{news} A grassroots national security paradigm: film 1/25 in Westport

[David Bedell]

Following is a letter I sent to the CT Post, Stamford Advocate, and other 
local papers:


The recent arrest of journalist-activist Ken Krayeske at Governor Rell's 
inaugural parade is the latest in a growing series of government covert 
actions that make modern life feel more and more like a spy thriller. 
Krayeske's arrest brought to light the existence of a secret "suspicious 
persons" list provided to state police by the little-known Connecticut 
Intelligence Center.  Apparently Krayeske got on the list because he was 
campaign director for Green Party candidate Cliff Thornton, and because he
criticized Rell for refusing to debate Thornton.

This list may or may not be the same as the Violent Gang and Terrorist 
Organization File (VGTOF) maintained by the FBI.  The VGTOF has included, 
among others, the American Friends Service Committee, a pacifist 
organization.  And then there is the secret "no-fly" list which bans people
from airplanes based on their political affiliations.

These secret lists, we are told, are a necessary tool of law enforcement, 
along with warrantless wiretapping and, as of last month, the opening of 
sealed mail without court orders.

In Stamford, the police department, with support from the Board of 
Representatives, is planning to install video surveillance cameras 
throughout the city to monitor people's behavior in public places.  This is 
already widespread in London and New York.

Secret lists, eavesdropping, hidden cameras.  And we also have midnight 
deportations to secret overseas prisons ("extraordinary rendition"), 
indefinite detention without trial at Guantanamo, and the use of approved 
forms of torture to extract information.

Not very pretty.  And not very effective, either. How can these 
heavy-handed, clandestine, and centralized methods of gathering information 
keep up with a world of burgeoning print media, the Internet, cell phones 
and digital cameras?

Perhaps we need  a new national security paradigm, based not on obscure 
government operations but on the collective intelligence of an informed 
citizenry.  Imagine, instead of J. Edgar Hoover and his G-men, a whole 
society armed with cell phones and computers, combing publicly available
information sources and reporting their findings on blogs.  Imagine, instead 
of a Central Intelligence Agency, a Citizen Intelligence Network. The young 
hackers will run circles around the old spies.

This is the concept behind Open Source Intelligence, a movement founded by 
former Marine and CIA officer Robert Steele. To learn more about the 
movement, the Fairfield County Green Party will show and discuss a film 
about Robert Steele, "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Spying and 
Intelligence," on Thursday, January 25, 7:00 PM at the Westport Public 
Library.

We need to start treating bloggers like Ken Krayeske as a national resource, 
not a national threat.

David Bedell
Stamford, CT

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