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ACLU: 900,000 Names on U.S. Terror Watch Lists
February 27, 2008 12:40 PM
The FBI now keeps a list of over 900,000 names belonging to known or suspected terrorists, the American Civil Liberties Union said today.
If that number is accurate, it would be an all-time high, exponentially more than the 100,000 names on the list several years ago. But the number needs to be taken with a grain of salt: after all, the ACLU doesn't keep the list, the FBI does, and the bureau doesn't generally like to talk about it. (Indeed, the FBI has not yet responded to a request for comment for this post.)
But if the ACLU's figure isn't accurate, it's also unlikely to be off by that much. Last September, the ACLU notes, the Department of Justice's Inspector General reported the FBI watch list was at 700,000 names, and growing at 20,000 names per month.
The ACLU says they "extrapolated" from those figures to determine the list's current size. ACLU's Barry Steinhardt added that the group had spoken privately with people familiar with the watch list, who told them the 900,000 figure was not outlandish.
In the past, The FBI has told ABC News that the size of its watch list is classified. Despite that, both the bureau and the DoJ Inspector General have published the total figure in unclassified reports.
There's no doubt the FBI's list is growing: just last June, ABC News reported it was at 509,000 names, based on information in an unclassified FBI budget document.
But strangely, the list may be growing not because of swelling legions of foreign terrorists. Instead, it appears the FBI may be adding tens of thousands of names belonging to U.S. persons it suspects of being domestic terrorists -- people who have no known ties to international terrorist organizations.
A separate entity, the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), keeps a list of all names believed to belong to terrorists linked to international terror groups. That list, which was at 100,000 names in 2003, grew to 465,000 names by last June – but since then has grown only modestly, according to NCTC spokesman Carl Kropf. Today, Kropf said that list stands at roughly 500,000 names. (Unlike the FBI, the NCTC does not maintain that the size of its watch list is classified information.)
The FBI takes that list and adds to it a new collection of names which belong to U.S. persons believed to be domestic terrorists: people who have links to terrorism but not to any international group.
Last June, the NCTC was responsible for putting 465,000 names on the watch list, and the FBI appeared to add an additional 44,000. By September, extrapolating from the DoJ Inspector General's report, the FBI's contribution appears to have grown to somewhere north of 200,000 names.
Today – if the ACLU is to be believed – the FBI's contribution may be as high as 417,000 names. Which would raise a new question: Where are so many domestic terrorists coming from? Or do they simply use more aliases than foreign terrorists?
Update: The FBI responded late Wednesday afternoon. Spokesman Chad Kolton did not dispute the ACLU's figure, but noted that the watch list contains names, aliases and name variations for individuals. The number of people on the watch list, he said, was around 300,000, and only 5 percent are U.S. persons. Kolton noted that the list is "regularly reviewed for accuracy." Last year the bureau removed 100,000 records "related to people cleared of any nexus with terrorism," Kolton said.
February 27, 2008 in FBI | Permalink | User Comments (44)
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Leave me alone I'm too freaking lazy to do stuff!
Posted by: roger | Mar 1, 2008 3:25:24 AM
You have to view the list from the perspective of the criminals in the Whitehouse, the CFR and the AIPAC controlled Congress. Any true patriot who upholds the Constitution is a threat. Any free citizen that can still think and knows his rights is a threat. Any U.S. citizen who is aware of the fascist takeover of our government and who wants to "throw off such government" as the Declaration of Independence requires we do, is a threat and by their skewed definition, a terrorist. THEY are for whom the newly built concentration camps are waiting.
Bush said it, "You are either for us,[the global fascist coup] or you are against us." It's all in your perspective. He didn't bother to tell the American people that we no longer have a country.
Posted by: Fledge | Mar 1, 2008 4:39:40 AM
Ladies and Gentlemen--introducing the NEW Soviet Union! And remember, torture WILL be used to extract "confessions." Oh wait--there's a difference--in the USSR everyone was guaranteed a job!
Posted by: petunia | Mar 1, 2008 5:13:05 AM
Papers please... did you know your name is on the no access list? Why are you trying to drive into this sector? Are you a terrorist?
Step out of zee car pleaz.
WAKE UP AMERICA!!! The deomrats won't save you and neither will the reichpubilcans!
Posted by: Tim Goodness | Mar 1, 2008 6:37:10 AM
Obtain and publish the names on the list.
Posted by: EARTHMAN | Mar 1, 2008 1:26:09 PM
Of course, this begs the question: what is the criteria for being put on the list? Would calling the president an idiot get you there? Not believing the governments lies? Hell, why bother casting a wide net? Just consider every breathing American citizen a potential terrrorist? It would be much easier, and it would make just as much sense. It appears that the truth is the government has declared war on their own citizens.
