SAN ANTONIO -- President Bush on Sunday strongly defended his domestic spying program, saying it's a limited initiative that tracks only incoming calls to the United States. "It's seems logical to me that if we know there's a phone number associated with al-Qaida or an al-Qaida affiliate and they're making phone calls, it makes sense to find out why," Bush said. "They attacked us before, they'll attack us again."
| You'd think that would almost qualify for a 'master of the obvious' graphic, but there are too many Democrats around who don't get the message. |
Bush spoke to reporters at Brooke Army Medical Center where he was visiting wounded troops. He said the leak of information about the secret order to eavesdrop on Americans with suspected ties to terrorists causes "great harm to the nation."
Asked how he responds to Americans worried about violations of their privacy, he responded, "If somebody from al-Qaida is calling you, we'd like to know why."
| There's not a whiff of 'domestic spying' on Dems, controversial domestic figures, left-wing kooks, etc., but the leftie blogs are all screaming about this because they think Big Brother™ is listening in on their phone calls. |
The president said that he is conscious of people's civil liberties. "This is a limited program designed to prevent attacks on the United States of America and, I repeat, limited," he said. "I think most Americans understand the need to find out what the enemy's thinking."
The Justice Department has begun investigating the leak to The New York Times that resulted in a story last month about warrantless surveillance conducted by the National Security Agency since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Bush, who called the program "vital and necessary," dodged a question about whether he was aware of any resistance to the program at high levels of his administration and how that might have influenced his decision to approve it. He said the program has been reviewed by Justice Department officials and members of Congress and that it continues to be reviewed. "The NSA program is one that listens to a few numbers called from the outside of the United States of known al-Qaida or affiliated people," he said, adding that he believes that he is acting within the law.
| None of which requires a FISA warrant. |
"The fact that somebody leaked this program causes great harm to the United States," he said. "There's an enemy out there."
Go to the leftie blogs -- Kos, Washington Monthly, Atrios, etc -- and none of them get it. First off, most of their commenters don't even believe al-Qaeda to be a threat, even as they deny that the US has hurt al-Qaeda substantially in the WoT. Second, while they complain that a major failing of the Bush administration about 9/11 was a lack of preparation and intel by our government, they refuse to believe that programs like this are necessary.
And their biggest complaint is that 'if the eavesdropping is necessary, then get a FISA warrant', as if it's like going to the corner store for a carton of milk. FISA warrants are required unless one of the parties is a 'US person' under law, and that's established in advance. We also now know that a couple of FISA judges were refusing and amending warrants. We also know that the intel gathered was for military ops purposes and not law enforcement. And we know that intel gathering like this isn't conducive to a warrant -- it's not targeted at a single individual, it's about building patterns and recognizing the web out there that al Qaeda and related groups have built. A warrant is counter-productive to that. Fact is, the NSA did go for FISA warrants when they had specific targets in mind.
The Dem politicans, particularly [spit] Polosi and [spit] Reid, want it both ways -- if al-Q does manage a successful op on American soil, they'll hammer Bush for failing to protect the country. In the meantime, they'll hammer him for working to protect the country. My hope is that in 2006, the American people are smart enough to see through the game being played. |
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