On Shutting Down the Pentagon's Talon Database -- from Someone Who Knows

I just heard that the Pentagon plans to shut down its TALON database operation. It's about time. The Pentagon claims it is pulling the plug because the information it gathers is no longer useful, but it seems likely that the negative exposure the Pentagon received after it became clear that it was spying on U.S. citizens -- like me -- played a significant role in the decision.

I never know whether to laugh outright or to answer seriously when someone asks me if I am a terrorist. Obviously, any suggestion of my connections to terrorist organizations is nothing short of ridiculous. I assume that those asking the question are kidding, and, of course, they usually are. Yet I hesitate in my answer because that very connection, as preposterous as it is, is one the government made when it listed hundreds of antiwar groups in the TALON database.

In December 2005, I was home with my parents, enjoying my winter vacation. In the evening of the 13th, I turned on my computer to read the news and (for the nth time that day) to check my email. As I scrolled through my inbox, I read something that really caught my attention. A link to an MSNBC report revealed that Students Against War, a group I was (and still am) a member of at the University of California at Santa Cruz, was being labeled a "credible threat" by the Pentagon. This classification was made after Students Against War staged a rally in opposition to military recruitment on campus. I must say -- being on a "terrorist" watch list was a sobering moment. It was a realization of the fact that our government, one that was supposed to protect every citizen's right to self-expression, was the one violating our rights.

TALON was a Pentagon program that was originally designed to track possible threats to military bases, but expanded in scope to include reports about non-violent demonstrations and anti-war rallies. It has always been a wonder to me how this happened -- how a group of Santa Cruz students, along with Quaker and church groups, found itself on a terrorist monitoring database. This was not only ridiculous, but wrong. I also realized that being on the list had grave implications not only for our organization but for the rest of America: after all, if college students and religious groups were being listed as credible threats, then who was safe from surveillance?

Clearly, when fighting for what we believe in is wrong, there is something wrong with America. The free exchange of ideas is critical for a democracy to function and flourish. If that freedom is compromised, what are we fighting for, anyway?

Furthermore, I think that the misuses of the TALON program pinpoint the fact that unchecked spying just doesn't work. It is a grave waste of energy, resources, and undoubtedly money, to put innocent civilians on government watch lists. From my perspective, this was not only a counterproductive program but also a failure.

We must continue to work to challenge the policies that allow for misuses of government power such as TALON to occur in the first place. It is important to question whether the incidents of domestic intrusion we hear about are anomalies or represent a larger trend of violations. So while I am happy that the TALON database is being closed, I am wary that if we are not vigilant, another similar program will be put in its place. I am cautiously optimistic.

The Pentagon claims that, until recently, the TALON program yielded good information. But we have to ask if that can ever justify spying on innocent people. To me, the answer is clear.

Comments

[Yellowbird]

If I remember right from my long ago government job; you have to shut down one program before you can shift the funding to a new one.

In other words... They are changing the name from Talon to some classified name.

But they will be continuing their spying on us.

It is their forte.

[BeyondPopper]

Sad to say, the only thing protecting us is their incompetence.

Sad to say, the only threat to our safety is also their incompetence.

Sad to say, the only people who can do something about it are Congressional Democrats.

[dryfactoidobotanoid]

"I am cautiously optimistic."

oh to be young and naive again.

[IronDragon]

This brings to mind a couple of suggestions I've passed along to my Members of Congress. First, the Pentagon budget should be cut by 50%. We certainly don't need to waste money through the military apparatus; we can do it much more efficiently in other agencies of the bureaucracy. Second, any agency which thinks it must keep a database of personnel other than it's own workers and execs, must get permission to do so. Rules need to be set on this. Government does not need to be on the cutting edge of computer capability.

[TRYKER]

Its probably true, they have another program more secret and more thorough which will replace Talon. They are not giving up anything for nothing.
What with 16 intelligence gathering agencies at work, there will be no stone unturned.

[TScheisskopf]

When you look at the scope of what they were trying to do, and the purported and reported scope of just the raw data they were collecting, then look at the apparent incompetence of the minds behind the creation of the watch lists and then add the sheer amount of communications that take place, around the world, every day, from which they cull so much of their raw data, one thing is clear:

The people who pushed for and signed off on this hellbent scheme are credulous morons, sold a bill of goods by computer hardware and software rainmakers. They have not made enough Crays and Deep Blues, much less the software, that you could bodge them together and make this dog hunt.

Oh well, it's just our tax dollars down the rathole. Nothing important.

[beachglass]

I feel the same. I was listed for being in Vegas at the holiday season where we were under high alert and Vegas was a concerned target. The airline flight lists were checked, the hotels, and sadly, many gave up their guests lists if you remember in the LA Times article that exposed the personal invasion of privacy made afterwards on thousands of Americans.

It's good one of many practices is now being abandoned but the far reaching effects from being listed was exchanged with other agencies, in my case, and until they clean up the entire mess they made, I will remain resenting anything this admin. did towards invading our privacy, using fear, and inparticularly, the reps we have had allowing the patriot act to slide by as well as all the other balogney tactics used in the US when attention was needed in Afganistan and Pakistan to capture bin laden.

What a joke. Must have to close down shop so new admin doesn't deal with all that went haywire, and where the premise was dead on wrong.

too little too late for some people.