Just who was spied on?
A good many bloggers are asking themselves that question.
As everyone I’m sure already knows, sometime in 2001, President Bush ordered the warrantless monitoring of international phone calls and emails coming into and out of the US. Initially the administration tried to claim that no Americans were spied upon. But then they admitted that Americans had been spied on but only those with known “links” to terrorists. They claimed that only 500 or so were being monitoring at any one time over the last four years. That would indicate possible thousands had their phones and emails monitored.
Now the big question is why Bush felt it necessary to circumvent the law that required him to seek a warrant regarding the surveillance. Bush claims that he had to keep the program a secret so as not to alert terrorists that we were monitoring them. He even condemned the NY Times for publishing the story (even after they had held onto for a year at his “request”). But it is a silly notation to suggest that the terrorists weren’t aware we were monitoring them until the Times broke the story. Even the court that issues the FISA warrants is conducted in secret.
And if Bush claims that only 500 or so people are spied on at any one time, history shows that the secret FISA court is so amenable to issuing warrants it wouldn’t have been hard to get them. Since it was established, the FISA court has issued some 19,000 warrants and only rejected about five.
Bush makes the argument that going after the terrorists requires expediency. But the FISA act already covers that, allowing the government to begin surveillance immediately and get a warrant after the fact. So Bush’s claim of immediacy doesn’t wash with his argument for circumventing the FISA court.
The only reason I can see for Bush not seeking warrants from the court is because those so called “links” to terrorists were so vague as to be almost not existent. Or a more troubling explanation would be that the surveillance was politically motivated. It wouldn’t take a genius to imagine Bush pulling a Nixon and compiling an enemies list. Political opponents (perhaps even allies), war protesters, and journalists (at least those who wrote articles that the Bushies didn't like) are probably just some of the individuals who were spied on.
That’s why Bush avoided seeking warrants. He knew even the rubber stamp FISA court wouldn’t stand for his Nixon-esque approach to the “war on terror”.
(Originally posted on Yahoo360)
As everyone I’m sure already knows, sometime in 2001, President Bush ordered the warrantless monitoring of international phone calls and emails coming into and out of the US. Initially the administration tried to claim that no Americans were spied upon. But then they admitted that Americans had been spied on but only those with known “links” to terrorists. They claimed that only 500 or so were being monitoring at any one time over the last four years. That would indicate possible thousands had their phones and emails monitored.
Now the big question is why Bush felt it necessary to circumvent the law that required him to seek a warrant regarding the surveillance. Bush claims that he had to keep the program a secret so as not to alert terrorists that we were monitoring them. He even condemned the NY Times for publishing the story (even after they had held onto for a year at his “request”). But it is a silly notation to suggest that the terrorists weren’t aware we were monitoring them until the Times broke the story. Even the court that issues the FISA warrants is conducted in secret.
And if Bush claims that only 500 or so people are spied on at any one time, history shows that the secret FISA court is so amenable to issuing warrants it wouldn’t have been hard to get them. Since it was established, the FISA court has issued some 19,000 warrants and only rejected about five.
Bush makes the argument that going after the terrorists requires expediency. But the FISA act already covers that, allowing the government to begin surveillance immediately and get a warrant after the fact. So Bush’s claim of immediacy doesn’t wash with his argument for circumventing the FISA court.
The only reason I can see for Bush not seeking warrants from the court is because those so called “links” to terrorists were so vague as to be almost not existent. Or a more troubling explanation would be that the surveillance was politically motivated. It wouldn’t take a genius to imagine Bush pulling a Nixon and compiling an enemies list. Political opponents (perhaps even allies), war protesters, and journalists (at least those who wrote articles that the Bushies didn't like) are probably just some of the individuals who were spied on.
That’s why Bush avoided seeking warrants. He knew even the rubber stamp FISA court wouldn’t stand for his Nixon-esque approach to the “war on terror”.
(Originally posted on Yahoo360)
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