Phew! The U.S. “Terrorist Watch List” Surpasses the 1 Million Mark: I Finally Feel Safe…

July 14, 2008

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Don’t look know but the United States “terrorist” watch list has surpassed the one million mark. The idea behind the whole “terrorist watch list” is put together by the Terrorist Screening Center (TSC), which was born out of the Homeland Security Presidential Directive 6 back in December of 2003. The most recent audit released by TSC officials shows that the “terrorist watch list” has been growing steadily at about 20,000 plus new names added per month - an extreme growth rate by any standard.

The official name for “the terrorist watch list” is the Terrorist Screening Database (TSDB), and is supposedly a “end all, be all” database of information about all known or suspected terrorists, and makes this information available to a number of different government agencies such as the State Department, Immigration Services, etc. Back in June of 2004 the TSDB had 158,000 records (names) in its “database” and by May of 2007 it had reached a whopping 755,000 records (names). The database finally reached 1 million sometime late last month, and there are no signs that the additions of individuals to the database is going to slow up any time soon.

As of today there are a total of twelve databases incorporated into Terrorist Screening Center (TSC). They include the office of Homeland Securities “No Fly List”, the National Counterterrorism Center’s “Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment”, the Department of Justice’s “Violent Gang and Terrorist Organization File”, among a gaggle of others.

Now that the general makeup of the “list” and the entity behind it are laid out, we can move onto the arguments many are taking up against a database or “list” per se, that is currently filled with over 1 million names, many of which have proven to be innocent, non threatening (to say the least individuals.)

For example; Nelson Mandela, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and a household name all over the world, nonetheless is listed on the U.S. watch list and needs special permission to enter the United States. Clearly a threat to national security huh? I mean any individual who Gandhi credits for being a major source of inspiration in his life, both for the philosophy of non-violence and for facing adversity with dignity is definitely a threat. The sad thing is this isn’t even the worst the list has to offer. The following individuals are also included in the TSC “terrorist watch list”:

U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy (D, Mass.): After repeated delays at airport security, the senator had trouble getting removed from the airline watch list despite calls to Homeland Security and eventually a personal conversation with the Secretary of DHS.

Representative John Lewis (D, Georgia): Being a hero of the Civil Rights Movement isn’t enough to keep off the aviation watch lists, apparently.

Akif Rahman: founder of a computer consulting company from suburban Chicago, was detained and questioned for more than two hours by U.S. customs officials on four separate occasions when crossing the Canadian border. On one occasion he was held for 5 ¬Ω hours, shackled to a chair, and physically searched. He was also separated from his wife and children (who were forced to wait in a small dirty public area without food or telephones). A U.S. citizen born in Springfield Illinois, Rahman is being represented by the ACLU of Illinois in a lawsuit over this treatment.

Marine Staff Sgt. Daniel Brown: Brown was blocked from flying while on his way home from an 8-month deployment in Iraq. He was listed as a suspected terrorist due to a previous incident in which gunpowder was detected on his boots, most likely a residue of a previous tour in Iraq.

Major General Vernon Lewis (Ret.): a recipient of the Army’s highest medal for service, the Distinguished Service Medal who served in the Korean and Vietnam wars, Lewis had problems flying.

John William Anderson: age 6; problems flying. Among those caught up by the no-fly list are many infants and small children.

So clearly this system is flawed, and who can be surprised. When ever you have 12 different agencies managing a database of over a million names (and growing) of course there is going to be a whole lot of mistakes, screw ups and miscommunication. That is why the process, the parameters, and the integration has got to be scaled down and re-vamped.

One of the main proponents behind a restructuring of the terrorist database is the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and they have laid out quite a solid argument argument supporting their position - one which I think any common sensed individual would have a difficult time refuting. The following comes from the ACLU website:

“By those numbers, the list now has over one million names on it. Terrorist watch lists must be tightly focused on true terrorists who pose a genuine threat. Bloated lists are bad because, they ensnare many innocent travelers as suspected terrorists, and because they waste screeners’ time and divert their energies from looking for true terrorists.

Small, focused watch lists are better for civil liberties and for security.

The uncontroversial contention that Osama Bin Laden and a handful of other known terrorists should not be allowed on an aircraft is being used to create a monster that goes far beyond what ordinary Americans think of when they think about a “terrorist watch list.”

This is not just a problem of numbers. The numbers are merely a symptom. What’s needed is fairness. If the government is going to rely on these kinds of lists, they need checks and balances to ensure that innocent people are protected.”

I think they nail it on the head when they point out that for pure efficiency purposes the list needs to be brought down to a manageable number, a point that we surpassed quite a long time ago.

Until the appropriate agencies begin taking action and fixing this severely flawed program which is adding 6 year olds, Iraq war vets just back from fighting for Democracy and United States Senators it will for all theoretical purposes be as useful in protecting this country as a round trip ticket to Hawaii would be too a inmate sitting on death row.