StormWarning’s Counterterrorism

Following in the footsteps of the concern and "outrage" over the NSA/FISA issue, this newest leak/disclosure is sure to rankle some people (not me by the way)…FWIW, I do not think that monitoring air outside of a building should require warrants. Last time I looked, air is public. And also, there is nothing in any of the media reports to suggest that these are the only locations being monitored.

Thoughts on the subject from Volokh Conspiracy
More from Volokh Conspiracy

FBI Official Defends Radiation Monitoring
A classified radiation monitoring program, conducted without warrants, has targeted private U.S. property in an effort to prevent an al-Qaida attack, federal law enforcement officials confirmed Friday…

…U.S. News and World Report first reported the program on Friday. The magazine said the monitoring was conducted at more than 100 Muslim sites in the Washington, D.C. area — including Maryland and Virginia suburbs — and at least five other cities when threat levels had risen: Chicago, Detroit, Las Vegas, New York and Seattle…

…nearly all of them Muslim targets identified by the FBI. Targets included mosques, homes and businesses, the magazine said…

…Ibrahim Hooper (CAIR):

(*) the program "comes as a complete shock to us and everyone in the Muslim community."

(*) "This creates the appearance that Muslims are targeted simply for being Muslims…

…"The greatest expectation of privacy is in the home," said Kmiec, a Justice Department official under former presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. "As you move away from the home to a parking lot or a place of public accommodation or an office, there are a set of factors that are a balancing test for the court," he said…

FBI, without warrants, tracks radiation at Muslim sites
A classified radiation-monitoring program, conducted without warrants, has targeted private U.S. property in Seattle and other cities in an effort to prevent an al-Qaeda attack, federal law enforcement officials confirmed Friday.

While declining to provide details including the number of cities and sites monitored, the officials said the air monitoring took place since the Sept. 11 attacks and from publicly accessible areas — which they said made warrants and court orders unnecessary.

U.S. News and World Report first reported the program on Friday. The magazine said the monitoring was conducted at more than 100 Muslim sites in the Washington, D.C., area — including Maryland and Virginia suburbs — and at least five other cities when threat levels had risen: Chicago, Detroit, Las Vegas, New York and Seattle…

================= OPINION

Excuse me! "Air" is public. If we are concerned about the possible use of a "dirty" bomb or radiological weapon by Islamic jihadists, what would be the most logical places to look? If there is a concern about the use of a chemical or biological weapon by Islamic jihadists, where what would be the most logical places to look? Perhaps it isn’t politically correct to say this, but it seems to me that the most logical places to look would be the places the FBI has been monitoring. There! I’ve said it, and I know that its not politically correct, and in fact, its profiling. And as I said, there is no certainty that "other locations" aren’t also being monitored.

IMO, these articles in the public media are misleading their readers. Not only that, the revelation is about air sampling (air is public). I’m not even sure of the legalities, but if there were methods used to "peer into" a building from the outside, would it be legal? It is when non-intrusive inspection techniques are used to detect narcotics and explosives (have been for years).

A Review of NEUTRON BASED NON-INTRUSIVE INSPECTION TECHNIQUES
Non-intrusive inspection technology - a layered defense
Non-intrusive inspection is the method