Sunday, November 2, 2008

The Use Of Biometrics On The Iraq Border

U.S. Takes Battle Against Iraq Violence to Border -- Washington Post

ZURBATIYAH, Iraq -- For thousands of Iranians, traveling to Iraq through this bustling, dusty gateway now requires stopping at small white trailers where U.S. officials take their photos and record scans of their irises and fingerprints.

U.S. officials collect the biometric information of virtually all "military-age men" in an effort to stop the entry of weapons and fighters. Since officials began gathering biometric data at border posts this spring, more than 150,000 individuals have been scanned and photographed.

Their records have been added to a burgeoning database that also includes biometric information about Iraqis and foreigners employed on American bases, as well as Iraqis who are detained or interrogated by U.S. forces. American officials use the data to identify people on wanted lists, search for suspicious travel patterns, and look for matches in a separate database that includes fingerprints collected after bombings and other attacks.

Read more ....

My Comment: The use of technology is the wave of the future. Forget about Iraq or Afghanistan, it is only a question of time before biometrics is applied to all of us here. This will be used to control illegal immigration, crime, population/demographic trends, and being able to provide a database to the government on who is who in America. While I do not expect this technology to be applied to Americans overnight .... a massive attack on U.S. soil will change the dynamics on this issue immediately.

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