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Friday, March 21, 2008
‘Terrorist’ watch list approaches 1 million names
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The federal government’s main “terrorist” watch list continues to increase dramatically in size. According to a recent independent analysis, over 900,000 names currently are on the list, which at its current rate of growth will exceed 1,000,000 names by early summer 2008. Although the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the federal agency that maintains the watch list, says the actual size of the list is much smaller — only several hundred thousand discrete names — because of aliases and duplicate information, by any reasonable standard the list is excessively large. And, the government’s explanation is troublesome for a number of reasons. For example, if there are so many aliases and duplications on the list, does this not raise legitimate questions about the basic integrity and accuracy of the watch list?
A further problem is that if a person’s name lands on the list, it is almost impossible to get it removed, or to discover whether the information is accurate or faulty. It’s all done — of course — in secret.
