HOUSE MEMBERS EXPAND FEDERAL POLICE POWERS IN SWEEPING NEW BILL By Jim Kouri Posted 1:00 AM Eastern June 23, 2008
While political leaders and the news media continued to display their obsession with Senators Barack Obama, John McCain and Hillary Clinton, the US House of Representatives pushed through a bill that -- for better or worse -- will have an enormous impact on American citizens. By a wide margin, FISA Amendments Act of 2008 (HR 6304) passed by a vote of 293-129 which surprised many Americans who believed President George Bush's unpopularity and the antiwar sentiment would spell doom for one of the most controversial laws ever passed in the nation's capital. See this video to learn what our leaders in Washington had to say about HR6304. "The Fourth Amendment [of the US Constitution] is undergoing the biggest overhaul in US history, and in many cases, Americans believe they are being railroaded by their own government," declares political strategist Michael Baker. "We've gone from arguing about a street cop checking a bulge in a suspect's coat pocket, to debating the legality of federal agents using high-tech equipment to monitor the communications of a large number of people," said Baker. The well-known former cop and intelligence officer points to -- for example -- the New York City Police Department's Patrol Guide. The guide -- which is mandated reading for all police officers -- explains the legal aspects of the search of suspects by police officers and similar procedures such as field frisk searches. The rationale behind allowing police the authority to conduct searches has more to do with officer safety than the discovery of weapons, contraband and evidence that may still be in the possession of the suspect. The abuses reported regarding police misconduct have less to do with the policies and procedures distributed to police personnel and more to do with a lack of training and a lack of supervision. "You show me a video of ten police officers beating an unarmed man in front of crowds of Americans, and I'll show you a [police unit] that's out of control due to a lack of training and a lack of supervision," says former New York City detective Sid Francis. According to law enforcement experts, no where within the police function is there more potential for abuse than search and seizure. This latest bill -- if made into law -- would expand the government's surveillance abilities and grant retroactive immunity to telecoms for their role in post-9/11 mass domestic wiretapping. The Act, known more formally as H.R. 6304 and born after months of negotiations, represents a "bipartisan compromise." Much of the negotiations revolved around the thorny issue of "telecom immunity," which if included would kill the 40+ lawsuits currently in progress accusing communications providers of assisting the Bush Administration in an illegal, post-9/11 surveillance program. As the bill currently stands, a court review will determine if providers received a presidential order requesting the wiretaps – regardless of whether or not the corrrect warrants were filed – and then drop all charges if that conditiion was met. The warrantless search program, initiated by the Bush Administration in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, ran for almost six years until it was discovered by reporters working for the New York Times. With time running out on the country's surveillance laws – current vversions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which governs the nation's surveillance activities, are set to expire in August – Congresss has little time to negotiate. Or so goes the rationale behind the speed with which HR 6304 is being pushed by members of both political parties. I was common knowledge that the Bush Administration has always taken a hard-line stance against FISA updates that failed to include a provision for telecom immunity, although a leaked report earlier this year suggested that the Bush White House had become less "hard-nosed" on the subject The FISA Amendments Act "balances the needs of our intelligence community with Americans' civil liberties, and provides critical new oversight and accountability requirements," said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. "The House of Representatives today has fallen down on the job," said the Electronic Frontier Foundation activist Hugh D'Andrade. "By passing the FISA Amendments Act … [the House] voted to give this lame duck President an undeserved parting gift by passing immunity for telecoms that helped the President violate the Constitution by participating in the NSA's massive and illegal spying program." "Immunity for telecom giants that secretly assisted in the NSA's warrantless surveillance undermines the rule of law and the privacy of every American," said EFF Senior Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston. "We are deeply disappointed that the House Leadership, which was so courageous in its previous opposition to telecom immunity, caved to the Administration's fear-mongering and put this seriously flawed legislation on the floor for a vote." In addition to the aforementioned telecom immunity provisions, the FISA Amendments Bill would: *Allow the government to conduct emergency eavesdropping without court approval for