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Leaked Documents Show the U.S. Tracking Journalists Through a Secret Database

nbcsandiego.com

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Re: Leaked Documents Show the U.S. Tracking Journalists Through a Secret Database

#71

Post by detaro »

huffmsa wrote: post #66
ionised wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 setti…

It's the same answer used by Mr Holder and Mr Obama to justify dropping hellfire missiles in a dozen countries.

And it was questionable then too.

Re: Leaked Documents Show the U.S. Tracking Journalists Through a Secret Database

#73

Post by wbg34 »

danesparza wrote: post #59
azeotropic wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.”

A quote from the official statement from the Customs and Border Patrol. It was also in the article.

"CBP told our colleagues at NBC News that the names in the database are all people who were present during violence that broke out at the border in November. The agency also said journalists are being tracked so that the agency can learn more about what started that violence."

Re: Leaked Documents Show the U.S. Tracking Journalists Through a Secret Database

#74

Post by pessimizer »

XorNot wrote: post #20
adventured wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Bush and Obama Administrations were extraordinarily aggressive in expanding US espionage action domestically. Obama was infamously aggressive in targeting the press. The notion that they'd do all of that and not begin tracking journalists in a comprehensive fashion was an improbable scenario. The first leaks by Snowden should have prompted the press to assume it. It's why so many of the major media outlets have g…

Is there evidence this specific tracking started under a previous administration? Or must we first ensure that we deflect blame from the current administration, notably characterised by ongoing violent rhetoric about journalists, including a surprising effort to ignore the government sanctioned murder of a journalist by an "ally".

It's more like ensuring that we don't assume that things come into existence as soon as we personally become aware of them, then that we don't assign them completely to the current person who, since we personally dislike him, caused us to pay attention in the first place.

The US government has been caught spying on and manipulating journalists since the G.W. Bush administration, and Obama was particularly energetic.

Re: Leaked Documents Show the U.S. Tracking Journalists Through a Secret Database

#75

Post by huffmsa »

glorious wrote: post #57
imglorp wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Human trafficking is quite illegal. I don't think anyone would have a problem with a database of possible human traffickers

Re: Leaked Documents Show the U.S. Tracking Journalists Through a Secret Database

#77

Post by boudin »

vectorEQ wrote: post #14
sehugg wrote: post #8

Not 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…

Safe from what?

Re: Leaked Documents Show the U.S. Tracking Journalists Through a Secret Database

#79

Post by wbg34 »

There was an incidence of violence at the border. The people in this database were present at the time.

"CBP told our colleagues at NBC News that the names in the database are all people who were present during violence that broke out at the border in November. The agency also said journalists are being tracked so that the agency can learn more about what started that violence."

Re: Leaked Documents Show the U.S. Tracking Journalists Through a Secret Database

#80

Post by mc32 »

whatshisface wrote: post #58
Spooky23 wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I don’t know what you mean. Americans are the ones who should decide the government. Not sure I see that as a threat. We have mechanisms to deal with internal threats without having to impose sanctions or go to war.

If you’re talking about PACs and vested interests, we at least, if we wanted it enough, could make changes but enough people are okay with them so there is no pressure to make radical change.

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