Bush Authorized NSA Eavesdropping in U.S.

[QRQ 30]

[QUOTE]The Times said reporters interviewed nearly a dozen current and former administration officials about the program and granted them anonymity because of the classified nature of the program.[/QUITE]

Same, same shit!! GWB says he wants to find and stop the leaks, I hope he does!!

OTOH is it possible the media is fishing throwing out a bunch of chum hoping to get a bite. To fail to confirm or deny is spun into confirmation but there is no OFFICIAL confirmation.

[rubberneck]

I wonder if the source is a US Senator who had been consulted but decided to try and score some cheap political points by leaking the story.

[VelociMorte]

September 29, 2004 — The Justice Department has charged that a veteran New York Times foreign correspondent warned an alleged terror-funding Islamic charity that the FBI was about to raid its office — potentially endangering the lives of federal agents.

The stunning accusation was disclosed yesterday in legal papers related to a lawsuit the Times filed in Manhattan federal court.

The suit seeks to block subpoenas from the Justice Department for phone records of two of its Middle Eastern reporters — Philip Shenon and Judith Miller — as part of a probe to track down the leak.

The Times last night flatly denied the allegation.

U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald of Chicago charged in court papers that Shenon blew the cover on the Dec. 14, 2001, raid of the Global Relief Foundation — the first charges of their kind under broad new investigatory powers given to the feds under the Patriot Act.

“It has been conclusively established that Global Relief Foundation learned of the search from reporter Philip Shenon of The New York Times,” Fitzgerald said in an Aug. 7, 2002, letter to the Times’ legal department.



Judith Miller...the same one involved in the Plame case? Yep.


Let's see now..., NYT reporters divulge classified information. NYT reporters charged with crimes related to the Patriot Act. Justice subpoenas phone records of two Times reporters. NYT files suit blocking subpoenas, but denies involvement. Time passes......Patriot Act goes to Congress. NYT divulges classified information and releases story on phone taps it held for over a year on same day Patriot Act goes to Congress. Patriot Act not approved.

Sounds to me like we should be monitoring anyone and everyone who has contact with the NYT. Being a reporter does NOT grant one immunity from National Security laws. It's about time we had a good ol' fashioned public execution by firing squad.

[QRQ 30]

Sonnds like there need to be more unexplained disappearances -- perhaps alien abductions or flights into the Bermuda Triangle.

I have heard this said several times recently and agree: they need to record and post all names of MOC and Senators against the Patriot Act and then repost those names after the next terorist attack when people demand to know who is responsible.

[VelociMorte]

Testifying to the House Select Committee on Intelligence on October 30, 2003 on "Collecting Intelligence under the law," former DOJ attorney John Yoo wrote:

"During wartime, the military engages in searches and surveillance without a warrant. We do not, for example, require the armed forces to seek a warrant when it conducts visual or electronic surveillance of enemy forces or of a battlefield, or when it searches buildings, houses, and vehicles for the enemy. Nor must military operations within the United States operate under a different rule."...


"Therefore, if al-Qaeda forces organize and carry out missions to attack civilian or military targets within the United States, government surveillance of terrorists would not be law enforcement so much as military operations. In such circumstances, when the government is not pursuing an ordinary criminal law enforcement objective, the Fourth Amendment requires no search warrant."


We're at war. We're monitoring terrorists. Problem solved.

[VelociMorte]

"In the weeks following the terrorist attacks on our nation, I authorized the National Security Agency, consistent with U.S. law and the Constitution, to intercept the international communications of people with known links to al Qaeda and related terrorist organizations. Before we intercept these communications, the government must have information that establishes a clear link to these terrorist networks.

This is a highly classified program that is crucial to our national security. Its purpose is to detect and prevent terrorist attacks against the United States, our friends and allies. Yesterday the existence of this secret program was revealed in media reports, after being improperly provided to news organizations. As a result, our enemies have learned information they should not have, and the unauthorized disclosure of this effort damages our national security and puts our citizens at risk. Revealing classified information is illegal, alerts our enemies, and endangers our country.

As the 9/11 Commission pointed out, it was clear that terrorists inside the United States were communicating with terrorists abroad before the September the 11th attacks, and the commission criticized our nation's inability to uncover links between terrorists here at home and terrorists abroad. Two of the terrorist hijackers who flew a jet into the Pentagon, Nawaf al Hamzi and Khalid al Mihdhar, communicated while they were in the United States to other members of al Qaeda who were overseas. But we didn't know they were here, until it was too late.

The authorization I gave the National Security Agency after September the 11th helped address that problem in a way that is fully consistent with my constitutional responsibilities and authorities. The activities I have authorized make it more likely that killers like these 9/11 hijackers will be identified and located in time. And the activities conducted under this authorization have helped detect and prevent possible terrorist attacks in the United States and abroad.

The activities I authorized are reviewed approximately every 45 days. Each review is based on a fresh intelligence assessment of terrorist threats to the continuity of our government and the threat of catastrophic damage to our homeland. During each assessment, previous activities under the authorization are reviewed. The review includes approval by our nation's top legal officials, including the Attorney General and the Counsel to the President. I have reauthorized this program more than 30 times since the September the 11th attacks, and I intend to do so for as long as our nation faces a continuing threat from al Qaeda and related groups.

