Over 8 Million Americans on ‘Main Core’ Terrorist Watch List
June 25th, 2013
Many of the details of the National Security Agency’s spying program were technically known to attention-paying activists far before the recent public furor over them. However, the typical American was unaware as to the comprehensive nature of the intrusions until Ed Snowden’s revelations pointed them out. The same type of open secrecy still obscures Main Core, an eight million plus strong list of American political dissidents, complete with stolen private data, compiled from the records of the NSA, FBI, CIA, and other alphabet gangs.
According to citations of high level officials from reputable sources like Radar, Think Progress, and Democracy Now!, Main Core is a list of anti-government Americans, not specifically accused of any crime, who would be detained by the feds in the event of an outbreak of political instability. The program dates back to the Reagan administration’s Continuity of Operations plan. In light of the recent NSA scandal, let’s take a closer look at Main Core.
Does Anyone Really Believe There Are 8 Million Terrorists in America?
If one were to believe alleged “national security experts,” the United States comes across as the most prolific producer of terrorists in world history. As of 2008, Main Core was rumored to be a list with over 8 million suspects — somewhere around one in every 30-something Americans. That means that the FBI, CIA, and NSA believe that there are so many potential American terrorists that one could be lurking in every single high school classroom.
In reality, the FBI and CIA have been violating privacy for decades, not just the NSA, and Main Core is a compilation of all the different unconstitutional wiretaps and searches that have gone on since the early ’80s. A high-level official cited in the above-linked Radar article was quoted with this description of the program, “There exists a database of Americans, who, often for the slightest and most trivial reason, are considered unfriendly, and who, in a time of panic, might be incarcerated. The database can identify and locate perceived ‘enemies of the state’ almost instantaneously.”
Former Deputy Attorney General James Comey Confirms More Spy Lists Exist
The above-linked sources also note the testimony of James Comey, the deputy attorney general under Bush who refused to sign off on the legality of the NSA’s spying program. He claims that additional lists of secret data exist, possibly referring to Main Core. Allegedly, he protested against the administration’s maintenance of a list of Americans who would be rounded up and detained in a time of crisis.
If there are 8 million Americans on this list, it would seem reasonable that outspoken activists who criticize the government could have been included in error (or on purpose). Do writers of blogs like this make the list? Are you on the list for reading blogs like these? Luckily, it’s mathematically and logistically impossible for the government to detain 8 million Americans all at once.
Here’s something to think about: considering the fact that dissent against government is one of America’s classic tenets of patriotism, is it possible that the US national security apparatus, in an effort to create a list of potential terrorists, accidentally created a list of America’s most effective non-violent activists?
Find out where you can see Silver Circle by checking our theater and special screening schedule on our -->event page -->.
