On Thu, 22 Dec 2005 14:59:06 -0800, "Peter Duniho"
wrote in
::
Save the anger for things that
matter (like politicians who break the law, lie about it until they are
exposed, and then claim that they don't have to obey the law).
His days are numbered:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4536838.stm
Bush stands firm over spying row
Bush refused to confirm or deny the allegations
President George W Bush insists he has not compromised civil
liberties, after it was alleged he authorized people in the US to
be bugged without a warrant.
A storm of protest erupted after the New York Times said the
National Security Agency (NSA) was allowed to eavesdrop on
hundreds of people.
Senators from both sides called for an explanation and
investigation.
Mr Bush refused to confirm or deny the claims, but said he always
upheld the law and protected civil liberties.
The president said he would not discuss ongoing intelligence
operations.
But he added: "I will make this point. That whatever I do to
protect the American people, and I have an obligation to do so,
that we will uphold the law, and decisions made are made
understanding we have an obligation to protect the civil liberties
of the American people."
The New York Times said Mr Bush signed a secret presidential order
following the attacks on 11 September 2001, allowing the NSA,
based at Fort Meade, Maryland, to track the international
telephone calls and e-mails of hundreds of people without referral
to the courts.
Previously, surveillance on American soil was generally limited to
foreign embassies.
Critics have questioned whether wider surveillance in the US
crosses constitutional limits on legal searches.
American law usually requires a secret court, known as a Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Court, to give permission before
intelligence officers can conduct surveillance on US soil.
'Big brother'
Republican Senator John McCain called for an explanation.
Senator Arlen Specter, Senate Judiciary Committee chairman and
another Republican, said "there is no doubt that this is
inappropriate", adding that Senate hearings would be held early
next year as "a very, very high priority".
"This is Big Brother run amok," was the reaction of Democratic
Senator Edward Kennedy, while his colleague Russell Feingold
called it a "shocking revelation" that "ought to send a chill down
the spine of every senator and every American".
The allegations coincided with a setback for the Bush
administration, as the Senate rejected extensions to spying
provisions in the Patriot Act.
BBC Washington correspondent Justin Webb said it is a sign of
intense concern about infringements of civil liberties in the name
of security.
The White House is having a tough time convincing even its
Republican supporters that the things it does in the name of the
war on terrorism are always justified, he adds.
Echoes of Vietnam
Administration officials issued a robust defense of anti-terrorist
operations, saying they had prevented several attacks - including
one on targets in Britain.
But the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said eavesdropping
in the US without a court order and without complying with the
procedures of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act was "both
illegal and unconstitutional".
"The administration is claiming extraordinary presidential powers
at the expense of civil liberties and is putting the president
above the law," director Caroline Fredrickson said.
To opponents of the Bush administration, the alleged bugging
programme is reminiscent of the widespread abuse of power by the
security services during the Vietnam War when anti-war activists
were monitored illegally, our correspondent says.
That activity prompted tougher regulation of bugging.
NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY
Formed in 1952
Biggest US security agency, with 38,000 employees
NSA Nicknamed "No Such Agency"
Has a dozen listening posts around the world, tracking phone
calls, diplomatic traffic, emails, faxes
May record up to 500 million hours of traffic every day
On US soil, can only listen to "agents of a foreign power"
------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...041100879.html
The Washington Post: "The presiding judge of a secret court that
oversees government surveillance in espionage and terrorism cases
is arranging a classified briefing for her fellow judges to
address their concerns about the legality of President Bush's
domestic spying program, according to several intelligence and
government sources.
"Several members of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court
said in interviews that they want to know why the administration
believed secretly listening in on telephone calls and reading
e-mails of U.S. citizens without court authorization was legal.
Some of the judges said they are particularly concerned that
information gleaned from the president's eavesdropping program may
have been improperly used to gain authorized wiretaps from their
court. . . .
"Warrants obtained through secret surveillance could be thrown
into question. One judge, speaking on the condition of anonymity,
also said members could suggest disbanding the court in light of
the president's suggestion that he has the power to bypass the
court."
What exactly is the government doing so secretly? And why was
judicial oversight -- even with the granting of retroactive
approval -- apparently too limiting? Different theories are
emerging. One is that the secret program is some sort of giant
high-tech fishing expedition.
Leonnig and Linzer write: "Bush administration officials believe
it is not possible, in a large-scale eavesdropping effort, to
provide the kind of evidence the court requires to approve a
warrant. Sources knowledgeable about the program said there is no
way to secure a FISA warrant when the goal is to listen in on a
vast array of communications in the hopes of finding something
that sounds suspicious. . . .
"One government official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity,
said the administration complained bitterly that the FISA process
demanded too much: to name a target and give a reason to spy on
it.