The NSA's activities under this authorization are thoroughly reviewed by the Justice Department and NSA's top legal officials, including NSA's general counsel and inspector general. Leaders in Congress have been briefed more than a dozen times on this authorization and the activities conducted under it. Intelligence officials involved in this activity also receive extensive training to ensure they perform their duties consistent with the letter and intent of the authorization.

This authorization is a vital tool in our war against the terrorists. It is critical to saving American lives. The American people expect me to do everything in my power under our laws and Constitution to protect them and their civil liberties. And that is exactly what I will continue to do, so long as I'm the President of the United States."

[QRQ 30]

The POTUS was really pissed and IMO on the verge of using some of the language he has been accused of when asked about his use of "Unchecked Power".

I disagree with one metaphore he used. They aren't trying to deny our intelligence the power to connect the dots. They want to prevent even collecting the dots.

[rubberneck]

Time to buckle up. It is funny how this story suddenly sees the light of day after the President's approval rating jumps 10 points in the last week and a half. Within 24 hours Newsweek has a scathing Op-ed up on their website using overly partisan language.

The President is trying to protect this country while the Democrats and the MSM have no clue what to do other than trying to protect their own selfish interests. You can only play that game so long beofre the American people see right through it.

I sense the President's patience with the disloyal opposition and the media is worn out. I smell a donnybrook in the offing and IMHO it is long overdo. It is time for the President to expose his opposition for the frauds that they are. It is a fight he should fight and a fight he will win. This might be the point in his term that we look back 20 years from now and fondly remember as the turning point for the 2nd Bush term.

[Solid]

I find the behaviour of the democrats for the most part pathetic. It's one thing to mount a reasonable, logical and cohesive argument against an aspect of the Presidency or something else... but thus far the majority of their opposition has been characterized by purposeless negativism with no presentation of alternatives or poignant recommendations. The democrats lack a leader and lack a path forward, and I believe that this is why with every turn the CinC gets an earful of criticism from a disparate chorus of dems. If they had any kind of political backbone, there would be one voice and one message, not this senseless negative drivel.

This is not what a democracy is about, and it makes me sick to watch.

JMO.

Solid

[VelociMorte]

What I would really like to see is the arrest and conviction of the journalists and their sources on treason charges. I have no doubt that everything about this program is/was classified at the highest levels, and that the unauthorized release of this information has/will cause "Grave, Irreparable " damage to National Security. This "leak" shit has got to stop somewhere, and I think a firing squad is a good way to put the brakes on it. We are at war. There is no difference between divilging classified information to journalists, and divilging classified information to the Russians or Chinese. Somebody needs to be made an example of. We could start by demonstrating the difference between torture and humiliation and fear on one of these NY Times reporters until they give up their sources.

[rubberneck]

I would love to see the President summon Bill and Hillary to the White House for a little alone time. During that time he should tell them in no uncertian terms to get their party under control or he will declassify documents relating to Clintons spying on US Citizens through echelon. Not only should he threaten to do it he should threaten to do it a month before the first primary and threaten to get congress to hold hearings on the matter before super tuesday where Bill (who is still trying to rehab his image) and Hill (who wants to be king) will be the star witness.

If you can't get them to do the right thing than appeal to the only thing they can understand and that is threaten their hold on power.

[Solid]

The real problem is that there is no centre to the dem party right now. The party works in little groups of screaming liberals, no consolidated hierarchy or spokesperson, even with ultra-powerful personalities like, well, Hillary.

IF there was some kind of consolidation, I think that the criticism of the POTUS and other issues would be more intellectual and astute, offering alternative solutions or other recommendations, as opposed to the white noise eminating from the party right now.

Debate and dialogue are good things for democracy, especially during a time like this where many precedents will be set that could lead to long-term changes to American democracy.

JMO,

Solid

[QRQ 30]

I don't say that the POTUS over stepped his authority but I agree with some Republicans who hint that he could/should have gone through the cxourt set up for such action., They have only denied four requests since inception.

[VelociMorte]

Originally Posted by Solid

The real problem is that there is no centre to the dem party right now. The party works in little groups of screaming liberals, no consolidated hierarchy or spokesperson, even with ultra-powerful personalities like, well, Hillary.

IF there was some kind of consolidation, I think that the criticism of the POTUS and other issues would be more intellectual and astute, offering alternative solutions or other recommendations, as opposed to the white noise eminating from the party right now.

Debate and dialogue are good things for democracy, especially during a time like this where many precedents will be set that could lead to long-term changes to American democracy.

JMO,

Solid

IMO, the REAL problem with the Democratic Party is that is is mis-named. It should be called the Socialist Party, or the Communist Party. It is filled with a bunch of political hacks whos only concern is the accumulation of power at the expense of everything else. Too many of these "Democrats" are willing to sacrifice our entire Nation simply to obtain personal power.

[Solid]

Velocimorte,
With the exception of the nomenclature you suggested, I would argue that the same can be said for the Republican party.
Power = votes = Power = ability to effect America = power... it's a cycle that applies to both the Reps and Dems, and arguably all other parties on the face of this planet.

As for being communist or socialist, I suppose that when compared to the Republican party, the Dems are. When put next to most other left-wing parties, however, the Democrats look positively right-wing. In fact, the entire party spectrum in America is relatively right-of-centre to begin with.

But I digress. Bottom line of my argument is that the Dems are being PITAS right now because they lack organization and therefore fail to contribute meaninfully. All other debate and discourse is good for our country.

JMO,

Solid