National Security state - 'Top Secret America' - private interests vs. public good - perils of US 'intelligence'

AD Note: There has been a lot of attention given to the Washington Post release on July 21, 2010 of their second part in a series called the“Top Secret America: A Washington Post Investigation”, which is actually a project nearly two years in the making that describes the huge national security buildup in the United States after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The cult of secrecy driven by technology even has the Washington Post editors perhaps wondering if 'Top Secret America' hasn't gone too far in conducting massive surveillance, building infrastructure and contracting with private corporations? Something that every American should be asking themselves if they already haven't is, exactly who benefits more from this intense security buildup, the American public or private interests?

Using Germany as an example of what happened after the Reichstag (German Parliament) was burned down (Germany's 9/11), in the U.S., government-private contractors and their operatives work so close with police exchanging information to arrest Americans and or share in the forfeiture of their assets, they appear to have merged with police; and this is precisely what followed in Germany in 1933. Also, this Washington Post series failed to mention this.

Similarly in 1933 after the German Parliament building was set afire, Hitler used the fire as vehicle to use taxpayer money to expand his private police, the Gestapo and increasing merged it with German national security. Even before the Gestapo was consolidated with the German Government, the Gestapo arrested Citizens and confiscated private property with no legal authority."

However U.S. Government has already granted that power to private contractors. In 1939 all German Police agencies including the Gestapo were put under the control of the "Reich Main Security Office” the equivalent of U.S. Homeland Security.

Can History repeat itself? It is foreseeable that should there be a radical change in U.S. Government, many of the current government private contractors would continue working for e.g. a fascist U.S. Government; communist or other despot government against the interests of Americans.

Consider the German police first work for a democracy; then under Hitler worked for the Nazi Fascists; then worked for the Soviet Union running the East German Police (Stasi) believed to be the world most oppressive police force until the German Wall came down.
http://enduringamerica.com/2010/07/20/us-national-security

There are nearly one million people involved in national security with approximately 265,000 private contractors according to 'Top Secret America' working for the US Government in building this security state. There are many private contractors and all of it unmonitored. An important observation about this growing security state is that these people involved in America's security will bleed American $$$'s if unchallenged. Here is a list high tech surveillance tools posted by the Washington Post in their series used in building this apparatus ostensibly to 'protect' Americans and America: http://projects.washingtonpost.com/top-secret-america/galleries/gallery-technology/

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Source: New York Daily News

Spy community strikes back at report United States intelligence community is too big, too expensive

By Richard Sisk
Tuesday, July 20th 2010


The U.S. spy community hit back quickly Monday at a new report accusing the U.S. of building an intelligence bureaucracy since 9/11 that is too big and too costly to control.

"We accept that we operate in an environment that limits the amount of information we can share," Acting Director of National Intelligence David C. Gompert said in response to a Washington Post series that began Monday.

"However, the fact is, the men and women of the Intelligence Community have improved our operations, thwarted attacks, and are achieving untold successes every day," Gompert said.

The newspaper series, which came with interactive links on the spread of intel branches worldwide, said that more than 1,200 government organizations and 1,900 private companies now work on counterterrorism, homeland security and intelligence at more than 10,000 locations across the U.S.

The public and private organizations employ about 854,000 people in the business of spying and protecting the nation, the report said.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates told the Post that the massive U.S.intelligence apparatus may have become unwieldy.

Gates said that "Nine years after 9/11, it makes sense to sort of take a look at this and say, 'OK, we've built tremendous capability, but do we have more than we need?"

The Washington Post series came at an awkward time for the nation's spies.

James Clapper, a retired Air Force general and President Obama's choice to become the new Director of National Intelligence, will begin his confirmation hearings in the Senate Tuesday.