Pentagon Reassessing Data on Suspicious Activity - New York Times

Pentagon Reassessing Data on Suspicious Activity - New York Times: "Pentagon Reassessing Data on Suspicious Activity
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON, Dec. 14 (AP) - The Pentagon said Wednesday that it was reviewing its use of a classified database of information about suspicious people and activity inside the United States after a news report said the database listed activities of antiwar groups that were not security threats to Pentagon property or personnel.

The Pentagon did not acknowledge that information had been handled improperly, but it said in a statement that it 'views with the greatest concern any potential violation' of its policy governing the collection and handling of unvalidated information on suspected domestic intelligence threats.

The statement added that Stephen Cambone, the under secretary of defense for intelligence, had ordered a full review of the system for handling such information to ensure that it complies with Pentagon policies and federal law.

Mr. Cambone also ordered a review of whether Pentagon polices were being applied properly with respect to reporting and storing information about 'U.S. persons,' people, not necessarily American citizens, inside the United States. He ordered the database to be reviewed 'to identify any other information that is improperly in the database,' according to the statement.

The House and Senate intelligence committees are to receive letters on Thursday spelling out these actions, officials said.

The Pentagon was responding to a report on Tuesday by NBC News, which said it had obtained a 400-page document generated by an obscure Pentagon agency that analyzes intelligence reports on suspicious domestic activity that includes at least 20 references to American citizens, plus information on antiwar meetings and protests.

Earlier, a Pentagon spokesman, Bryan Whitman, said he had not determined whether the 400-page document was authentic.

'What I can tell you is that the Defense Department does have legitimate interests in protecting its installations, in protecting its people, and to the extent that they use information collected by law enforcement agencies to do that, that's an appropriate activity of the United States military,' Mr. Whitman said.

The military's intelligence-gathering efforts must pertain directly to protection of Pentagon property or people, he said."