[FPSPACE] Dept. Homeland Secruity Satellite program going forward

[John Locker]

Is the US not already doing that , but routing the intelligence gleaned 
through Menwith in the UK , then "leaked" back to the States?????

John



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Peter Pesavento" <pjp961 at svol.net>
To: <fpspace at friends-partners.org>
Sent: Thursday, October 02, 2008 8:50 PM
Subject: [FPSPACE] Dept. Homeland Secruity Satellite program going forward


> >From Rawstory
>
>
>
> http://rawstory.com/news/2008/DHS_satellite_spy_program_going_forward_1002.h
> tml
>
>
>
>
>
> DHS satellite spy program going forward despite objections
>
>
> Nick Juliano
> Published: Thursday October 2, 2008
>
>
> 'Ridiculous' to think program doesn't violate Posse Comitatus, ACLU 
> lobbyist
> tells Raw
>
>
> The Department of Homeland Security has been given the money it needs to
> begin turning international spy satellites within the country's borders,
> despite lingering fears about the program's lack of focus and the 
> potential
> for it to infringe upon Americans' civil liberties.
>
> After more than a year of delay, Congress quietly authorized DHS to begin
> sharing data gathered by military satellites with civilian and law
> enforcement agencies. A $634 billion spending bill signed into law earlier
> this week provides funds for DHS to establish the satellite surveillance
> program, known as the National Applications Office, without addressing the
> myriad concerns about NAO privacy and civil liberties protections that had
> been delaying its implementation.
>
> Supporters of the program claim, according to the
> <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122282336428992785.html>  Wall Street
> Journal, that its scope will be limited to "emergency response and
> scientific needs," but civil liberties advocates and some members of
> Congress fear the door has been open for the highly classified satellite
> surveillance program to shift into high gear.
>
> "I'm kinda shocked it got through," Tim Sparapani, an American Civil
> Liberties Union lobbyist, told Raw Story, saying the spending bill 
> language
> authorizing the NAO is not "strong enough to forbid what we would want to
> see forbidden."
>
> Essentially, the bill only requires the Homeland Security Secretary to
> assure lawmakers that NAO programs comply with exisiting laws. Congress 
> also
> has required the DHS Inspector General to provide quarterly classified
> reports on how much information has been collected by the domestic 
> satellite
> surveillance, although the bill required those reports be made to the 
> House
> and Senate Appropriations Committees, not the Homeland Security Committees
> that are traditionally in charge of DHS oversight.
>
> House Homeland Security Committee members recommended
> <http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Domestic_spy_satellite_program_on_hold_1001.h
> tml>  the program be put on hold a year ago, when they requested documents
> outlining its legal framework and privacy protections. Those reports still
> have not been handed over, and committee members are not happy at the
> apparent subversion they suffered by Appropriations Committee members.
>
> "It would appear they have not been satisfied in their demands," Sparapani
> said of the Homeland Security Committee members who have objected to the
> satellite surveillance.
>
> Rep. Jane Harman, who has compared the Bush administration's efforts to
> expand the use of spy satellites to its warrantless wiretapping program, 
> has
> been one of the key members attempting to block implementation of the
> program until all these questions are answered.
>
> "Having learned my lesson," she told the Journal, "I don't want to go 
> there
> again unless and until the legal framework for the entire program is
> entirely spelled out."
>
> Lawmakers also have seen a 60-page report from the Government 
> Accountability
> Office, on the condition they not release the report publicly. Sources
> described its contents for the Journal's Siobhan Gorman, who reports that
> GAO found that DHS "lacks assurance that NAO operations will comply with
> applicable laws and privacy and civil liberties standards."
>
> The report cites gaps in privacy safeguards. The department, it found, 
> lacks
> controls to prevent improper use of domestic-intelligence data by other
> agencies and provided insufficient assurance that requests for classified
> information will be fully reviewed to ensure it can be legally provided.
>
> A DHS official told Gorman the department worked hard to include privacy
> protection and a spokeswoman justified the satellite surveillance's 
> legality
> because GAO did not specifically say it violates any current laws.
>
> That justification misses the point, Sparapani says, because GAO simply
> answers questions posed by Congress, and since its latest report has not
> been made public, no one outside of the government knows what those
> questions are.
>
> Besides, he says, it's not GAO's job to determine whether programs are 
> legal
> or not.
>
> "That's like asking the FDA to talk about Internet communications," he 
> says.
>
> Raw Story has left a message with DHS seeking further comment.
>
> There are further concerns about whether the surveillance program would
> violate Posse Comitatus, which prohibits the military from participating 
> in
> domestic law enforcement activities. It's "ridiculous" to think that's not
> what would be happening under this program, Sparapani says.
>
> The ACLU is examining all its options in trying to prevent implementation 
> of
> this program, which has dramatic potential to violate citizens rights, he
> says, but filing a lawsuit against DHS may be untenable because of the
> classified nature of the activities and the difficulty in being able to
> demonstrate any particular defendant was directly harmed.
>
> Mostly, the ACLU will continue to push Congress and encouraging efforts of
> lawmakers like Harman and Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson to 
> stop
> the program.
>
> "The Homeland Security Committee has the right instinct," Sparapani says.
> "It smells a rotten fish, and the only thing you can do with a rotten fish
> is throw it out in the trash."
>
>


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