Democracy for Vancouver

Although it isn’t particularly surprising, the FBI wants to establish a network of covert operative snitches in the US, to aid in the so-called War On Terror and who knows what else:

FBI Proposes Building Network of U.S. Informants

The FBI is taking cues from the CIA to recruit thousands of covert informants in the United States as part of a sprawling effort to boost its intelligence capabilities.

According to a recent unclassified report to Congress, the FBI expects its informants to provide secrets about possible terrorists and foreign spies, although some may also be expected to aid with criminal investigations, in the tradition of law enforcement confidential informants. The FBI did not respond to requests for comment on this story.

The aggressive push for more secret informants appears to be part of a new effort to grow its intelligence and counterterrorism efforts. Other recent proposals include expanding its collection and analysis of data on U.S. persons, retaining years’ worth of Americans’ phone records and even increasing so-called “black bag” secret entry operations.(Link)

One of the things I remember most about school - while being propagandized to during the winding down of the cold war - was the fact that we didn’t have to worry about secret policemen and - as Ronald McReagan liked to say - “a knock on the door in the middle of the night”.