" 'For FISA, they had to put down a written justification for the
wiretap,' said the official. 'They couldn't dream one up.' "
But Scott Shane writes in the New York Times that "officials who
have been granted anonymity in describing the program because it
is classified say the agency's recent domestic eavesdropping is
focused on a limited group of people. Americans come to the
program's attention only if they have received a call or e-mail
message from a person overseas who is already suspected to be a
member of certain terrorist groups or linked somehow to a member
of such groups. And the agency still gets a warrant to intercept
their calls or e-mail messages to other people in the United
States."
Shane adds some historical context: "For anyone familiar with the
agency's history, the revelations recalled the mid-1970's, when
the Senate's Church Committee and the Rockefeller Commission
exposed the agency's abuse of Americans' privacy.
"Under one program, called Shamrock, the agency and its
predecessors for decades collected copies of all international
telegrams leaving or entering the United States from the major
telegraph companies. Another, code-named Minaret, kept watch lists
of Americans who caught the government's interest because of
activism against the Vietnam War or other political stances.
Information was kept on about 75,000 Americans from 1952, when
agency was created, to 1974, according to testimony."
Ron Hutcheson writes for Knight Ridder Newspapers: "By letting
government agents eavesdrop without court oversight, Bush joined a
long list of presidents who've tested the limits of their wartime
authority -- often to the detriment of their reputations. Most
over-reached. Legal scholars who disagree with Bush's approach say
he missed a vital history lesson."
Neil King Jr. writes in the Wall Street Journal: "President Bush's
claim that he has a legal right to eavesdrop on some U.S. citizens
without court approval has widened an ideological gap within his
party.
"On one side is the national-security camp, made even more
numerous by loyalty to a wartime president. On the other are the
small-government civil libertarians who have long held a
privileged place within the Republican Party but whose ranks have
ebbed since the 2001 terrorist attacks."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4536838.stm
Bush stands firm over spying row
Bush refused to confirm or deny the allegations
President George W Bush insists he has not compromised civil
liberties, after it was alleged he authorized people in the US to
be bugged without a warrant.
A storm of protest erupted after the New York Times said the
National Security Agency (NSA) was allowed to eavesdrop on
hundreds of people.
Senators from both sides called for an explanation and
investigation.
Mr Bush refused to confirm or deny the claims, but said he always
upheld the law and protected civil liberties.
The president said he would not discuss ongoing intelligence
operations.
But he added: "I will make this point. That whatever I do to
protect the American people, and I have an obligation to do so,
that we will uphold the law, and decisions made are made
understanding we have an obligation to protect the civil liberties
of the American people."
The New York Times said Mr Bush signed a secret presidential order
following the attacks on 11 September 2001, allowing the NSA,
based at Fort Meade, Maryland, to track the international
telephone calls and e-mails of hundreds of people without referral
to the courts.
Previously, surveillance on American soil was generally limited to
foreign embassies.
Critics have questioned whether wider surveillance in the US
crosses constitutional limits on legal searches.
American law usually requires a secret court, known as a Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Court, to give permission before
intelligence officers can conduct surveillance on US soil.
'Big brother'
Republican Senator John McCain called for an explanation.
Senator Arlen Specter, Senate Judiciary Committee chairman and
another Republican, said "there is no doubt that this is
inappropriate", adding that Senate hearings would be held early
next year as "a very, very high priority".
"This is Big Brother run amok," was the reaction of Democratic
Senator Edward Kennedy, while his colleague Russell Feingold
called it a "shocking revelation" that "ought to send a chill down
the spine of every senator and every American".
The allegations coincided with a setback for the Bush
administration, as the Senate rejected extensions to spying
provisions in the Patriot Act.
BBC Washington correspondent Justin Webb said it is a sign of
intense concern about infringements of civil liberties in the name
of security.
The White House is having a tough time convincing even its
Republican supporters that the things it does in the name of the
war on terrorism are always justified, he adds.
Echoes of Vietnam
Administration officials issued a robust defense of anti-terrorist
operations, saying they had prevented several attacks - including
one on targets in Britain.
But the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said eavesdropping
in the US without a court order and without complying with the
procedures of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act was "both
illegal and unconstitutional".
"The administration is claiming extraordinary presidential powers
at the expense of civil liberties and is putting the president
above the law," director Caroline Fredrickson said.
To opponents of the Bush administration, the alleged bugging
programme is reminiscent of the widespread abuse of power by the
security services during the Vietnam War when anti-war activists
were monitored illegally, our correspondent says.
That activity prompted tougher regulation of bugging.
NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY
Formed in 1952
Biggest US security agency, with 38,000 employees
NSA Nicknamed "No Such Agency"
Has a dozen listening posts around the world, tracking phone
calls, diplomatic traffic, emails, faxes
May record up to 500 million hours of traffic every day
On US soil, can only listen to "agents of a foreign power"