Valuable intelligence on thousands of suspected terrorists risks being lost because of backlogs at a little-known US federal government database that processes DNA samples gathered in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

The unfinished work at the database – part of a classified intelligence partnership of military, intelligence and law enforcement agencies – has been referred to in public documents but has not been openly discussed by US government officials.

WASHINGTON – A judge has ordered the Justice Department to produce White House memos that provide the legal basis for the Bush administration's post-Sept. 11 warrantless wiretapping program.

U.S. District Judge Henry Kennedy Jr. signed an order Friday requiring the department to produce the memos by the White House legal counsel's office by Nov. 17. He said he will review the memos in private to determine if any information can be released publicly without violating attorney-client privilege or jeopardizing national security.

Can't Touch This
Why did the NSA classify 'public' report on wiretaps?

Newsweek Web Exclusive-- by Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball

When Congress passed a landmark electronic-spying bill last summer, the measure included a key provision that ordered the inspectors general of U.S. intelligence agencies to produce the first-ever public report on President Bush's warrantless-surveillance program.

The American Civil Liberties Union demanded information from the government about reports that an active military unit has been deployed inside the U.S. to help with "civil unrest" and "crowd control" – matters traditionally handled by civilian authorities. This deployment jeopardizes the longstanding separation between civilian and military government, and the public has a right to know where and why the unit has been deployed.

http://www.aclu.org/safefree/general/37272lgl20081021.html

The Constitutional Alliance is a coalition of state lawmakers, national grassroots organizations, and citizens who oppose The Real ID Act of 2005 and favor ID solutions that protect Americans.

Help open America’s eyes to REAL ID so She can see what’s going on behind Her back!

National media are ignoring the dangers of international & domestic linked data banks and the use of biometrics.

Your personal privacy and liberty are at stake!

Your participation is critical to success of this effort. We need your help this week.

It’s amazing what you can find if you turn over a few rocks in the anti-terrorism legislation Congress approved during the election season.

Take, for example, the John W. Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2006, named for the longtime Armed Services Committee chairman from Virginia.

Signed by President Bush on Oct. 17, the law (PL 109-364) has a provocative provision called “Use of the Armed Forces in Major Public Emergencies.”

The thrust of it seems to be about giving the federal government a far stronger hand in coordinating responses to Katrina-like disasters.

Liberty Coalition members:

Is the government looking for terrorists in Americans’ electronic medical records?

Admittedly, it’s an astonishing question, but for many months, this year and last, Congress was roiled in a contentious debate over the legality of a government electronic surveillance program in which, allegedly, the fiber-optic backbone of our nation’s telecommunications system was tapped as part of the war on terror.