Intelligence Community's Enormous Use Of Private Contractors Raises Civil Liberties Concerns, Says ACLU

Private
contractors play an enormous role in our country's national security
apparatus, according to the Washington Post today. According to today's
story, the second in a series by the Post entitled Top Secret America,
contractors have been used for a wide range of intelligence jobs,
including surveillance and interrogation of detainees, where civil
liberties are greatly implicated.

The
following can be attributed to Laura W. Murphy, Director of the American
Civil Liberties Union Washington Legislative Office:

"The
massive use of private contractors in our intelligence community further
exacerbates the lack of control, oversight and accountability that
already plagues our intelligence apparatus. The excessive use of
contractors puts more distance between the government and those carrying
out intelligence work and infuses the profit motive into a calculation
that should be focused on effectiveness and adhering to the rule of
law."