Constitution Watch: Spies Everywhere

This is completely absurd:  Focus Magazin is reporting that the Verfassungsschutz (Constitutional Protection Agency) in the Saarland has been spying on former SPD chairman and current Linkspartei leader Oskar Lafontaine:

Die Linkspartei, beziehungsweise deren Vorläufer PDS, steht seit Februar 2000 auf dem Index der Staatsschützer von der Saar. Der Leiter des Landesamtes, Helmut Albert, begründete dies im FOCUS: „Das immer noch gültige Parteiprogramm der PDS hat langfristig die Überwindung des bestehenden ‘kapitalistischen Systems‘ und die Schaffung einer ‘sozialistischen Gesellschaftsordnung‘ zum Ziel.“ In der Linkspartei wirkten „nach wie vor offen extremistische Kräfte“. Zudem gebe es „weiterhin eine Zusammenarbeit mit in- und ausländischen Linksextremisten“. Die Beobachtung erstrecke sich nicht nur auf einzelne Bereiche, sondern auf die „Gesamtpartei“, so Albert.

Gregor Gysi, who heads up the Linkspartei contingent in the Bundestag, called the report "a sick joke", and Petra Pau, a Linkspartei representative, told the Linkszeitung that it is not Oskar Lafontaine who poses a danger to the Constitution, but rather " politicians like Beckstein (CSU), Schily (SPD) und Schönbohm (CDU)."

Meanwhile, in the US, Knight-Ridder is reporting that the Pentagon had its hands full spying on US anti-war groups opposed to the Bush Administration's invasion of Iraq, so it outsourced some the spying to MZM Inc., headed by Mitchell Wade:

"In February 2003, MZM won a two-month contract worth $503,144.70 to provide technical support to the Pentagon's Joint Counter-Intelligence Field Activity, or CIFA. The top-secret agency was created five months earlier primarily to protect U.S. defense personnel and facilities from foreign terrorists. "

"CIFA recently has come under fire following disclosures that it maintained information on individuals and groups involved in peaceful anti-war protests at defense facilities and recruiting offices.

The information was stored in a database that was supposed to be reserved for reports related to potential foreign terrorist activity."

"The disclosure that CIFA was storing information on anti-war activities added to concerns that the Bush administration may have used its war on terrorism to give government agencies expanded power to monitor Americans' finances, associations, travel and other activities. "

Wade and MZM pleaded guilty recently to bribing the Republican US congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham.  Wade faces up to 20 years in prison.

Thus far Republicans in Congress have blocked an independent investigation into President Bush's illegal scheme to spy on American citizens, so we don't know whether Democrats have been the target of surveillance. Senator Russ Finegold has called for a censure of the president for his illegal spying program.  The measure has received a great deal of support from the American public, but Congress has refused all efforts to hold the Bush administration accountable for any actions - including blatently illegal ones.

Lafontaine linkspartei spionage surveillance

Comments

[Kuch]

I'm not sure that Finegold's censure proposal really has broad public support. Most see it for what it is... a political stunt. Even Eleanor Clift (harly a neocon-http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11882921/site/newsweek/) has called Finegold's actions out as being presidentially motivated.