Government’s surveillance powers can’t keep going unchecked
Yes, America, we have been here before.
Government surveillance of Americans, in the name of protecting the nation, didn’t start with the National Security Agency’s recently revealed collection of citizens’ telephone records.
Nearly 40 years ago, a year-long investigation by a Senate committee chaired by Frank Church (D-Idaho) uncovered a history of U.S. intelligence agencies scrutinizing Americans engaged in lawful activities. The snooping was both vast and shocking.
From the Church Committee report:
●“Nearly a quarter of a million first class letters were opened and photographed in the United States by the CIA between 1953-1973, producing a CIA computerized index of nearly one and one-half million names.
●“At least 130,000 first class letters were opened and photographed by the FBI between 1940-1966 in eight U.S. cities.
●“Some 300,000 individuals were indexed in a CIA computer system and separate files were created on approximately 7,200 Americans and over 100 domestic groups during the course of CIA’s Operation CHAOS (1967-1973).
●“An estimated 100,000 Americans were the subjects of United States Army intelligence files created between the mid-1960’s and 1971.
●“Intelligence files on more than 11,000 individuals and groups were created by the Internal Revenue Service between 1969 and 1973 and tax investigations were started on the basis of political rather than tax criteria.”
Yes, history does repeat itself, and sometimes for the same reasons.
Back then, the Cold War and fear of foreign subversion prompted our federal government to surveil U.S. citizens.
Source: http://rinf.com/alt-news/breaking-news/governments-surveillance-powers-cant-keep-going-unchecked/
