Bush admits spying on US citizens
p2p news / p2pnet: The Cheney/Bush administration has been secretly wire-tapping conversations, it has been revealed.
But George W. Bush, “brushed aside criticism over his decision to spy on suspected terrorists without court warrants Monday and said he will keep it up ‘for so long as the nation faces the continuing threat of an enemy that wants to kill American citizens’,” says the Associated Press, going on:
“Bush said the warrantless spying, conducted by the National Security Agency, was an essential element in the same war on terror. He also defended the legality of his decision to authorize the program more than 30 times. The existence of the program was disclosed last week, triggering an outpouring of criticism in Congress, but an unflinching defense from Bush and senior officials of his administration.
“When asked why he didn’t go throught [sic] he appropriate courts to seek legal cover, Bush said the danger posed by terrorism and the speed at which the government must move to prevent attacks required quicker action. Bush also said he had the legal authority to do so without the courts.
” ‘I swore to uphold the laws,” Bush said. ”Do I have the legal authority to do this? The answer is absolutley [sic]‘.”
If Cheney and Bush find it acceptable to spy on their own citizens, one has to assume they’d have no absolutely qualms about tapping non-US Net and phone conversations without the knowledge or permission of the countries concerned.
The New York Times has secretary of state Condoleezza Rice saying Bush, “decided to skirt the normal process of obtaining court-approved search warrants for the surveillance because it was too cumbersome for fast-paced counterterrorism investigations”.
He, “also called on Congress to renew the anti-terror Patriot Act before it expires at the end of the year. ”In a war on terror we cannot afford to be without this law for a single moment,’ he said. The legislation has cleared the House but Senate Democrats have blocked final passage and its prospects are uncertain in the final days of the congressional session.”
Bush didn’t explain how his agencies decide who qualifies as a ’suspected terrorist’.
Also read:-
Associated Press - Bush Says U.S. Spy Program Is Essential to Securing U.S., December 19, 2005
New York Times - Rice Defends Domestic Eavesdropping, December 19, 2005
December 19th, 2005 at 5:18 pm
The NSA can monitor all calls into and out of the US Already .
December 19th, 2005 at 5:38 pm
Yeah, don’t you guys watch ALIAS? Geez… lolololololol :-p
December 19th, 2005 at 6:34 pm
NSA’ Echelon works by monitoring radio signals passed between satellites and relay towers. As long as the signals are picked up this way, I would not see a problem with it if we were allowed to do the same thing. Unfortunately, this is just another case where there is one law for the common people and another for the government-cartel alliance. Government monitors your calls without a warrant… it’s OK. You monitor a politician’s calls without a warrant…. you are commiting a “crime.” I assume that each and every call I make is monitored, and I will not say anything on the phone that I will not scream out at the public mall.
December 19th, 2005 at 7:17 pm
Man, this cabal’s… er, I mean administration’s ablity to pinch off lame rationalizations to defend their dirtywork is AMAZING. It seems like there are almost daily revelations of more nasty scullduggery they have been/are perpetrating on the American public. I’m at a point where I don’t believe the “war on terror” has anything to do with their actions. To me it looks a lot more like a class war pitting the stinking rich against the rest of the world, and we are losing…
“Safety” and “Security” are becoming very dangerous things.
December 19th, 2005 at 7:33 pm
Finally the people are getting information about all of this.
Although it’s still very little. Here’s another batch of info, even though it doesn’t cover a whole lot either: http://revradio.org/movies/ml.wmv
December 19th, 2005 at 8:40 pm
“Bush, “decided to skirt the normal process of obtaining court-approved search warrants for the surveillance because it was too cumbersome for fast-paced counterterrorism investigations”.
” ‘I swore to uphold the laws,” Bush said.
Since getting a loan from a bank is too cumbersome, and I swore my family I would support them, I will then rob the bank.
December 20th, 2005 at 1:13 am
Not legally–they have to get a warrant, if a U.S. citizen is involved. And in general, they have to account for their activities to Congress, even though it’s done in secret.
What Bush “authorized” was blatantly illegal.
December 20th, 2005 at 1:15 am
The law, as it stands, allows for emergency survelliance approved by only the Attorney General, should the need arise. The only stipulation is that they have to get a warrant after the fact. In this way, oversight is maintained, the feds are kept honest (as much as possible), and emergency situations are dealt with.
What’s more, the secret FISA court very rarely met a wiretap it didn’t approve.
Bush is lying his ass off. This is about power and disdain for the rule of law.
December 20th, 2005 at 2:39 am
December 20th, 2005 at 4:06 am
Bush only swore to uphold the law, not obey it. He also didn’t rule out changing them to suit himself. Also did he specifically state he would uphold the law of the US? He could be upholding some other country’s law you know.
December 20th, 2005 at 8:12 am
anyone who speaks out is merely claimed to be unpatriotic and anti-american. since our entire government is more concerned with keeping up appearances, they keep their mouth shut.
its terror’able
December 21st, 2005 at 8:47 am
Just a few thoughts…
a- Bush’s arguments about the New York Times jeopardizing national security hold no water, as the terrorists have been well aware that we have been monitoring their phone traffic for years. Not only do the low levels that still use the phones talk in code, but the higher ups such as bin laden don’t even use their satellite phones anymore. The only ones that did not know for sure that this was going on was the american people.
b- Bush has abused every power he has been given to the fullest, from the pentagon spying on anti-war protesters, to homeland security agents harassing college students for ordering a book written by Mao, to the patriot act being used to catch run of the mill criminals instead of the terrorists that it was designed for. He has proved he needs parental supervision, only an idiot would keep on trusting him to operate without judicial review.
c- This is in clear violation of the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution. Bush can pass as many laws as he would like that say that its ok for him to do this, but it will still be illegal.
I think one of the saddest and most twisted parts of this whole ordeal is that the poor sap who did his patriotic duty and leaked this abuse of power to the press will probably be put into jail for quite a long time after the reporters are jailed and forced to reveal his/her name. Of course all this done by the same person who leaked Valerie Plames name for no other reason but some cheap political payback. Hypocrisy at its finest.
December 21st, 2005 at 6:06 pm
I wonder, is Junior spying on Bush Senior?
After all, Senior is in bed with the Saudis (surely for the oil), and the 9/11 terrorists were mostly Saudis and their leader Osama (surely for the oil too) was Saudi and the Osama family is also in bed with Senior.
It all adds up.
I wonder, is the FBI or the CIA spying on Junior?
December 23rd, 2005 at 1:17 am
“Bush admits spying on US citizens”
Only because he was caught.