California Guard Spy Unit

Military authorities yesterday began investigating whether a California National Guard unit was created to spy on citizens, as dozens of demonstrators confronted Guard officials while armed soldiers stood by.

The federal probe of the nation's largest National Guard force involves the Army's inspector general, the federal National Guard Bureau's inspector general, and the National Guard Bureau's legal division.

The unit has raised concern among peace activists that the Guard is resorting to the same type of civilian monitoring that helped fuel protests during the Vietnam War. During the 1960s and '70s, the military collected information on more than 100,000 Americans. Such monitoring, while not illegal, would be a departure for the Guard.

Under scrutiny is a California National Guard unit with a tongue-twisting name: the Information Synchronization, Knowledge Management, and Intelligence Fusion program. It was established last year and came to public light after a recent story in the San Jose Mercury News.

From the Boston Globe