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Experts See a High-Security America of Surveillance and Seizures
International Herald Tribune ^
| William Glaberson
Posted on 09/19/2001 10:08:27 AM PDT by sendtoscott
Congress Set to Ease Taps on Computers
NEW YORK Security experts in the United States are describing a new kind of country that could emerge, where electronic identification might become the norm, immigrants might be tracked far more closely and the airspace over cities like New York and Washington might be off-limits to all civilian aircraft..
Attorney General John Ashcroft outlined several proposals Monday, saying, "We should strengthen our laws to increase the ability of the Department of Justice and its component agencies to identify, prevent and punish terrorism.".
The proposals he described included measures that would give law enforcement officials expanded electronic surveillance powers and new powers to seize the assets of suspected terrorists..
Since the attacks, Congress has been acting on proposals to make wiretapping of computers easier, and a flood of measures is expected that will loosen restrictions on what effectively is domestic spying..
Legal experts say that the courts are unlikely to impose many restrictions on Congress's security decisions..
As a result, they say, the country can adopt security measures as stringent as its people will tolerate politically or will support financially..
Experts say that technology has presented almost limitless possibilities. "Each American could be given a 'smart card,' so, as they go into an airport or anywhere, we know exactly who they are," said Michael Cherkasky, president of Kroll Inc. consultants..
"The technology is here," Mr. Cherkasky said, noting that it can be readily expanded..
Such cards, with computer chips, would have detailed information about their owners and leave a computer record when they are used. The cards could be coordinated with fingerprints or, in a few years, facial characteristics, and be programmed to permit or to limit access to areas or entire buildings. They could track someone's location, financial transactions, criminal history and even driving speed on a particular highway on a given night..
Critics said that electronic identification cards, combined with other measures, could usher in an era of surveillance and suspicion. And civil libertarians note that an anxious public may be willing to trade freedoms for greater safety in the aftermath of the attacks last week..
It is not clear, said Bruce Ackerman, a law professor at Yale University, whether that acceptance will continue if people are discomforted..
"It is a profound affront to be metered and measured," he said..
"And that is, I think, the debate of the future.".
Legal experts said the civil libertarians will find little sympathy in the courts..
In World War II, they noted, the Supreme Court approved the internment of Japanese-Americans, a decision that constitutional scholars now widely consider to have been wrong..
"If history suggests anything," said David Strauss, a law professor at the University of Chicago, "it suggests the courts will allow the government to get away with a lot..
"Not quite everything, but a lot more than you would expect.".
In interviews, experts on security and terrorism outlined some choices..
Immigration could be more sharply controlled, with some immigrants required to report periodically on their activities..
Video surveillance, already growing, could be sharply increased in stores, offices and public places and at public events..
Law enforcement officials could expand the use of personality profiles, possibly including racial descriptions, to identify potential terrorists..
Terry F. Lenzner, chairman of Investigative Group International, a corporate security concern, said that, if the flow of money was being monitored before the attacks last week, authorities might have realized that people were receiving money from Osama bin Laden or other terrorists..
Airport security is likely to be just one area for debate. Armed sky marshals, stronger cockpit doors and new technology for luggage searches are likely to be accepted widely. But some experts suggested that the country could also adopt a system like Israel's, where security people often interrogate passengers about their travel plans and rifle through their baggage..
John Horn, vice president of IPSA International, a security consulting concern, said he favored declaring the airspace over some cities off limits to commercial flights..
But he and other experts said that the public, which already generally balks at the prospect of airport construction, might balk at the cost and inconvenience of building new runways or airports to avoid cities..
Partly because of limits of normal security systems, some experts said, computer technology will be harnessed to make the country safer..
Even if opposition makes a national identity card unrealistic, experts say the attacks will sharply increase adoption of security technology..
"Over a period of time, these technologies will slowly be becoming part of our life," said Martin Pollner, a New York lawyer at Loeb Loeb, who was director of law enforcement at the Treasury Department in the 1970s. "You will no longer be able to just come and go."
TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
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This is page 1 of 4 - the Washington Post in involved in the IHT, so I won't post the whole thing.
To: sendtoscott
It doesn't matter if the man standing between you and your liberty is an alien, swarthy, with a filthy towel wrapped around his matted hair, or a fellow countryman, fair skinned, in a Brook's Brothers suit.
If he stands between you and your liberty he is your blood enemy.
All encroachments, from whatever source, on our liberties are acts of war against us, and must be resisted.
2
posted on
09/19/2001 10:23:51 AM PDT
by
DWSUWF
To: sendtoscott
I think I'm going to be sick.
3
posted on
09/19/2001 10:24:30 AM PDT
by
freeeee
To: sendtoscott
You know, over the last week, Dubya has gotten a big up arrow in my estimation, but John Ashcroft has gone in the opposite direction.
4
posted on
09/19/2001 10:24:44 AM PDT
by
rdww
To: rdww
Dubya has gotten a big up arrow in my estimation, but John Ashcroft has gone in the opposite direction. I agree. I like the SecDef too; but Ashcroft, Powell and Rice appear to be painting American citizens as their ultimate targets.