Posted by: Mike Adkison | Mar 1, 2008 1:45:12 PM
Terrorist = Farmers, self-sufficient Americans, teachers, parents with good advise, neighbors who warn of money meltdowns, interested news seekers, consumers who sound off about poisons in their groceries in public, people with scary opinions about whatever our government is up to, anyone with an opinion against war...
Posted by: kk | Mar 1, 2008 3:08:28 PM
And I lhope they get the complete population of the U.S.- esp. those who walk and drive holding cell phones - those indifferent to the goings on.
For 2 reasons:
-what are the scum ptb going to do with us all?
-I'm looking forward to the squawks of protests and indignation to the general populace
only THEN, will the sheeple do something!
Posted by: vera | Mar 1, 2008 3:59:58 PM
Zinglesloff.... Why does it have to be the GOP I say
all politicians need to be on that list! And don't forget all members of the Congress and Senate.
And don't forget the United Nations etc. etc. etc.
Posted by: Charles Perry | Mar 1, 2008 11:56:22 PM
Why do people write trash like this
if the FBi says it is classified then
any figure given out by any agency is more than likely a miss leading out fraudulent figure and then to just extrapolate and come up with what you call not outlandish.lol
it is preposterous that this crap is even taken serious
Posted by: David | Mar 2, 2008 2:24:13 AM
with 12 million dead Iraqi how many were terrorists 0000
how many were murdered in cold blood
how many raped
how many were tortured
just how many people that did this to this third world country that was disarmed
are on that list surely they must be all on it for they are the only terrorists that are ever likely to be in America.Americans sleep walking into their worse nightmare.
Posted by: David | Mar 2, 2008 2:28:48 AM
This is a "political enemies list" very much like ole Tricky Dicky had in the 60's. Like Georgie Porgie said, "Either you're with me or against me." Now, I realize he said "with us or against us" but it was clear to me what he meant. This is only going to get worse. The roundup is coming soon. Hahahaha
Wally
Posted by: wally | Mar 2, 2008 11:05:40 AM
Govt polies have created 900,000 terrorists and climbing since America is playing GOD around the World and let everything else fall apart here even your safety is at risk,etc.
Posted by: Rick | Mar 4, 2008 1:56:46 AM
Vera,
only THEN, will the sheeple do something!
By then, it will be too late. You squawk, you end up a 'clipped' sheeple.
Posted by: Jester of Fools | Mar 4, 2008 12:24:56 PM
If only 5% of the list is US citizens -what is the break down of the list by nationality?
Posted by: Angus | Mar 4, 2008 12:46:10 PM
"... This is an historic moment. We have in this past year made great progress in ending the long era of conflict and cold war. We have before us the opportunity to forge for ourselves and for future generations *a new world order* -- a world where the rule of law, not the law of the jungle, governs the conduct of nations. When we are successful -- and we will be -- we have a real chance at this *new world order*, an order in which a credible United Nations can use its peacekeeping role to fulfill the promise and vision of the U.N.'s founders. ..." (January 16, 1990)
Posted by: Remember | Mar 11, 2008 1:32:36 PM
"... We will starve terrorists of funding, turn them one against another, drive them from place to place, until there is no refuge or no rest. And we will pursue nations that provide aid or safe haven to terrorism. Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. *Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.* From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime."
Posted by: Remember | Mar 11, 2008 1:34:10 PM
"... this legislation gives law enforcement officials better tools to put an end to financial counterfeiting, smuggling and money-laundering. Secondly, it gives intelligence operations and criminal operations the chance to operate not on separate tracks, but to share vital information so necessary to disrupt a terrorist attack before it occurs.
Surveillance of communications is another essential tool to pursue and stop terrorists. ... This new law that I sign today will allow surveillance of all communications used by terrorists, including e-mails, the Internet, and cell phones.
... Under this new law, warrants are valid across all districts and across all states. And, finally, the new legislation greatly enhances the penalties that will fall on terrorists or anyone who helps them.
Posted by: Remember | Mar 11, 2008 1:42:49 PM
Remember...
Remember, in a country that was evolving much like our own, there was a struggle for power that led its citizens into a nightmare relm that evolved into war and lasted for several years with millions dead.
It all happened because the Law was subverted to give certain individuals all the power.
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it"
Take this one step further...
"Those who refuse to remember the past are condemned to repeat it"
Posted by: Remember | Mar 11, 2008 1:53:26 PM
Of the Founding Fathers . . .What a nut you are. It is people like you who add credibility to the story by saying such outlandish things.The ACLU did not make the list. They are just informing us about it. Whether the # of people on the list is accurate misses the point. American Citizens should be allowed to know it they are on the list and have there named removed if they are not a threat to our country. Nelson Mendela was on the governments list because the "African National Congress" a party he belongs to, was declared a terrorist organization. We have to be careful what we label people because our government may not agree with what "we" are doing, but that person maybe getting the Noble Peace Prize some day in the future because we finally understand what they were fighting for.
Posted by: Flying Eagel | May 16, 2008 12:07:22 AM
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