Is it really true that FISA paperwork is so onerous that it can't reasonably be expected to be completed in 72 hours? If so, where was the administration's initiative to amend the law?
And what's with "The president's terrorist surveillance program?" I thought it was the government's program; what's next, giant pictures of GWB lining Pennsylvania Avenue?
You were an AF Officer; how long in and what was your rank when you got out?
"Is it really true that FISA paperwork is so onerous that it can't reasonably be expected to be completed in 72 hours?"
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And where do you think a terrorist will be in 72 hrs? Possibly in a plane aimed at the Capitol.
The 911 Commission itself said that FISA is too slow.
9/11 Commission: FISA Court Too Slow
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/1/30/90457.shtml?s=icp
As noted on yesterday's "Meet the Press" by National Review Online reporter Byron York, 9/11 Commission Report clearly states:
"The FISA application process continues to be long and slow. Requests for approvals are overwhelming the ability of the system to process them and to conduct a surveillance.”
In a passage not noted by Mr. York, the Commission blasts the FISA process even more harshly, complaining:
"The 'wall' between criminal and intelligence investigations apparently caused agents to be less aggressive than they might otherwise have been in pursuing Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) surveillance powers in counterterrorism investigations.
"Moreover, the FISA approval process involved multiple levels of review, which also discouraged agents from using such surveillance. Many agents also told us that the process for getting FISA packages approved at FBI Headquarters and the Department of Justice was incredibly lengthy and inefficient.
"Several FBI agents added that, prior to 9/11, FISA-derived intelligence information was not fully exploited but was collected primarily to justify continuing the surveillance."
Since the media generally regards the 9/11 Commission as the ultimate authority on such matters, we trust reporters will now stop insisting that the FISA process was wholly adequate to keep America safe from terrorists.