up to a week. *Allow secret FISA courts to review expiring surveillance orders for up to 30 days before renewing them. *Prohibit the government from superseding surveillance rules, even if it invokes war powers. Require court permission to wiretap Americans overseas. *Obscure out American citizens' names when wiretapping conversations between an American citizen and a foreigner. H.R. 6304 passed the House 239-129, and is slated for the Senate as early as June 23. Experts believe this will be one more example of lawmakers using a smokescreen -- presidential race, etc. -- to cover-up their true ambitions. © 2008 NWV - All Rights Reserved http://www.newswithviews.com:80/NWV-News/news51.htm ~~~ US MILTARY COMMANDER ADVOCATED TESTING NEW WEAPONS ON AMERICANS FIRST By Jim Kouri Posted 1:00 AM Eastern June 25, 2008 An American military commander is advocating the testing of so-called nonlethal weapons on American citizens prior to using them on our enemies in the Global War on Terrorism. While most Americans and members of the mainstream news media are all wrapped up in coverage of the 2008 presidential election, media critics are complaining about how many important news stories are being ignored. And here's an example: a shocking statement by a top Pentagon official appears to have slipped through the cracks. Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne told a Houston Chronicle reporter that nonlethal weapons such as high-powered microwave devices should be used on American citizens in crowd-control situations before they are used on the battlefield. Wynne advocated testing nonlethal weapons, such as high-power microwave devices, against American citizens before being used on the battlefield, saying "If we're not willing to use it here against our fellow citizens, then we should not be willing to use it in a wartime situation. "Just that bit of information should drive most Americans to feverishly put pen to paper writing letters for Wynne's immediate dismissal from his top position. But then Wynne explained the reason for experimenting with American citizens' lives," said former Marine intelligence officer and NYPD detective Sid Francis. "Domestic use would make it easier to avoid questions in the international community over any possible safety concerns," said Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne. "If we're not willing to use it here against our fellow citizens, then we should not be willing to use it in a wartime situation," said Wynne. "Secretary Wynne makes General Jack D. Ripper -- the madman who starts World War III in the Stanley Kubrich motion picture "Dr. Strangelove" -- look like a sane military commander," quips political strategist Mike Baker. "Using Wynne's logic, we should set off a nuclear device in New York before we -- God forbid -- use one against an enemy? Not to make certain it works, but so we don't get criticized by the international community," said Baker. "Look United Nations! We nuked 8 million Americans before attacking Iran. We're not bad guys, just misunderstood," said Baker. When NewswithViews.com searched for stories in the mainstream media about Wynne's cavalier attitude over the testing of weapons on Americans prior to their use on Jihadists, except for a few blogs and small town newspapers, stories about Wynne's statement were scarce. One story discovered appeared in the L.A. Times, describes how Secretary of Defense Robert Gates canned Wynne for what he considered "outrageous statements." "I've thought about it and I can't help believing the reason there was no outrage or even news coverage about Wynne's outrageous -- OUTRAGEOUS -- proposal [to use weapons on our own citizens] is that the liberal media don't care if Americans are killed or maimed by their own government. They just don't want foreigners -- even terrorists -- killed or maimed by our government," claims NYPD detective Edna Aguayo "One need only to look at the Waco Massacre to understand my suspicions about the liberals. The Branch Davidian compound may have housed religious fanatics and they may even have armed themselves to repel perceived enemies, but for Attorney General Janet Reno to unleash hell on men, women and children to this day angers me," said Officer Aguayo. "Some of the tactics used against the fanatics at the Branch Davidian are the same that bring tears to the eyes of John McCain when he hears we use them on Jihadists and illegal enemy combatants," said Mike Baker. "Liberals do not oppose the use of deadly force. They only oppose it when they're not doing the killing. And then they oppose it when soldiers and cops actually try to kill the enemy. Panties on the head of a Muslim? Barking dogs? Did you see those grown men in the senate behave like whining wash-women? Senator Dick Durbin called our soldiers Nazis!" said Baker, also a former army officer. Critics point out that some of the same lawmakers who bombard us daily with reports and studies and investigations of alleged military atrocities overseas -- Kerry, McCain (Hillary Clinton, now a senator, was the First Lady during the Waco Massacre) -- fell silent over the Nazi tactics utilized against American citizens by federal SWAT team officers. © 2008 NWV - All Rights Reserved http://www.newswithviews.com/NWV-News/news52.htm