5
posted on
09/19/2001 10:42:53 AM PDT
by
meadsjn
To: t-shirt, ratcat
You're right. Oh sh!t.
6
posted on
09/19/2001 10:49:50 AM PDT
by
smorgle
To: sendtoscott
After listening to Ashcroft, many of the things he's asking for sound reasonable. Asset forfeiture is not reasonable. Americans everywhere should let the DOJ and Congress know that we want this abomination eliminated. Freezing assets by court order against those under indictment would be a reasonable step. But the wholesale theft of assets, as is going on under the WOD, is un-American and un-Constitutional, regardless of SC rulings.
80% of those who get ripped off in this way are never even CHARGED with a crime, let alone convicted.
This thievery must stop.
7
posted on
09/19/2001 11:20:24 AM PDT
by
jimt
To: sendtoscott
The mythical "freedom versus security" tradeoff is a false choice.The WTC attack did not occur because Americans enjoy too much freedom.
It occurred because:
- U.S. border/immigration policy (or selective enforcement thereof) allowed known terrorists to enter and remain in the country while attending flight school.
- The terrorists were able to gain access to the cockpits of the hijacked aircraft.
The fact that William Cohen, Dick Gephardt and other statists propound that the only solution to terrorism is to "trade freedom for security" betrays the reality that their true agenda is to curtail freedom.
To: smorgle, all
I don't have have problem with heightened security for those coming and going at points of entry into the US and non-citizens being tracked. Like I told all my friends "the people in this country have lost a lot more than innocent lives and money on 09/11/2001."
I can't believe how crippled the security agencies in this country have become from past administrations and congresses.
I think the government needs to sell "Anti-Terror bonds" to its citizens to help for employing a lot of the citizens now being laid off in the country that pass the security and technical issues that can help untangle the threats and follow the terroists' monies.
The American people can no longer ignore what goes on in the rest of the world and this country.
9
posted on
09/19/2001 11:23:09 AM PDT
by
RSmithOpt
To: sendtoscott
Such measures would increase, not decrease the danger.
Think about it.
10
posted on
09/19/2001 11:23:20 AM PDT
by
B Knotts
To: sendtoscott
bttt
To: Don Myers
Looks like people will give up more liberty in the next few weeks than in the 8 years of the Clintons.
To: Don Myers
Looks like people will give up more liberty in the next few weeks than in the 8 years of the Clintons.
To: Doctor Stochastic
"Looks like people will give up more liberty in the next few weeks than in the 8 years of the Clintons."
It might happen. But with the support of the American people behind this great effort, it looks like a fait accompli.
To: sendtoscott
The demoncrats are hoping too take Mr. Bush's job away in a few years. Can you imagine the persecution of citizens with this technology in the hands of the mob? I hope Mr. Rumsfeld identifies the terrorist stronghold in D.C., on the hill, before any of this comes to pass.
To: Don Myers
I'm thinking in the most likely case we'll see the following:
Much more gun control (to keep guns out of the hands of the terrorists, you know.) No knock search warrents will be easier to serve this way.
A national ID card with local police, border patrol, highway patrol, county sherrifs, Pueblo Police, constables, school crossing guards, hall monitors, etc. having access to the (new?) National Criminal Data Base. One can also check residence, affirmative action status, citizenship, bank account, organ donor type, etc.
Surveillance cameras in all public places. Street cornors, bars, restaurants, public restrooms, parks, beaches, stadia, etc. These can be scanned for suspicious faces, acts, gaits, etc.
Warrentless wire taps. NSA scanning of all phone calls etc.
Likely results:
More gun control: more violence against defenceless people.
ID card: how many cards can one person afford on the black marked.
Surveillance cameras: useful in divorce cases, unnatural sexual practice cases, etc.
Wire taps: data mining of wire tap data may be even more informative than getting insider information.
To: Don Myers
I'm thinking in the most likely case we'll see the following:
Much more gun control (to keep guns out of the hands of the terrorists, you know.) No knock search warrents will be easier to serve this way.
A national ID card with local police, border patrol, highway patrol, county sherrifs, Pueblo Police, constables, school crossing guards, hall monitors, etc. having access to the (new?) National Criminal Data Base. One can also check residence, affirmative action status, citizenship, bank account, organ donor type, etc.
Surveillance cameras in all public places. Street cornors, bars, restaurants, public restrooms, parks, beaches, stadia, etc. These can be scanned for suspicious faces, acts, gaits, etc.
Warrentless wire taps. NSA scanning of all phone calls etc.
Likely results:
More gun control: more violence against defenceless people.
ID card: how many cards can one person afford on the black marked.
Surveillance cameras: useful in divorce cases, unnatural sexual practice cases, etc.
Wire taps: data mining of wire tap data may be even more informative than getting insider information.
To: LSJohn
Terry F. Lenzner, chairman of Investigative Group International, a corporate security concern, said that, if the flow of money was being monitored before the attacks last week, authorities might have realized that people were receiving money from Osama bin Laden or other terrorists. . This is starting to stink.
To: sendtoscott
And there I was, thinking I was rereading "1984" (Orwell)
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