KING 5, the NBC television affiliate in Seattle, recently inteviewed John Graham about his being added to the "No-fly Watch List."

Former diplomat gets on
terrorism watch list

05:50 PM PDT on Thursday, August 4, 2005
By JANE McCARTHY / KING 5 News

LANGLEY, Wash. -- Langley resident John Graham has a lengthy resume. He's a former U.S. diplomat who has worked on the NATO nuclear plan and has traveled to countless countries on peacekeeping missions. Last month, while checking in for a flight from Sea-Tac, he learned he's also on a terrorism watch list.

"At the ticket counter the clerk says, looking at her computer, 'Oh my goodness, you're on a special list,'" he said. "So I said, 'Me a terrorist, a traitor? How can that be?'"

It could be a case of mistaken identity, or it could be what Graham writes. His new book came out just a couple of weeks before he was placed on that watch list. Graham is president of the Giraffe Heroes project, an organization that encourages people to stick their necks out for the public good.
 

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"Giraffes are involved in all kinds of stuff from fighting violence and poverty to maybe exposing corruption in business and government," Graham said. "Did that get me on the list? I have no idea."

Graham seeks to protect civil liberties.

He has tried to find out who put him on the watch list and why, but the Transportation Security Administration is not saying. Without the right to that information, Graham says the list becomes an assault on American civil liberties.

"I know the bad guys are really bad and we have to do something about it and I take my shoes off in the airport with a smile, but there's got to be a way to protect civil liberties at the same time," he said.\

That's why he's looking to change the law. It's a fight that will have him sticking his neck out all the way to Washington, D.C.

Graham has already written to no fewer than 30 U.S. lawmakers. He also has the support of the ACLU, as well as several offers from people willing to pay his legal fees.

"I confess, I'm on a high horse now," Graham said. "They picked on the wrong guy."
   
   
    

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