James Risen: No One Could Point to Counter-Terrorism Successes From Warrantless Wiretapping Program
By CSPANJunkie Sunday Jul 12, 2009 2:00pm
From Countdown:
A new internal government report reveals that President George W. Bush played a direct role in instructing Alberto Gonzales and Andrew Card to go to former Attorney General John Ashcroft's hospital bed and urge him to personally approve warrantless wiretapping on Americans.
From James Risen and Eric Lichblau's article at the New York Times:
While the Bush administration had defended its program of wiretapping without warrants as a vital tool that saved lives, a new government review released Friday said the program’s effectiveness in fighting terrorism was unclear.
The report, mandated by Congress last year and produced by the inspectors general of five federal agencies, found that other intelligence tools used in assessing security threats posed by terrorists provided more timely and detailed information.
Most intelligence officials interviewed “had difficulty citing specific instances” when the National Security Agency’s wiretapping program contributed to successes against terrorists, the report said.
While the program obtained information that “had value in some counterterrorism investigations, it generally played a limited role in the F.B.I.’s overall counterterrorism efforts,” the report concluded. The Central Intelligence Agency and other intelligence branches also viewed the program, which allowed eavesdropping without warrants on the international communications of Americans, as a useful tool but could not link it directly to counterterrorism successes, presumably arrests or thwarted plots.
So much for that talking point that all that spying kept us safe from another terrorist attack.
Login or Register to post comments.
I would love to know how many of the spies are non-Arabic speaking.
From: http://www.preda.org/archives/2008/r08082101....
There are two kinds of justice — justice for the rich and powerful, and justice for the poor and powerless.
The two kinds of justice are the very rubric why people lose faith in the courts and, eventually, in their government and why they resort to insurgency to overthrow the existing system.
The first kind of justice is one enjoyed by an elite and well-connected few. The second is the burden of the millions of hoi polloi.
If you are poor, justice takes forever if it moves at all. If you are rich, justice can be prompt and favorable to you. But one must dole out oodles of money to enjoy it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKM8T94GC2c&fe...
1) Wiretap
2) ???
3) Security!
I was wondering why she was out & about defending Cheney, again:
for she supported the administration that would use terror alerts to raise the poll numbers of the prez, or obfuscate some other bad news that came out of the chimps camp
fact is, given everything that is going on now, obama's numbers really arent that bad
his poll numbers are dropping because he's acting too much like W. His poll numbers are dropping because there's no Special Prosecutor appointed charged with going after Ms. Matalin's ex-boss, DICK cheeney.
It was all about pollitical advantage.
republicanism is a mental illness!
You can't say that enough times.
... be suffering from Harry & Nancy Syndrome when it comes to prosecuting these criminals who BROKE THE LAW in order to implement a useless piece of trash, one wonders what the program is REALLY being used for.
It's a rule of thumb that if something doesn't work, it suffers from mission creep. If it doesn't find terrorists, then it will find drug dealers, illegal immigrants, child molesters, etc.
and now, they want to expand it to find those that download movies and music illegally
we have been sold a bill of goods, and the entire program as well as the entire patriot act should be stopped...right now
n/c
It's being used to increase the power of the fascist elements of the government, as was predicted, and must be shut down.
But since Obama seems to ....
Sun, 07/12/2009 - 16:02 — Shadowgm
... be suffering from Harry & Nancy Syndrome when
"when it comes to prosecuting these criminals who BROKE THE LAW in order to implement a useless piece of trash"
I have a question Shadowgm...(are you aware that?) Obama was aware that crimes were committed by Bush and the telecom companies several years ago.
...and that Obama voted for telecom immunity anyway?!!
How can you be so apparently (surprised?) that no one is being prosecuted for "breaking the law" when Obama knew that the law had been broken a long time ago, and yet voted for telecom immunity???
Didnt you already know what Obama's position on this was...?
Obama gave AT&T immunity like 2 yrs ago!!!
and Obama even voted to re-authorise the Patriot act (which implemented the useless piece of trash we speak of)
(republicanism is a disease)
Beauty is in the eyes of...
One mans junk is another mans...
Action(s) speak louder then words.
I guess it would be appropriate to isolate, as a matter-A-factually, just what one considers to be a threat to them and or others'?
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 ("FISA"), which required a WARRANT, worked fine!!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Intellig...
The evil Bush Crime Family didn't want Warrants because they wanted to spy on everyone for criminal political purposes.
Can you spell B-L-A-C-K-M-A-I-L?
lex, Thanks
Amended: Well, maybe to protect some other pals as well?
Yes, that and they want to rule the world.
That would explain some of the flip flops we saw during the Bush years. (I'm thinking Blair on Iraq and Greenspan on cutting interest rates.)
We're dealing with ruthless people here. Wiretapping is just a part of it.
Is the Modern USA a Proto-Fascist State?
# 1: Powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism.
# 2: Disdain for the importance of human rights.
# 3: Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause.
# 4: The supremacy of the military/avid militarism.
# 5: Rampant sexism.
# 6: A controlled mass media.
# 7: Obsession with national security.
# 8: Religion and ruling elite tied together.
# 9: Power of corporations protected.
#10: Power of labor suppressed or eliminated.
#11: Disdain and suppression of intellectuals and the arts.
#12: Obsession with crime and punishment.
#13: Rampant cronyism and corruption.
#14: Fraudulent elections.
[ http://teresacentric.com/2007/08/is-the-moder... ] GET OUT THE VOTE!
bTW - mary matalin says vice president Biden is within his rights to shut congress out of CIA briefings, including the eight appointed senators and congress persons!?!?!?
why? because she forget her hero bandit Cheney is out of office.
It was hilarious. [cnn with wolf blitzer Sunday]
At the end wolf almost had her saying it's OK if cheney does it but not if Biden does it, but then he changed the subject.
good luck to good people that can do something about the bushies.
Most intelligence officials interviewed “had difficulty citing specific instances” when the National Security Agency’s wiretapping program contributed to successes against terrorists, the report said.
Well, no one could have predicted that...
The partisan bickering didn't cause the spying.
Some think that prosecuting them for Torture and all the other crimes will affect Obama's domestic program and health care reform.
Sheesh! If you are for Single Payer, that is already lost.
What other programs and Change we hoped for are already dead?
If you want to make Congress
Do Certain Things
YOU Must First Make Them Investigate and Prosecute.
Absent that happening, this will be a term of little consequence.
PUSH THEM!
SIGN THE PETITION
Demanding both a
Commission of Inquiry
and a Special Prosecutor.
http://ANGRYVOTERS.ORG
Forward this url to your friends
We can't let them bury these crimes.
Over 250,000 signers so far
Join them and call yourself a patriot
Of course it wasn't effective. FISA already allowed for obtaining warrants after the fact. There is no way warrentless wiretaps would uncover any useful intelligence about terrorism that couldn't have been obtained under the existing FISA regs. What it does allow though is the ability to spy on anyone for any reason with no oversight. How this was ever argued with a straight face (and argued successfully!)is beyond my comprehension.
Login or Register to post comments.