FC: William Safire: Too much surveillance means too little freedom

[Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>]

http://www.iht.com/articles/48463.htm
   
   Too much surveillance means too little freedom
   William Safire
   Tuesday, February 19, 2002

   'Big Brother' in America

                          WASHINGTON Stipulated: The protection of the
   U.S. capital, its monuments and its centers of authority is a vital
   national interest.

   Early in American history, when faced with a potential rebellion of
   unpaid officers, one U.S. leader employed an uncharacteristic
   emotional trick - pretending to be going blind - to appeal to the
   infuriated military not to march on the capital. He soon had them in
   tears and in hand. In another time, another leader risked all by
   turning the capital's defense over to the man most opposed to his
   political aims, gambling that he could later overcome the nation's
   gratitude to a man on horseback. In contemporary times, after the
   Pentagon was hit, the White House targeted and the Capitol anthraxed,
   Washington again saw itself besieged. But now, in terror of an
   external threat, U.S. leaders are protecting the capital at the cost
   of every American's personal freedom.

   Surveillance is in the saddle. Responding to the latest Justice
   Department terror alert, Washington police opened the Joint Operation
   Command Center of the Synchronized Operations Command Complex (SOCC).
   In it, 50 officials monitor a wall of 40 video screens showing images
   of travelers, drivers, residents and pedestrians.

   These used to be the Great Unwatched, free people conducting their
   private lives; now they are under close surveillance by hundreds of
   hidden cameras. A zoom lens enables the watchers to focus on the face
   of a tourist walking toward the Washington Monument or Lincoln
   Memorial.

   The monitoring system is already linked to 200 cameras in public
   schools. The watchers plan to expand soon into an equal number in the
   subways and parks. A private firm profits by photographing cars
   running red lights; those images will also join the surveillance
   network.

   [...]



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