I'm glad you think those questions are the most pertinent. All the rest is just dressing.
But the Congress will try to make it more confusing than it needs to be because Congress makes the laws under which covert agents operate and how intelligence can be collected.
If it's true that the Able Danger information had to be destroyed under the 90 day rule and Regulations as passed by Executive Order and/or Congress, then shame on them.
The hearing will be replayed tonight on C-Span
09:25 PM EDT
2:19 (est.)
Senate Committee
Able Danger and Intelligence Sharing
Judiciary
Arlen Specter , R-PA
Curt Weldon , R-PA
"If it's true that the Able Danger information had to be destroyed under the 90 day rule and Regulations as passed by Executive Order and/or Congress, then shame on them."
The personal privacy issue doesn't fall along party lines. So it is pretty hard to hang the 90 day rule on one side.
I remember that Enigma was classified for 50 years. And it was crucial to winning in Europe. Likewise breaking Japanese codes.
So hopefully we are able to keep secrets today, when so much depends on same.
I think AD was experimental. They didn't have credibility, or authorization to act on the gathered intelligence, in the timeframes being discussed.
I hope we now have super strength AD, plus authority to act on the info.
And further, I would like it better still if we could keep our yaps shut.
So at this stage I don't know if Weldon is a good guy, or an idiot. Same for the rest of them.
For now, I go with Rumsfeld. He thinks it should be quiet. Me too.