www.enki3d.com/paper/june_issue2_2003/deathcamp/Guantanamo_bay.htm

"Camp Iguana" also there for "juvenile combatants"
Anxious to defuse a potential public relations disaster, officials at Guantanamo Bay allowed access to Camp Iguana, as the new area is called
 Col Adolph McQueen, head of the Joint Detention Operation Group....... Adolph ?
http://truthout.org/docs_03/052703B.shtml

Lt. Colonel Barry Johnson
hunger strikes; attempted suicides; attempted hangings.....coma
The US court of appeals ruled last month that the government was entitled to deny due legal process to the detainees because they are not Americans and are not being held on US territory [note: winning by contrivance]
neither are they Cubans...so why are they held on Cuban territory ? Is Guantanamo Bay considered American territory since we house an American military base there ?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,942348,00.html

MG Geoffrey Miller head of JTF Joint Task Force
http://www.utne.com/web_special/web_specials_2003-05/articles/10572-1.html

Abandon all hope at Camp Delta, Cuba
http://www.dailytelegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/05/24/wcamp24.xml&sSheet=/news/2003/05/24/ixnewstop.html

From "Camp X-Ray" to "Camp Delta" .. an inside look.
http://www.dailytelegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/05/24/wcamp24.xml&sSheet=/news/2003/05/24/ixnewstop.html

Drugged...in order to talk (injections, tablets)
A Pakistani man recently freed from US custody at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba has said
he was given injections to make him talk
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3051501.stm

"unlawful combatants"
http://www.rense.com/general33/rewen.htm

FBI wants to extract DNA from detainees
http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/americas/03/02/detainees.hungerstrike/

More
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/2979076.stm

FBI, CIA and other departments now at : www.cybertime.net/~ajgood/mlaw4.html

Salvation www.cybertime.net/~ajgood/sal.htm

Bible www.blueletterbible.org