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Pentagon seeks leeway to
approach citizens
KATHERINE SHRADER
Associated Press
WASHINGTON
- Loosening decades-old limitations, the
Pentagon is asking Congress to allow its intelligence
agents to go undercover when they approach Americans who
may have useful national-security information, rather
than identifying themselves as intelligence operatives.
The provision found in a wide-ranging intelligence
bill would give the Defense Intelligence Agency new
latitude to meet U.S. citizens without pulling out their
DIA badges and later sending a formal notice of their
rights under the landmark 1974 Privacy Act.
The regulations are a vestige of the intelligence
scandals of the 1960s and 1970s, when the Defense
Department was taken to task for spying on American
anti-war protesters. Civil liberties advocates raise
similar concerns now, worried that the powers the DIA is
seeking could be abused.
But DIA General Counsel George Peirce says the agency
is seeking flexibility that the FBI and CIA have had for
years and is needed even more desperately since Sept.
11, 2001.
To make its case, the DIA is taking the unusual step
of letting its lawyers brief reporters, concerned that
public information available in years past didn't
adequately explain their rationale for the new powers.
The DIA serves as an adviser to senior policy-makers,
helps protect U.S. forces at home and abroad and
supports war planners who need to know the military
capabilities of other countries.
Peirce and his deputy, Jim Schmidli, say the changes
they are seeking would be limited. The agency's
intelligence officers could only go undercover to
approach an American when they are making an initial
contact to assess whether the person may have useful
information. An operational plan would have to be
approved by the agency's director or someone he
designates.
Only then could the DIA official pretend to be the
representative of another government agency, such as the
Agriculture Department, or assume a more creative
identity off the government payroll.
Schmidli stressed that the DIA is seeking this
flexibility to protect its methods, officers and
potential sources.
"In some of the communities, which are very
tightly knit, if I walk up on the porch and show my
badge, that's going to be well-known pretty
quickly," he said. "That may not be warmly
received by the neighbors."
The American Civil Liberties Union said the
30-year-old Privacy Act was intended to protect
Americans from unknowingly becoming the subject of
inquiries by defense officials.
"The notion that this is somehow different
because they want to assess someone first, I think that
is just a rhetorical nuance," said Lisa Graves, the
ACLU's senior counsel for legislative strategy.
Joe Onek, senior policy analyst for the civil
liberties advocates at the Open Society Institute, said
he's concerned the information gleaned could
disproportionately affect Muslims, compared with other
immigrant populations. More Muslims, he said, may be
deported.
"The question is what limits - if any - are
there on the information they gain? Can that information
be transferred to a law enforcement or immigration
agency?" Onek asked.
DIA spokesman Don Black said the agency's officers
are obligated to report illegal activity to the
appropriate authorities.
The Senate Intelligence Committee, chaired by
Republican Pat Roberts of Kansas, supported the measure
in an annual intelligence authorization bill approved
last week. Three other committees must also sign off,
and the measure must be approved by the entire Congress.
Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, the Senate
Intelligence Committee's top Democrat, believes the
measure strikes the right balance between national
security and privacy, a spokeswoman said.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Peter Hoekstra,
R-Mich., is "very willing" to consider the
measure, said his spokesman, Jamal Ware. The panel's top
Democrat, Jane Harman of California, did not return
calls seeking comment.
ON THE NET
Defense Intelligence Agency: http://www.dia.mil
Defense Department: http://www.defenselink.mil
American Civil Liberties Union: http://www.aclu.org
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