Re:The enormous problems with using the war on terror as the...
by gozur88 on Monday June 20, 2016 @10:42PM
(#11943136)
It's perfectly reasonable for the security services of any country to identify potential bad guys. It's reasonable for the potential bad guys to face extra scrutiny. It's perfectly fine for the NSA or FBI or whoever to say (internally) "Here's a list of people we think are behaving suspiciously. Let's keep an eye on them."
But it is not reasonable to deny someone rights, any rights, because they've been identified as subjects of extra scrutiny. We already have a system through which people are denied rights based on things they've done. It's not perfect, but it's a hell of a lot more perfect than a list which a) isn't public knowledge, b) has no official procedure for adding people and c) has no procedure for appealing your inclusion.
Beyond that, this particular list is a list of names, not a list of identities. Lord help you if you share a name with somebody who is behaving a little suspiciously. There must be many thousands of people named, for example, Mohammed al-Masri, or John Smith, or Pablo Gonzalez, or Amit Patel. Supposedly Ted Kennedy ended up on the list because he shared a name with someone they were watching.
But it is not reasonable to deny someone rights, any rights, because they've been identified as subjects of extra scrutiny. We already have a system through which people are denied rights based on things they've done. It's not perfect, but it's a hell of a lot more perfect than a list which a) isn't public knowledge, b) has no official procedure for adding people and c) has no procedure for appealing your inclusion.
Beyond that, this particular list is a list of names, not a list of identities. Lord help you if you share a name with somebody who is behaving a little suspiciously. There must be many thousands of people named, for example, Mohammed al-Masri, or John Smith, or Pablo Gonzalez, or Amit Patel. Supposedly Ted Kennedy ended up on the list because he shared a name with someone they were watching.