Obama's Military Is Spying on US Peace Groups.

[IndianaGreen]

Agent Mike should be unemployed, and his bosses should be in prison.

When it comes to spying on Americans, nothing has changed since January 20.

Published on Wednesday, July 29, 2009 by TruthDig.com

Obama’s Military Is Spying on US Peace Groups

by Amy Goodman

Anti-war activists in Olympia, Wash., have exposed Army spying and infiltration of their groups, as well as intelligence gathering by the Air Force, the federal Capitol Police and the Coast Guard.

The infiltration appears to be in direct violation of the Posse Comitatus Act preventing U.S. military deployment for domestic law enforcement and may strengthen congressional demands for a full-scale investigation of U.S. intelligence activities, like the Church Committee hearings of the 1970s.

Brendan Maslauskas Dunn asked the city of Olympia for documents or e-mails about communications between the Olympia police and the military relating to anarchists, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) or the Industrial Workers of the World (Dunn's union). Dunn received hundreds of documents. One e-mail contained reference to a "John J. Towery II," who activists discovered was the same person as their fellow activist "John Jacob."

Dunn told me: "John Jacob was actually a close friend of mine, so this week has been pretty difficult for me. He said he was an anarchist. He was really interested in SDS. He got involved with Port Militarization Resistance (PMR), with Iraq Vets Against the War. He was a kind person. He was a generous person. So it was really just a shock for me."

"Jacob" told the activists he was a civilian employed at Fort Lewis Army Base and would share information about base activities that could help the PMR organize rallies and protests against public ports being used for troop and Stryker military vehicle deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan. Since 2006, PMR activists have occasionally engaged in civil disobedience, blocking access to the port.

Larry Hildes, an attorney representing Washington activists, says the U.S. attorney prosecuting the cases against them, Brian Kipnis, specifically instructed the Army not to hand over any information about its intelligence-gathering activities, despite a court order to do so.

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/29-0

[geek tragedy]

1. All of the activities described took place BEFORE

Obama took office. To the extent people use this as an excuse to bash Obama, they reveal themselves to be liars, blinded by their hatred, or illiterate.

[IndianaGreen]

4. But the spying in Olympia occurred well into the Obama administration (and may continue today).

From the article:

But the spying in Olympia occurred well into the Obama administration (and may continue today).

and the US Attorney Brian Kipnis, which is still serving in Obama's DOJ, told the Army to stonewall:

Larry Hildes, an attorney representing Washington activists, says the U.S. attorney prosecuting the cases against them, Brian Kipnis, specifically instructed the Army not to hand over any information about its intelligence-gathering activities, despite a court order to do so.

Brian C. Kipnis

Firm: U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Washington

Address: 700 Stewart Street
Suite 5220
Seattle, WA 98101-1271

http://pview.findlaw.com/view/1409132_1?channel=CCC

[boppers]

5. "[M]ay continue"? I take it you don't have much history in this field.

This has been going on since Clinton. 100% legal.

Only morons would be in contact with a "military person", while assuming that said person is on their side.

[IndianaGreen]

6. I suggest you do some reading about the Army spying on Americans

begun under the Lyndon Johnson Administration. There is no difference between that and what the original story is reporting.

BTW, it isn't legal and Clinton started the rendition program way back during his first term. Bush and Cheney merely expanded it.

[boppers]

7. LBJ had the internet? Uh, no.

SIGINT has changed a *lot* since then.

Little thing called the Internet, maybe you've heard of it?

Your above response is readable all over the globe. Thus, it's readable anywhere the military is allowed to intercept. They're not allowed to intercept in the US, if it's a private US message... most email and web is not.

The story is reporting a non-private conversation, with the US military, being intercepted by the US military.

[IndianaGreen]

9. The Army spied on peace groups

while the local yokels infiltrated the peace groups on behalf of the feds. That's what happened then, and that is what is happening now.

[boppers]

11. You seem to be under the assumption that this is new, or resurrected.

It never stopped.

#8 covers it quite well.

[IndianaGreen]

12. Shouldn't the election of Obama mark the end of these egregious practices?

That's the entire point being made by our comrades in Olympia, Washington! If we were to apply your logic, then we would be forced to accept the continuation of warrantless searches, human rights abuses, spying on Americans, keeping the assassination school open at Fort Benning, endless wars in Latin America, Afghanistan, and appointing Republicans to positions that should be held by Democrats (as the unfortunate appointment of Francis Collins as the director of the National Institutes of Health illustrates).

