Rise of the American KGB

Richard Willing writes, 'DNA profiles from hundreds of thousands of juvenile offenders and adults arrested but not convicted of crimes could be added to the FBI's national DNA crime-fighting program under a proposed law moving through Congress. [Emphasis mine.]

'The law, if enacted, would be the greatest single expansion of the federal government's power to collect and use DNA since the FBI's national database was created in 1992. The FBI says its national DNA database holds genetic profiles from about 1.4 million adults convicted of state and federal crimes.

'The changes, in a little-noticed section of a bill that would authorize $755 million for DNA testing, were approved by the House of Representatives on Nov. 5. Backers say the Senate is likely to approve a similar version by early next year.'

Thanks to this regime's undeclared War on Terror, it's a sure bet that this proposed crime-fighting law will easily pass with little or no debate, let alone dissent or opposition.

As I wrote almost a year ago, DNA database networks will soon be the de facto national ID card system. This proposed law, in addition to PATRIOT I, bodes ill for what remains of our justice system. It opens a brand new door to abuse by State agents. If you think that once that door is open, nothing bad will happen, you are not only na've and deluded, you are smoking something that is not sold at 7-Eleven. Unlike fingerprints, DNA material is easily planted at a crime scene.

Once passed, this law will enable any State agent to arrest you for any reason, specious or otherwise, just to get DNA material from you. Once they have it, you can be freed, with all 'charges' dropped.

When the State needs a fall guy, all it has to do is plant one of your hairs at a crime scene. The FBI's computer will then find the "criminal" and you will be quickly arrested, charged, tried, and convicted because, as we all know, DNA matching is virtually 100% proof positive.

PATRIOT I already enables State agents to search your home at any time, giving them plenty of opportunities to gather new DNA material that will then mysteriously appear at a crime scene. It will not matter who your attorney is, how much money you make, or what your alibi is, you will be convicted and sent to prison if/when the State targets you.

Local law enforcement can't wait to solve many old, unsolved crimes using the FBI's growing national DNA database, but the feds are licking their chops in anticipation of new, pending power to treat everyone ' innocent, uncharged, untried, and unconvicted citizens ' as suspects and guilty criminals, now and in the future.

In the names of fighting crime and national security, a basic doctrine of the American justice system ' presumption of innocence ' is about to disappear forever for citizens arrested and/or targeted by State agents.

There is no turning back the clock; 9/11 has given the State all the justification it deems necessary, the technology is readily available, and Congress stands ready to fund this crime-fighting law today. Who will stand in its way? Answer: nobody. Ayn Rand was right:

'There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. When there aren't enough criminals, one makes them.'

"We are fast approaching the stage in the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission; which is the stage of the darkest period of human history, the stage of rule by brute force."

Timothy Lynch writes, 'There is, of course, cause for concern. Federal officials have abused their powers in the past, such as by throwing Japanese-Americans into detention camps, by conducting barbaric experiments on black men in Tuskegee , Ala. , and by deliberately exposing GIs to atomic blasts, to name just a few. If we believe that tomorrow's political leaders will somehow be incapable of abusing their power over a fully centralized DNA database, the next generation will never forgive us -- and rightly so.'

PATRIOT I, the pending PATRIOT II, and this proposed law all mark the rise of the American KGB.

John Pike writes, 'The [Soviet] KGB had a variety of domestic security functions. It was empowered by law to arrest and investigate individuals for certain types of political and economic crimes. It was also responsible for censorship, propaganda, and the protection of state and military secrets.

'In carrying out its task of ensuring state security, the KGB was empowered by law to uncover and investigate certain political crimes . . . and the criminal codes of other republics.

'In carrying out arrests and investigations for these crimes, the KGB was subject to specific rules . . . . In practice, the [KGB] was permitted to circumvent the regulations whenever politically expedient. [Emphasis mine.]

'It is important to note that the KGB frequently enlisted [other State agencies] to instigate proceedings against political nonconformists on charges that did not fall under the KGB's purview. Dissidents were often charged for defaming the Soviet state and violating public order. Sometimes the KGB arranged to have them charged for ordinary crimes, such as hooliganism or drug abuse.'

Political opponents, dissenters, non-voters, gun owners, anarchists, militia members, tax and war protesters, and many writers all present perceived threats to State agents. As such, they are much easier to control if they are in prison.

From the State's perspective, America today is a target-rich environment, and Congress is about to deliver a huge load of new ammunition to the American KGB, which has already implemented other Soviet-style KGB tactics.

Eric Lichtbau writes, 'The Federal Bureau of Investigation has collected extensive information on the tactics, training and organization of antiwar demonstrators and has advised local law enforcement officials to report any suspicious activity at protests to its counterterrorism squads, according to interviews and a confidential bureau memorandum.

'The memorandum, which the bureau sent to local law enforcement agencies last month in advance of antiwar demonstrations in Washington and San Francisco, detailed how protesters have sometimes used 'training camps' to rehearse for demonstrations, the Internet to raise money and gas masks to defend against tear gas. The memorandum analyzed lawful activities like recruiting demonstrators, as well as illegal activities like using fake documentation to get into a secured site.

'F.B.I. officials said in interviews that the intelligence-gathering effort was aimed at identifying anarchists and 'extremist elements' plotting violence, not at monitoring the political speech of law-abiding protesters.

'Civil rights advocates, relying largely on anecdotal evidence, have complained for months that federal officials have surreptitiously sought to suppress the First Amendment rights of antiwar demonstrators.

'The F.B.I. memorandum, however, appears to offer the first corroboration of a coordinated, nationwide effort to collect intelligence regarding demonstrations.'

Presumption of innocence is out the door ' welcome to the Soviet Union , comrade!