Same Old Story

Once again the Bush Administration is saying: We're spying on americans, we've been doing it for awhile, and we're planning to expand this program and make it permanent.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States is expanding the use of spy satellites for domestic surveillance, turning its "eyes in sky" inward to counter terrorism and eventually for law enforcement, US officials said Wednesday.

Authorized by US intelligence chief Michael McConnell in May and managed by the Department of Homeland Security, the change will allow more federal and local agencies to tap into satellite imagery and related intelligence products, they said.

It also will expand the kind of intelligence that can be made available to include measurement and signature intelligence, which is used to identify and track targets by their particular physical characteristics, they said.

Charles Allen, assistant secretary of Homeland Security for intelligence analysis, said the main priority is to make more robust use of intelligence capabilities for civil defense purposes.

"The least of my concern is law enforcement," he said in a telephone interview.

"We're looking at that and we'll do it in an appropriate way," he said. But he said the government will move slowly on what probably will be limited applications for law enforcement.

He said spy satellites already have been used on an ad hoc basis to guard against terrorist attacks at political conventions and major sporting events.

The Department of Homeland Security envisions using spy satellites to keep closer watch over borders, ports, bridges and other key infrastructure.

They're asking us once again to ignore their previous felonious actions and let them have considerably MORE power and authority to snoop into our business. But it's OK - it's all in the service of protecting us from harm - any smallest chance of harm, even that chance that we'd gladly embrace in order to preserve our privacy from the most overreaching federal govt evah!

Read of their plans and assurances here