It's not only tracking but flagging them also, the government is scared for journalists digging around shady stuff.
Leaked Documents Show the U.S. Tracking Journalists Through a Secret Database
51–60 of 191 posts
Re: Leaked Documents Show the U.S. Tracking Journalists Through a Secret Database
#52Not only tracking them, but putting flags on their passports and interrogating them at the border: “They asked about the new caravan and if word had gotten out about how difficult it is to seek asylum in the U.S.,” Drehsler said. “Then before I left, the female agent asked if I rented or owned my home.” This sounds much more like a political intimidation operation than serving a national security purpose.
It sounds most like a criminal investigation into a particular violent incident at the border and the investigators are trying to follow the money.
Re: Leaked Documents Show the U.S. Tracking Journalists Through a Secret Database
#53Earlier quoted context omitted.
The United States in still engaged in 2 declared wars. One of which has it's theater defined as "wherever al-qeada and it's associates are" (paraphrase). So what's wrong with the wartime playbook? We're at war.
This “war” has been going on for nearly two decades. There’s no credible linkage to even the ridiculously vague definition of the “war” and migrants fleeing repressive regimes in Central America.
Part 2: who did you vote for as your representative and senator last cycle? Let's see what their track record of opinion on the AUMF and the southern border is.
Re: Leaked Documents Show the U.S. Tracking Journalists Through a Secret Database
#54Not only tracking them, but putting flags on their passports and interrogating them at the border: “They asked about the new caravan and if word had gotten out about how difficult it is to seek asylum in the U.S.,” Drehsler said. “Then before I left, the female agent asked if I rented or owned my home.” This sounds much more like a political intimidation operation than serving a national security purpose.
this is normal. journalists are hot targets to either spoof or buy to snoop around as they often have more access than regular civilians to high profile targets.... counter-intelligence and counter-espionage. people should realise that forgein powers demotivate them against their own government, and now these demotivated people are the ones complaining about this kind of shit, preventing their own government from fun…
> people should realise that forgein powers demotivate them against their own government, and now these demotivated people are the ones complaining about this kind of shit, preventing their own government from functioning normally.
Oh the poor poor US government, with its trillions of dollars in resources and monopoly on the use of lethal force, stopped dead in their tracks by their eternal nemesis, the free citizen airing their opinion.
There are places you can go where governments blame journalists and other opinionated people for all their problems. There are even a few places where the government will go further than mere coercion and intimidation and actually murder people who speak out against it.
Turkey or Saudi Arabia. Maybe North Korea or the Congo.
Perhaps those countries are more to your liking?
Re: Leaked Documents Show the U.S. Tracking Journalists Through a Secret Database
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
The first critical point is to classify the caravan. This is something you have to step outside of politics for, for a minute. This caravan had already illegally broken past the border between Guatemala and Mexico. [1] There's every reason to believe they planned to attempt similar behavior at the US border. This is the definition of criminal conspiracy. In this case it would likely have also been a politically desta…
The classification of the caravan is itself politics. The classification of refugees as criminals is extremely political. As is the question of why they're fleeing Honduras in the first place. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/dec/07/crisis-of-hond...
A person walks into a store and steals a loaf of bread. Have they engaged in theft? There can be very compelling mitigating circumstances and factors that can help explain their action (perhaps their family is starving), but this does not change the fact that they have now engaged in a criminal act and should be treated as a suspect, though of course with the presumption of innocence until proven guilty.
The caravan engaged in numerous criminal actions and likely conspired to engage in further criminal action at or within the US. Not investigating this would be remiss of the government, regardless of whether or not they find such actions justifiable. If we only investigated those we did not like or defended those we did, we'd have quite the broken system -- and, in fact, such systems were the norm for much of society's existence. Suffice to say such systems were not conducive to justness or fairness.
Re: Leaked Documents Show the U.S. Tracking Journalists Through a Secret Database
#56Earlier quoted context omitted.
Really? Name a single member of the trump administration who is in jail, muchless senior. Why make stuff up?
I said "campaign" for a reason. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-47263226 : former election campaign chief Paul Manafort is the big one. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-46347887 George Papadopoulos received a short prison sentence for lying to the FBI. The following associates are convicted but not yet sentenced, presumably while they cooperate with investigators: Rick Gates has pled guilty to co…
Yeah I must have misread “administration.” In that case obviously you’re correct. Still, wow, they got Manafort. That’s not exactly the big time. Just some sheister lobbyist. Something about “working their way through” didn’t quite connect with my perceived reality.
Re: Leaked Documents Show the U.S. Tracking Journalists Through a Secret Database
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
The United States in still engaged in 2 declared wars. One of which has it's theater defined as "wherever al-qeada and it's associates are" (paraphrase). So what's wrong with the wartime playbook? We're at war.
You're not allowed to use those special war powers to suppress normal democratic dissent. This is exactly fascism.
You're not allowed to cross the border illegally. This list of "journalists" is actually a list of people who were/are trying to help people enter the country illegally.
"Suppress normal democratic dissent" and "fascism" sounds like a conspiracy theory.
Re: Leaked Documents Show the U.S. Tracking Journalists Through a Secret Database
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
Did the Snowden revelations end up weakening any government despite the violations against citizens? Or fast and furious? Iran-Contra? Don’t kid yourself.
Absolutely. All of those things had significant policy impacts. It’s no coincidence that massive Russian influence campaigns that put a buffoon in the White House followed their usurpation of Snowden and Wikileaks. Fast and furious helped cement the right wing distrust of government and gin up the crazy gun people. Iran-Contra undermined the global strategy for dealing with terrorist incidents by refusing to negotiat…
Americans are far more of a national security threat than foreign governments. It is far more likely that they will replace the government than it is that a foreign power would. We will only have good national security when the government is as resistant to Americans as it is to Putin.
Re: Leaked Documents Show the U.S. Tracking Journalists Through a Secret Database
#59Not only tracking them, but putting flags on their passports and interrogating them at the border: “They asked about the new caravan and if word had gotten out about how difficult it is to seek asylum in the U.S.,” Drehsler said. “Then before I left, the female agent asked if I rented or owned my home.” This sounds much more like a political intimidation operation than serving a national security purpose.
It sounds most like a criminal investigation into a particular violent incident at the border and the investigators are trying to follow the money.
This is incorrect. A criminal investigation would be legal.
A quote directly from the article sums up the counterpoint nicely:
“We are a criminal investigation agency, we’re not an intelligence agency,” the Homeland Security source told NBC 7 Investigates. “We can’t create dossiers on people and they’re creating dossiers. This is an abuse of the Border Search Authority.”
Re: Leaked Documents Show the U.S. Tracking Journalists Through a Secret Database
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
This “war” has been going on for nearly two decades. There’s no credible linkage to even the ridiculously vague definition of the “war” and migrants fleeing repressive regimes in Central America.
Except the wide open southern border is an easy point of insertion for Daesh and AQ operatives. Therefore, it can be claimed as warzone under the AUMF. Next question.
> Except the wide open southern border is an easy point of insertion for Daesh and AQ operatives.
> Therefore, it can be claimed as warzone under the AUMF.
How delightfully convenient and simultaneously nonsensical.
If you are going to be that overly simplistic and reductionist (and willfully ignorant) about what is happening and why then you may as well just come out in support of all-out martial law and start setting up the FEMA camps in case of a terrorist attack.
> Next question.
You say that like you think your answer was a good one.