You know that I am highly critical of a lot of programs of the US government……and I know I am not alone….the difference is that I try to give an alternative to the paths that we pursue….and terrorism is no different.
The Paris attacks of last week have Americans as well as the rest of the world trying to re-think their security procedures.
The attacks last week has brought up a wealth of questions….like how did the terrorist stay in France or Belgium if he was a known terrorist on that list that gets passed around with the names of those that should be considered dangerous. How did this person come and go without knowledge of the authorities?
If you would like a better perspective of how the French approach counter-terrorism…..then read on…..
Source: The French Approach to Counterterrorism | Combating Terrorism Center at West Point
Personally, I think that the approach of the “home team” needs a new direction. These days it is about massive surveillance out on the street and the infiltration of possible groups that want to do harm…..the problem is that the government is spending massive amounts of cash to be able to film you peeing behind a dumpster on Main Street or infiltrating some group of mentally starved youths so they can be conned into wanting to buy C4…..
Maybe the government could spend more time on those at the top of the list and not worry about where I pee….just a thought.
The List? Yep, there is a list.
There is a Terror List…..and on that list there are 325,000 names of people of interests…..
The National Counterterrorism Center maintains a central repository of 325,000 names of international terrorism suspects or people who allegedly aid them, a number that has more than quadrupled since the fall of 2003, according to counterterrorism officials.
The list kept by the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) — created in 2004 to be the primary U.S. terrorism intelligence agency — contains a far greater number of international terrorism suspects and associated names in a single government database than has previously been disclosed. Because the same person may appear under different spellings or aliases, the true number of people is estimated to be more than 200,000, according to NCTC officials.
……..central database is the hub of an elaborate network of terrorism-related databases throughout the federal bureaucracy. Terrorism-related names and other data are sent to the NCTC under standards set by Homeland Security Presidential Directive 6, signed by President Bush in September 2003, according to a senior NCTC official. The directive calls upon agencies to supply data only about people who are “known or appropriately suspected to be . . . engaged in conduct constituting, in preparation for, in aid of, or related to terrorism.”
You know because I person reads Arabic newspapers does not make them a “terrorist”…..but somehow that person is probably on this list…..
Washington has decided to act in the shadow of Paris……
I know that many are afraid of losing their 2nd amendment rights….usually it it the same people that would deny 1st amendment rights to some Americans……there is a bill coming up that many may not know about…..I can help…..
A significant gap in current federal law allows suspected or known terrorists in the United States to legally buy guns. Since 2001, lone-wolf terrorists have increasingly turned to high-powered guns as their weapon of choice. An investigation found that between Feb. 2004 and Dec. 2014, suspected terrorists attempted to purchase guns at least 2,233 times. In 2,043 of those cases, over 90 percent of the time, individuals on the consolidated terror watch list passed a background check and were legally able to purchase a firearm.
The Denying Firearms and Explosives to Dangerous Terrorists Act, or S. 551 / H.R. 1076, would close the terror gap and prevent suspected terrorists from easily buying guns.
Learn how the bill would keep guns out of the hands of terror suspects.
Okay….I await the attacks and the craziness……
Oh yes, they are coming for your guns! In the UK The Metrpolitan Police have just settled a claim out of court by 7 women who were memebers of a fairly benign Environemtal protest group. The Police had spent 5 years infliltrating the group to the extent that there 7 cases of under cover cops starting long term relationships eith women and one even had a baby with them. A couple of them lived witn these cops for years not suspecting a thing. These security services need to really need to indentify who the real enemy is. I bet that huge watch list could be slashed in half.
I agree completely…..they spend too much time trying to get someone to act wrongly than trying to find those that already are….
“…if he was a known terrorist on that list that gets passed around with the names of those that should be considered dangerous. How did this person come and go without knowledge of the authorities?”
Haven’t paid attention to this Paris thing, so this is the first I’ve heard about this angle. But to answer the question:
A) Utter incompetence. Sure, there’s an argument for letting people like that run free, so you can follow them around and maybe identify their friends & supporters. But that’s more “Spy vs Spy” gamesmanship than actual security. (aka stopping the attack before people get killed) The problem is that gamesmanship is what these guys have always done, not security. This perspective is a major part of the problem. “You win some. You lose lose some. Maybe next time. But we’re safe either way.” The public are just pawns in a game, not their employers. At best, they think of us as naive, helpless, children who need to be monitored & sheltered from everything.
The US government (and others) not only know the contents of every communication I have, they know what word processing program I write my comments on. They may even know what brand of socks are on my feet right now. But these “geniuses” can’t figure out that a “known terrorist” has been planning a multi-site attack with his friends on a major city? Ooopsie Daisy!
Never mind the constitutionality, I’ve always questioned the value of all these government “lists”. If a guy is on the Do Not Fly List because he’s “too dangerous” to be allowed to fly, shouldn’t he also be on the “Too Dangerous To Be Walking The Streets List”? Especially with guns and explosives? At some point, these so-called security agencies have got to step in. Even in gun crazy America, there’s a point where your actions cross a legal line and snatching you up is actually justified.
“Oh, but that would violate his rights.” Yeah, as if following him (& all of us) around, tracking his (& our) every move, listening in on all his (& our) every communication, putting him (& us) on “lists”….that’s respecting his (& our) rights??? Don’t make me laugh!
B) It advances their long range agenda. More & more money is being filtered into the Military Industrial Spy Complex, so that requires enemies to keep the profits rolling in. People need to be scared shitlless at all times, but they can only be scared by trumped up boogeymen for so long. So every once in a while, you gotta let one happen. Otherwise, people would stop hiding under their beds and start demanding their rights, & their trillions of dollars, back.
And we certainly can’t have that!!! Better to let a few dozen white people die every few years.
There is an old saying from the 70’s….”you are not paranoid if everybody is out to get you”…..
When the US government openly admitted to intercepting billions of personal communications every week a few years back…suddenly, there was NO such thing as paranoia. Every Sci-fi, dystopian, nightmare scenario is either true, or is in the works.
But as long as the new iDiot phone comes out on time, nobody gives a fuck.
SO true or they can get free credit score…..Americans are a dumb lot….
Wow, it took a couple reads of this before my Brain Self-defence Filter allowed this part pass through it.
An investigation found that between Feb. 2004 and Dec. 2014, suspected terrorists attempted to purchase guns at least 2,233 times. In 2,043 of those cases, over 90 percent of the time, individuals on the consolidated terror watch list passed a background check and were legally able to purchase a firearm.
What the fucking fuck??!?!?!
Why continuously violate the rights of everyone alive to build lists of people who are supposedly dangerous “terror threats” if you’re going to then allow them to legally purchase the most potent, mobile, mass murder weapons ever manufactured?
Answer: Because stopping them isn’t the point. The point is the mass spying itself.
As for the list itself….
1) How do you get on? How do you find out who’s on it? How do you get off it?
I presume it’s super-ultra-top-secret…which only leads to inaccuracy and abuse.
2) Over 325,000 terrorists? Why aren’t we all dead by now? Shit! There are probably fewer registered Republicans in Iowa than that and those poor bastards can’t buy a tea without getting frisked by a wanna-be President.
3) How high on list am I? And what can I do to get to #1.
Ain’t national security great? A massive con job and the idiots buy it…..God I love these people…..