Well we have history to show us otherwise. Operation Shamrock & Operation Minaret are both well documented here at ATS. Here's a brief overview of
Operation Minaret:
Project MINARET was a sister project to Project SHAMROCK coordinated by the NSA, CIA, and FBI. It involved the usage of "watch lists" to oversee
"subversive" domestic activities. Also included in the lists were notables such as Malcolm X, Jane Fonda, Joan Baez, and Martin Luther King.
The 1972 Keith decision which was legalized by the U.S. Supreme Court became a controversial issue mainly because, even though the law had confirmed
that the government had the authority to protect the nation from subversive activity and anarchy, it did not outlaw the government's ability to use
electronic surveillance for domestic espionage purposes. This controversy
became a major case against Project MINARET.
Operating between 1967 and 1973, over 5,925 foreigners and 1,690 organizations and US citizens were included on the Project MINARET watch lists.
Despite extensive efforts to conceal the NSA’s involvement in Project MINARET, NSA Director Lew Allen testified before the Senate Intelligence
Committee in 1975 that the NSA had issued over 3,900 reports on the watch-listed Americans. Additionally, the NSA Office of Security Services
maintained reports on at least 75,000 Americans between 1952 and 1974. This list included the names of anyone that was mentioned in a NSA message
intercept. Project MINARET was terminated by Attorney General Elliot Richardson.
src:
en.wikipedia.org...
So it would appear that well over 40 years ago the US gov't had a keen interest in those who could be viewed as a problem. I'm not going to get into
the aspects of whether Malcolm X was any more interesting or not than Jane Fonda as these are only a few examples. The more important point here is
that the technology existed then and one would have to be extremely naive these days to even assume that the technology wouldn't exist to not only
monitor a lot more data but analyze it as well. Get serious, we only see the technology that is spoonfed to us to keep markets flowing. There are
aspects of government technology available I'm certain that would make todays high end computing power look like a kids toy. But wouldn't this cost
billions of dollars? It sure would and thats where black budgets come into play. The funding is there and I firmly believe that gov't is still very
much in bed with the telecommunications industry. That is a fact as outlined by Project Shamrocks which has shown that RCA/ITT/Western Union and
American Cable & Radio Corp worked in conjunction with the NSA.
I also think that if cell phone monitoring were in place that it would only be part of whats needed. I agree with others that the tracking of every
single call seems ludicrious (although I personally believe its easily done) however if you add it Internet activity, types of books purchased, social
affiliations, religious beliefs, whatever, as a combination of factors then it would be much simpler to red flag those of interest.
The premise that you have nothing to hide is not even of concern here. The very same fundamental rights most here are willing to uphold are and have
been ransacked all under the guise of protectionism.
brill
[edit on 25-1-2007 by brill]