If elections don't bring change, then what is the point of having elections?

[geek tragedy]

15. Goodman is lying. The transcript of her interview

does not mention a single instance if this kind if spying that occurred in 2009.

[anonymous171]

2. Not this shit again. nt

[boppers]

3. email is not always domestic civillian traffic. email sent to the US military isn't, either.

If an electronic message (email, DU posting, or a person reading DU in... AU) crosses any national borders, or enters a government network, it's fair game.

That's the law.

Amy/Hildes is confused about how Posse Comitatus works, as sending a bomb threat to a US military base doesn't preclude domestic law enforcement from being notified.

As far as law being changed since January 20th, nope, same laws.

[friendly_iconoclast]

8. Wikileaks disclosed some of this back in May

http://88.80.13.160/wiki/Spying_on_anti-war_protestors:_US_Army_Concept_of_Operations_for_Police_Intelligence_Operations%2C_4_Mar_2009.


May 5, 2009
Summary

The document presents a 60 page For Official Use Only intelligence manual from the US Army's Military Police School. Among other matters, the document reveals that the US Army is using structuring tricks to work around intelligence oversight rules that would normally prevent domestic spying and hoarding of data on anti-war protesters

(Bolding mine)

Vignette: A Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT) was preparing to move equipment to a port of embarkation (POE) for deployment. The shipment required the movement of 300 vehicles across eight law enforcement jurisdictions. Based on previous threat fusion expertise, the garrison’s force protection (FP) fusion cell was uniquely qualified to be the lead intelligence producer to support the movement. The fusion cell coordinated police information, intelligence and civilian security with over 22 local, federal, and DoD agencies. The fusion cell produced in-depth analysis of the threat to the SBCT equipment and advised the SBCT and garrison commanders on protection. The coordinated effort gave law enforcement agencies the knowledge to identify and prevent disruptive actions by violent protesters. The operation was considered by Corps leadership to be a watershed event for in-depth involvement of a garrison-based FP fusion cell in support of unit deployments. Moreover, the Corps headquarters integrated the fusion cell into other operations where the G2 is constrained by intelligence oversight rules, or there is a need for police information / intelligence assessments and analysis. A fusion cell is valuable when separate data streams, information sources, or other disparate information from multiple organizations must be combined and analyzed in a coherent process to present a common operational picture for a decision maker...

http://88.80.13.160/leak/us-army-conops-police-2009.pdf

[Honeycombe8]

10. Not a valid news source, that I know of. I don't believe this. nt

[IndianaGreen]

13. So Amy Goodman, TruthDig, CommonDreams, and Olympia antiwar activists are not reliable?

And what will you consider a valid news source? The Pentagon? Homeland Security? Big Brother himself?

[donheld]

17. Anyone who says Amy Goodman is not credible is not credible IMHO

[IndianaGreen]

14. UPDATE: Declassified Docs Reveal Military Operative Spied on WA Peace Groups

Democracy Now! Broadcast Exclusive: Declassified Docs Reveal Military Operative Spied on WA Peace Groups, Activist Friends Stunned

Newly declassified documents reveal that an active member of Students for a Democratic Society and Port Militarization Resistance in Washington state was actually an informant for the US military. The man everyone knew as “John Jacob” was in fact John Towery, a member of the Force Protection Service at Fort Lewis. The military’s role in the spying raises questions about possibly illegal activity. The Posse Comitatus law bars the use of the armed forces for law enforcement inside the United States. The Fort Lewis military base denied our request for an interview. But in a statement to Democracy Now!, the base’s Public Affairs office publicly acknowledged for the first time that Towery is a military operative. “This could be one of the key revelations of this era,” said Eileen Clancy, who has closely tracked government spying on activist organizations. (includes rush transcript)

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/28/broadcast_exclusive_declassified_docs_reveal_military

[nolabels]

18. A little logic might help

If you had over a half a trillion to spend on a armed militant force and many of the credible foes that you once sought were falling by the wayside, what would you be doing to make sure the money and influence continued?


Everybody that ever thought they were somebody has almost always sought to perpetuate that end.

[earth mom]

16. Same shit, different day. Can't believe people bought into that fake hope & change. nt