We've heard it a million times: the government failed to "connect the dots" after 9/11. While this is a very simplistic (and arguably false) summation of the main intelligence failures that led to the attacks, it has nonetheless largely shaped US intelligence and law enforcement policy in the ensuing decade plus.
Words are powerful. In the context of civil liberties and state power, two phrases are particularly powerful, with sometimes devastating consequences for mostly black and brown men and boys: ‘suspected terrorist’ and ‘gang member’.
President Bush at the newly-opened CIA National Counter Terrorism Center (NCTC), one of the many post-9/11 surveillance and information sharing operations that failed to stop the Boston marathon attacks in April 2013.
NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly plays war games at the Navy College
Shortly before the government went on extended shutdown/vacation, the Department of Homeland Security signaled that, despite criticism from members of congress and the public, it has no intention of slowing down the nationwide surveillance state trickle-down.
