Darren
Things get stranger every day with this administration.
Thu Jan 26, 2006 17:45
Things get stranger every day with this administration. I wonder if
another major terrorist event is desired, to reinforce the justification
for incrementally criminalizing each American. Citizens will beg the
government to strip search them in their homes.
Darren
avintel@netzero.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/25/AR2006012501410_pf.html
washingtonpost.com
Bush says takes threats from bin Laden seriously
By Caren Bohan
Reuters
Wednesday, January 25, 2006; 6:08 PM
FORT MEADE, Maryland (Reuters) - President George W. Bush said on
Wednesday he took Osama bin Laden's threats of another attack seriously
and invoked the al Qaeda leader's recent audiotape to defend a domestic
eavesdropping program.
"I understand there are some in America who say, 'Well this can't be
true, there aren't still people willing to attack.' All I would ask them
to do is listen to the words of Osama bin Laden and take him seriously,"
Bush said at the National Security Agency.
"When he says he's going to hurt the American people again or try to, he
means it. I take it seriously and the people of NSA take it seriously
and most of the American people take it seriously as well," Bush said.
Democrats have criticized Bush for authorizing the warrantless
monitoring of international telephone calls and e-mail messages of
people in the United States suspected of aiding al Qaeda.
Critics say the program, conducted by the NSA, violates the U.S.
Constitution and the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which
makes it illegal to spy on U.S. citizens in the United States without
the approval of a special secret court.
Bin Laden in an audiotape that aired last week warned that al Qaeda was
preparing attacks in the United States but was open to a conditional
truce with Americans.
"Just last week ... we heard from Osama bin Laden," Bush said. "The
terrorists will do everything they can to strike us. I am going to
continue to do everything I can within my legal authority to stop them."
Top Senate Democrats sent a letter to Bush on Wednesday asking he
outline, by February 1, any changes in current law he would propose to
improve surveillance of suspected terrorists.
"We are ... gravely concerned that sometime in 2001, in apparent
violation of federal law, you authorized the National Security Agency to
eavesdrop on Americans in the United States without court approval,"
said the letter, signed by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada
and others.
The senators noted that in a speech in 2004, Bush said, "When we're
talking about chasing down terrorists, we're talking about getting a
court order before we do so." They quoted Bush saying, "A wiretap
requires a court order."
Democrats have noted that in special cases the NSA is allowed to conduct
domestic surveillance but has to obtain a warrant within 72 hours.
Democrats in the Senate and House of Representatives also pressured
Republicans on Wednesday to submit Bush's domestic eavesdropping program
to the scrutiny of Congress' intelligence oversight committees.
'FAR-FETCHED'
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Democrat of New York, said the
administration's argument it needed to bypass the warrant process in
order to go after al Qaeda was "far-fetched."
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania
Republican, plans hearings on the NSA program on February 6.
Bush told reporters he would continue to authorize the eavesdropping
program.
"The American people expect me to protect their lives and their civil
liberties and that's exactly what we're doing with this program," he
said.
Touring the NSA in Fort Meade, Bush visited a room with a large screen
highlighting statistics about cyberspace, including one saying over 592
billion instant messages were sent daily. That was projected to grow to
1.38 trillion by 2007.
The NSA is one of the most secretive of the U.S. spy agencies. Founded
in 1952, it uses high-tech equipment such as satellites and bugs to pick
up foreign electronic signals such as telephone calls and computer
messages.
(Additional reporting by Tabassum Zakaria, Richard Cowan and David
Morgan)
C 2006 Reuters
another major terrorist event is desired, to reinforce the justification
for incrementally criminalizing each American. Citizens will beg the
government to strip search them in their homes.
Darren
avintel@netzero.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/25/AR2006012501410_pf.html
washingtonpost.com
Bush says takes threats from bin Laden seriously
By Caren Bohan
Reuters
Wednesday, January 25, 2006; 6:08 PM
FORT MEADE, Maryland (Reuters) - President George W. Bush said on
Wednesday he took Osama bin Laden's threats of another attack seriously
and invoked the al Qaeda leader's recent audiotape to defend a domestic
eavesdropping program.
"I understand there are some in America who say, 'Well this can't be
true, there aren't still people willing to attack.' All I would ask them
to do is listen to the words of Osama bin Laden and take him seriously,"
Bush said at the National Security Agency.
"When he says he's going to hurt the American people again or try to, he
means it. I take it seriously and the people of NSA take it seriously
and most of the American people take it seriously as well," Bush said.
Democrats have criticized Bush for authorizing the warrantless
monitoring of international telephone calls and e-mail messages of
people in the United States suspected of aiding al Qaeda.
Critics say the program, conducted by the NSA, violates the U.S.
Constitution and the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which
makes it illegal to spy on U.S. citizens in the United States without
the approval of a special secret court.
Bin Laden in an audiotape that aired last week warned that al Qaeda was
preparing attacks in the United States but was open to a conditional
truce with Americans.
"Just last week ... we heard from Osama bin Laden," Bush said. "The
terrorists will do everything they can to strike us. I am going to
continue to do everything I can within my legal authority to stop them."
Top Senate Democrats sent a letter to Bush on Wednesday asking he
outline, by February 1, any changes in current law he would propose to
improve surveillance of suspected terrorists.
"We are ... gravely concerned that sometime in 2001, in apparent
violation of federal law, you authorized the National Security Agency to
eavesdrop on Americans in the United States without court approval,"
said the letter, signed by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada
and others.
The senators noted that in a speech in 2004, Bush said, "When we're
talking about chasing down terrorists, we're talking about getting a
court order before we do so." They quoted Bush saying, "A wiretap
requires a court order."
Democrats have noted that in special cases the NSA is allowed to conduct
domestic surveillance but has to obtain a warrant within 72 hours.
Democrats in the Senate and House of Representatives also pressured
Republicans on Wednesday to submit Bush's domestic eavesdropping program
to the scrutiny of Congress' intelligence oversight committees.
'FAR-FETCHED'
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Democrat of New York, said the
administration's argument it needed to bypass the warrant process in
order to go after al Qaeda was "far-fetched."
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania
Republican, plans hearings on the NSA program on February 6.
Bush told reporters he would continue to authorize the eavesdropping
program.
"The American people expect me to protect their lives and their civil
liberties and that's exactly what we're doing with this program," he
said.
Touring the NSA in Fort Meade, Bush visited a room with a large screen
highlighting statistics about cyberspace, including one saying over 592
billion instant messages were sent daily. That was projected to grow to
1.38 trillion by 2007.
The NSA is one of the most secretive of the U.S. spy agencies. Founded
in 1952, it uses high-tech equipment such as satellites and bugs to pick
up foreign electronic signals such as telephone calls and computer
messages.
(Additional reporting by Tabassum Zakaria, Richard Cowan and David
Morgan)
C 2006 Reuters
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