"Terrorist" Watch List Hits One Million Names

The "terrorist" watch list now has more than one million names. Do you feel safer now?

Since February we've been tracking the size of our government's list of ostensible terrorist suspects, which according to the government's own report (pdf) has been rising at a rate of 20,000 per month.

Today I appeared in a press conference at the National Press Club here in Washington to mark this latest threshold in the history of our government's so-called "War on Terror." With me were Caroline Fredrickson, head of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office, and two watch list victims: Jim Robinson, a former assistant attorney general for the Civil Division at the Justice Department, who flies frequently and is often delayed for hours despite possessing a governmental security clearance; and Akif Rahman, an American citizen who has been repeatedly detained, shackled, separated from his family, and interrogated at the U.S.-Canada border when traveling for his business.

The first thing we have to do is reduce the size of this list. There cannot possibly be one million terrorists poised to attack us. If there were our cities would be ablaze. The president - if not this president, then the next one -- needs to order the Terrorist Screening Center (the entity that maintains the list) to take everyone off this list except those for whom there is credible evidence of terrorist activities or ties. And they should be ordered to do it quickly -- within three months.

There's just no excuse for a terrorist watch list with one million names on it. And the million names dramatically understates the number of Americans actually affected by this hopelessly bloated folly. With common names like Robert Johnson on the list, exponentially more Americans are caught up in a Kafkaesque web of suspicion.

Think about it -- when the government announced it was setting up this list, did anyone picture such a thing? Might as well just put the whole population on the list and save on administrative expenses.

The second primary thing that needs to be done is for checks and balances to be imposed on this watch list system. If the government is going to use watch lists, there needs to be in place the same kinds of due process protections that American citizens expect any other time the government interferes with the rights and privileges that other members of society enjoy (such as the right to travel by air).

Congress needs to put into law -- you can't trust bureaucracies to stick with "guidelines" or other weaker protections -- basic protections such as:

• a right to access and challenge data upon which listing is based;
• tight criteria for adding names to the lists;


• rigorous procedures for updating and cleansing names from the lists;


• and most of all, the right to a meaningful, participatory process by which we can challenge our inclusion on a watch list in an adversarial proceeding before a neutral arbiter.

Today we also announced the creation of an online form where victims of the watch list can report their experiences to us. We will collect those stories and use them in a variety of ways to advance our advocacy. We only share or use each story according to the permission that the submitter gives us, and stories can be submitted anonymously.

In some ways, this million-person watch list is the perfect symbol for an administration whose strategy in fighting terrorism has always revolved around making everyone a suspect -- from data mining to ID cards to see-through body scanners. It is an approach based around trying to pick a one-in-a-billion terrorist out of the population, rather than doing the only thing that has ever really worked to stop attacks: following up competently on known terrorists and known leads and working outward from there to go directly to the terrorists.

Comments

[thegreatgiginthesky]

Oh look, the US government knows how to compile a list. Where is OBL???

[holeybuybull]

riyahd, saudi arabia. one of the three countires that make up the "allies of evil".

[Wiredwilly]

Everyone's joking about it. Wait until they come to take you away. Real Patriots will stand against this as people stood against Joseph McCarthy in the 1950's. One million angry Americans are a force to be reckoned with. God Bless America.

[only1Demvoter]

1,000,000 Huh ?

That's probably like a ' Paranoid Factor ' of, say 998,000 !!

( ... Give or take 200 - 300 )


-ralph

[nancytheragingliberal]

This W. Buffoon "Administration" needs to go, like 8 years ago. What a nightmare.

[melmcgee]

They are no fools. This is another follow the money scheme. I believe that the list builders [same ones who were building the election can't vote list] were paid by the name. Our tax dollars are paying for this list and some private company is getting rich. Does someone have some facts on this? I believe the company is Compasspoint or something like that. Once again, follow the money....there's gold in those names that's why the list is so huge.

[bikerdude]

I was in an intelligence unit for a few years and we were mandated to investigate any allegations that came through, stateside. We had a crank, high ranking government employee who would call us if someone's dog crapped on his lawn and state, for the record, that this person was a communist sympathizer...The names are probably still on a list somewhere. A million person list is absurd. At least we broke the lists into locations and kinds of call and the caller, so we had some "intelligence" about the allegations. Homeland security should be disbanded and Bu s h should be impeached.

[tbone99]

In the meantime high level gov'mt officials sell U.S nclear secrets on the blackmarket .
But, since they were wearing flag pins , we know they're okay.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article3137695.ece

[lornejl]

Everyone is a potential terrorist, I won't feel safe until every man woman and child's name is on that list .

[jdfast]

Just one quick question, wonder how many are American citizens that have gotten caught up in data mining by the telecoms?

[bikerdude]

Good question. Call your congress person and ask them to follow this up.

[nonconformist2]

Wow. Apparently being put on a "terrorist watch list" has become a right of passage! What do I have to do get on this Trendy list? I think I will try to smuggle on more than 3 ounces of handlotion and see what happens! Wish me luck!

[macintoshsauce]

lol

[only1Demvoter]

nonconformist : All it used to take back in the 70's was a subscription to Hustler Magazine...

Or The Village Voice.


-ralph

[helen]

This is just too much. It sounds like a political hit list. Say something the administration doesn't like, you end up on the Nixon enemies list.

This list needs to be totally scrapped and started about REAL threats, not generating fear and payback. I wonder what Obama's "nuanced" position on this will be?

[djelimon]

What does this have to do with FISA or Iraq?

[indypete]

Not being pedantic, but it's "Rite of passage".

All right, I AM being pedantic!

[trollsbwild]

We were invaded on 9/11. The WH solution? Take away our freedoms to "protect us".
Funny, but I DON'T TRUST ANYONE IN THIS ADMINSTRATION TO DO THE "RIGHT THING".
Will this comment be the one that puts me on this list?

[OgreDaddy]

I just ordered Vincent Bugliosi's new book

"The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder"

Purdy dad gum sure I'm on that list now! :-)

[insanityfollows]

This has all gone too far. I agree that we should pursue know terrorist leaders, etc... We haven't done that and now are paying the price with the relinquishment of our constitutional liberties. Personally, I would almost rather live with a little bit more risk for the sake of my constitutional rights. This is really feeling like the Soviet Union, or East Germany, etc... Really sad.

[research]

Fascism 101: put your political enemies on the terrorist list.

[blackchaps]

Just wrong - on so many levels. Impeach Bush Now.

[PoliticalCrucible]

That is it for me. I have had it. I am going online tonight and joining the ACLU.

[BandsofBlack]

Seriously? You aren't a member yet?!?

[TRYKER]

In an article by a terrorism expert, he claimed there are about 1,000 known terrorists around the world. So 999,000 names are just fluff, something like all of Bushco's work.