860,000 Name Long Terror Watch List
Scrutinizes Americans Most

RYAN SINGEL / Wired 24oct2007

The nation's centralized watch list has grown to include 755,000 names suspected of having terrorist ties, resulting in nearly 20,000 positive matches of persons against the list in 2006, according to a new report from Congress's investigative reporting arm. Since the list is now used in nearly all routine police stops and for domestic airline travel, Americans made up the bulk of those matches.

The Government Accountability Office's report was presented in a hearing to the Senate's Homeland Security Committee Wednesday, causing senators to express concern about the size and effectiveness of the list.

The GAO report (here) included a few new details about the list's size and operation but much of this was reported by Wired months ago.

The Terrorist Screening Center runs the list, which is created from nominations from a wide array of government agencies via the National Counter Terrorism Center. The watch list entries are used to check persons seeking visas, travellers entering or leaving the country, domestic airline passengers and persons stopped by state, local or federal law enforcement. Most of the positive matches on the list came from police routinely checking persons, such as speeding motorists, against the list, according to the Government Accountability Office's report (.pdf). The TSA is responsible for resolving mismatches, which can happen when an innocent person's name is similar or the same as different, watch listed person. The number of individuals on the list may be significantly less than three quarters of a million, since the name count include aliases.

Since list entries are coded with varying suspected threat levels, simply being on the watch list doesn't mean one will be arrested. In fact, being on the watchlist isn't even enough to ensure that a person is denied a visa or entry into the country, according to the report.

The GAO, at the request of the feds, removed information about how often the list has been used to arrest suspected terrorists or keep them out of the county. It also doesn't report the number of times people were falsely matched to the list.

But the report says the feds say it is effective.

Our analysis of data on the outcomes of encounters revealed that agencies took a range of actions, such as arresting individuals, denying others entry into the United States, and most commonly, releasing the individuals following questioning and information gathering.

TSC data show that agencies reported arresting many subjects of watch list records for various reasons, such as the individual having an outstanding arrest warrant or the individual’s behavior or actions during the encounter. TSC data also indicated that some of the arrests were based on terrorism grounds.

Individuals who believe they are on the list erroneously or because of a confusion over their name can apply for help through the DHS Advise system, but it is not set up to allow people to contest the information that got them on the list.

Homeland Security officials defended the list's size and said they were working to make sure that watch listed individuals did not get past airline checks, according to the Voice of America.

Homeland Security Assistant Secretary of Policy, Paul Rosenzweig: "We have made great strides," he said. "More work needs to be done, but the improvement is quite noticeable."

The chairman of the Senate committee, Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, expressed concern about the growth of the terrorist watch list, which the GAO report says has grown from 158,000 in June 2004 to 860,000 today. "With the list likely to go over one million names in the near future, we need to know that there are clear standards for placing names on it and of course taking them off it," he said.

But Leonard Boyle, director of the Terrorist Screening Center, says the list is actually much smaller than described by the GAO because some people may be on the list more than once if their names are listed under multiple spellings.[...]

Boyle says federal agencies have agreed to a set of procedures to allow people who believe they were wrongly added to the watch list a timely, fair and accurate review of their cases.

Other adjectives that apply to the DHS review process include one-sided, secretive, administrative, and non-reviewable.

source: 31oct2007

Terrorist Watch List:
Unwieldy and Silly

ROBERT RECTOR / Pasadena Star News 30oct2007 I have a friend with a fear of flying.

It's not the takeoffs or landings, the claustrophobic seating, the turbulence, the lousy movies and even worse food.

The problem is much more basic.

Her name is Mary Smith. Honest. And when she flies, that name sets off more red flags with the Transportation Security Administration folks than if she ran through the airport yelling, "Allah Akbar."

I guess this should come as no surprise. According to a new report, the government's terrorist watch list has swelled to a jaw dropping 750,000 names, growing by more than 200,000 names a year since 2004.

At this rate, it will easier to compile a list of people who are allowed to fly.

While there are undoubtedly some genuine bad guys on that list, many common American names have been included under the theory that the next terrorist attack might be engineered by someone calling himself Joe Jones. Or Mary Smith.

If 750,000 names seems unwieldy, counterproductive and sometimes downright silly, you're right. Consider:

U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy was denied permission to board several years ago because his name popped up on a list.

So was a 4-year-old boy named Edward Allen. So was Kernan O'Dwyer, who happened to be a pilot for American Airlines.

So was Daniel Brown, a Marine returning from Iraq, who was prevented from boarding a flight home because his name matched one on the No Fly List. The rest of his company refused to leave the airport until Brown was allowed to board.

Is this any way to run a war on terror?

About 53,000 people on the list were questioned since 2004, according to a story in USA Today, which said the Homeland Security Department doesn't keep records on how many were denied entry or allowed into the country after questioning. Most were apparently released and allowed to enter, the story said, quoting a Government Accountability Office report.

We can all agree that eternal vigilance, as they say, is the price of liberty.

But misguided vigilance is dangerous and ineffective.

The terror watch list clearly needs to be made more accurate. With three quarters of a million names, the quality of the information comes into question.

In the meantime, innocent people are being snared. As it stands now, getting off the list is difficult. The government won't confirm if a person is on a list or not, and the TSC doesn't take responsibility for names placed on the list by a law enforcement or intelligence agency.

There is a Homeland Security Web site where you can fill out a form and submit notarized copies of birth certificates and other personal documents.

If you are successful, you get a letter from the Transportation Security Administration saying you have been cleared.

But your name remains on the list. On its Web site, the agency says, "While T.S.A. cannot ensure that these clearance procedures will relieve all delays, the procedures should facilitate a more efficient check-in process."

And, of course, the 800-pound gorilla in this room is the paranoia caused by the fact that the government is keeping secret files on American citizens.

Typical is the story told by Walter F. Murphy, professor of jurisprudence at Princeton and a retired Marine colonel.

He reported that the following exchange took place at Newark where he was denied a boarding pass "because I was on the Terrorist Watch list."

The airline employee asked, "Have you been in any peace marches? We ban a lot of people from flying because of that."

"I explained," Murphy said, "that I had not so marched but had, in September 2006, given a lecture at Princeton, televised and put on the Web, highly critical of George Bush for his many violations of the Constitution."

To which the airline employee responded, "That'll do it."

source: 31oct2007