Intelligence Effort Named Citizens, Not Terrorists

This Aug. 25, 2004 file photo shows unidentified analysts
at the Combined Intelligence and Fusion Center for
NORAD/Northcom in Colorado Springs, Colo. A
multibillion-dollar information-sharing program that was
created in the aftermath of 9/11 has improperly collected
information about innocent Americans and produced no
valuable intelligence on terrorism, according to a Senate
report that describes an effort that ballooned far beyond
anyone’s ability to control. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski/File)

A multibillion-dollar information-sharing program created in the aftermath of 9/11 has improperly collected information about innocent Americans and produced little valuable intelligence on terrorism, a Senate report concludes. 

It portrays an effort that ballooned far beyond anyone's ability to control. What began as an attempt to put local, state and federal officials in the same room analyzing the same intelligence has instead cost huge amounts of money for data-mining software, flat screen televisions and, in Arizona, two fully equipped Chevrolet Tahoes that are used for commuting, investigators found. 

 The report underscores a reality of post-9/11 Washington: National security programs tend to grow, never shrink, even when their money and manpower far surpass the actual subject of terrorism. 

When fusion centers did address terrorism, they sometimes did so in ways that infringed on civil liberties. The centers have made headlines for circulating information about Ron Paul supporters, the ACLU, activists on both sides of the abortion debate, war protesters and advocates of gun rights. 

One fusion center cited in the Senate investigation wrote a report about a Muslim community group's list of book recommendations. Others discussed American citizens speaking at mosques or talking to Muslim groups about parenting. No evidence of criminal activity was contained in those reports. The government did not circulate them, but it kept them on government computers. The federal government is prohibited from storing information about First Amendment activities not related to crimes.

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