November 21, 2002

You know shit is fucked up when William Safire -- one-time Nixon speechwriter/propagandist -- is screaming bloody murder about the Orwellian future a Republican admin is working hard to create.

Poindexter protecting his unindicted co-conspirator during the '80s. He has a long history of subverting the Constitution then lying about it under oath.

"Every purchase you make with a credit card, every magazine subscription you buy and medical prescription you fill, every Web site you visit and e-mail you send or receive, every academic grade you receive, every bank deposit you make, every trip you book and every event you attend – all these transactions and communications will go into what the Defense Department describes as 'a virtual, centralized grand database.'

"To this computerized dossier on your private life from commercial sources, add every piece of information that government has about you -- passport application, driver's license and bridge toll records, judicial and divorce records, complaints from nosy neighbors to the F.B.I., your lifetime paper trail plus the latest hidden camera surveillance -- and you have the supersnoop's dream: a 'Total Information Awareness' about every U.S. citizen.

"This is not some far-out Orwellian scenario. It is what will happen to your personal freedom in the next few weeks if John Poindexter gets the unprecedented power he seeks." Meanwhile, CNN has been characterizing the super-surveillance system simply as a way to "track financial transactions," which is a little like calling the space shuttle "just a place to hold science experiments."

The following excerpt from the White House Press Briefing of Feb. 28, 2002 is revealing. After pretending he had heard nothing about Poindexter's appointment to head the IAO, he had this to say:

MR. FLEISCHER: Let me just say about Admiral Poindexter, Admiral Poindexter is somebody who this administration thinks is an outstanding American and an outstanding citizen who has done a very good job in what he has done for our country, serving in the military.

Q: How can you say that, when he told Colonel North to lie?

MR. FLEISCHER: Helen [Thomas], I think your views on Iran Contra are well-known, but the President does believe that Admiral Poindexter served --

Q: It isn't my view, this is the prosecutor for the United States.

MR. FLEISCHER: I understand. The President thinks that Admiral Poindexter has served our nation very well.

Q: Really? ...

[Read the source...]

Official info-graphic (public version) explaining the Total Information Awareness (TIA) System administered by John Poindexter.

Related Links:

• TIA in Poindexter's own words - Remarks as prepared for delivery by Dr. John Poindexter, Director, Information Awareness Office of DARPA, at DARPATech 2002 Conference, Anaheim, Calif., August 2, 2002


• Outsourcing Big Brother: Office of Total Information Awareness Relies on Private Sector to Track Americans (Feb. 2003 - Ctr. for Public Integrity) - "...[I]n the May 13, 1999, issue of Commerce Business Daily, a now-superceded bulletin board for government contracts, there is a notice from DARPA that it intended to award a company named Integral Visuals, Inc. a purchase order for technical and engineering support for 'Project Genoa and Total Information Awareness,' suggesting that TIA, like its components, predates the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks."


• DOD press release on "oversight" plans (2/07/03 - DOD via FAS)
  
• Big Brother Incorporated - Mirror of IAO web site content, plus related official materials. Also, some commentary. Very revealing.
  
• NY Times Editorial: 'A Snooper's Dream' (11/18/02 - via Cryptome)
  
• 'No More Mr. Scrupulous Guy' (The Guardian; Feb. 18, 2002) - The US press completely ignored the creation of the Information Awareness Office, not to mention Poindexter's rolein it. But the British press did not, as this article demonstrates.
  
• ACLU Calls on President Bush to Disavow New Cyber-Spying Scheme - The ACLU's press release in response to press revelations about the IAO.
  
• 'No More Mr. Scrupulous Guy' (2/18/02 - The Guardian [London])
  
• Meet Big Brother - John Poindexter and the Iran-Contra Reunion Tour - Info about the Information Awareness Office and Poindexter's role in it. Also, activist resources.
  
• Stop Fascism: John Poindexter - Capsule bio and links to info and articles about his role in the IAO and Iran-Contra.
  
• Ari Fleischer dissembling about Poindexter's appointment - White House press briefing of February 25, 2002.
  
• Iran-Contra Trading Cards: John Poindexter
  
• 'Hostile Witnesses' - Arthur Liman, Senate chief counsel during the Iran-Cointra hearings, reminisces about Poindexter.
  
• Bibliography re: John Poindexter - Courtesy of NameBase.
  
• Official IAO web site = www.darpa.mil/iao/ - Visit at your own risk.