Domestic Policy

Bush Authorized Domestic Spying

December 16, 2005 ⋅  E-Mail Article ⋅ ⋅ Post a comment

How do you feel about the admission by the Pentagon that domestic spying has been going on for some time in America? Do you feel protected or do you feel violated? Is there, and can there, ever be a balance between protection and privacy? Is the president taking advantage of our civil liberties or is he just more remembering of how tragic the events were when the terrorists took advantage of American trusts and freedoms? Have we forgotten how painful the tragedy is when we are not prepared?

Many are concerned by the news that the US Defense Department is intensifying domestic intelligence collection on individuals in the domestic United States. There have been proposed moves to additionally increase the military’s domestic intelligence activities from its current levels. The policy was originally enacted as a response to the tragic events regarding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

According to a recent Washington Post article, it was stated that, “ The Pentagon formerly focused on protecting its US bases and military operations, Pentagon intelligence collection inside the United States has already expanded to cover broader terrorist threats to the country.”

Many ACLU activists strongly oppose this maneuver as a violation of our civil rights, opposing positions advise that the policy is enacted to investigate most individuals who are not actually legalized permanent citizens of the United States anyways.

The ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) feels that by allowing the spying to go on we are acquiescing to a slippery slope from which we may lose a lot more of our freedoms of privacy. Senator Ron Wyden stated, “We are deputizing the military to spy on law-abiding Americans in America. This is a huge leap without even a congressional hearing.”

There are rumors and accusations that there is already a staff of over 1000 individuals active in domestic spying activities and according to the Post, “The White House is now considering expanding a secret Pentagon security agency into one which could investigate a range of domestic crimes, for which the government has used the FBI in the past.”

Are we at a point in time where we must consider what a reasonable amount of privacy is or should we stick to our guns and hold to the already standing policies? Does limiting the governments’ ability to spy on what it considers characters of interest actually jeopardize our own safety? Are you willing to give up some of your safety to prevent your loss of any privacy? If you ask these questions immediately after a tragic event like 9-11 you may get different answers. What do you think?

Bush Authorized Domestic Spying

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