Who's Afraid of Anonymity?

The recent news about those guys getting arrested for buying a bunch of pre-paid, non-trackable cell phones got me thinking. Apparently the US government is very, very afraid of anonymity. In light of the "War on Terror" everyone is a suspect. If the spooks can't track your phone calls then nobody is safe because -- after all -- who knows what devious, dastardly plans you might be scheming.

If you don't have anything to hide then what's the problem, right?

Well, I find this line of thinking a little ironic given the fact that the CIA itself sponsored the Triangle Boy project to assist Chinese dissidents in bypassing their government's strict controls over web browsing.

Apparently, anonymity is okay as long as it's anonymous to everyone else but the US government.

Did anyone else notice the irony, or is it just me?