Posted on 01/01/2006 11:09:05 PM PST by joseph20
President Bush yesterday defined as "limited" a once-secret program to intercept al Qaeda-linked calls to and from the United States, saying, "This is a limited program designed to prevent attacks on the United States of America, and I repeat -- limited," Mr. Bush told reporters after visiting wounded troops at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio.
"It seems logical to me that if we know there's a phone number associated with al Qaeda or an al Qaeda affiliate, and they're making phone calls, it makes sense to find out why," he said.
Mr. Bush repeated his view that a president is empowered by the Constitution to authorize such warrantless intercepts, and said there has been judicial and congressional oversight of the top-secret program.
"I have a responsibility, obviously, to act within the law, which I am doing," he said. "It's a program that's been reviewed constantly by Justice Department officials, a program to which the Congress has been briefed, and a program that is, in my judgment, necessary to win this war and to protect the American people."
The president criticized anew the leaker who revealed the program to the New York Times, which published a front-page article about it on the day the Senate was scheduled to vote on an extension of the Patriot Act.
"There's an enemy out there. They read newspapers, they listen to what you write, they listen to what you put on the air, and they react," said Mr. Bush, who added that the leak of the program causes great harm to national security.
(Excerpt) Read more at washtimes.com ...
Seems Chuckie has changed his tune from the Wilson/Plame days
What's about time??
Sorry, not buying you one bit.
Whatever.....
Bush has been on the warpath about this. In normal situations, he'd just make a comment and then it's business as usual. The fact that he's been giving speeches about this means that the New Tone has been scrapped and the President has finally returned to the immediate post-9/11 Bush that we all loved and admired.
About time Bush explains his actions in terms that even Democrats and trolls can understand.
Rush to judgement?
What, is he channeling Johnnie Cochran?
I think it's translation for ... they want to drag this out for the whole 2006 election period and they know who the leaker is
Suppose, suppose, I have a friend who is associated with terrorists. It certainly must have happened in Buffalo where we found the cell.
Now, suppose suppose this "terrorist" friend is at my house on a regular basis. I'm just that way....I felt sorry for all the "good muslims" in the Buffalo area although I am not one. He's my age and we have several things in common.
My friend never says anything "out of the way", i.e., never talks about terrorists at my house though he thinks it unfair to profile Muslims. I agree with him because he's always been good to me.
He is at my house one day. I get a call on my line phone. It is from a friend of his and it is long distance. He tells me it was a relative and he has to pick him up at the airport. In fact, it is his terrorist friend and he leaves quickly after the phone call.
Guess what....I hope the hell that the US government taps my phone because while one might say: "Hey, what about the 4th amendment", I say: Please...Mr. President, I've put myself in danger without knowing it and I've given this "friend" a means of communication with his "terrorist buddy".
I don't give a damn about a warrant. This is war!!!! Catch the bas*****.
Guess what. Hillary has to backtrack....again.
You should hear the rant on the Nazi talk show host Ed Shultz!! He is going on with this slogan that Bush is just bringing it down to 6-pack joe and the lunch box carrying guy in the trench. Ed, like the rest of Err America, is greatly concerned that President Bush is spying on political opponents. He claims that if Bush could "prove" that this hasn't been done, this problem would all go away. I about fell off my chair when I heard him say that - this goes away and they dip down into the lib portfolio and pull out another top secret leak and we are off and running again with some more treasonous activity at the NYT, WaPo, LAT, MSM. Err America is every bit a part of the problem that is dividing this courty. I am very glad that everyone has now acknowledged that kxxt in Phoenix has been sold and Err America is gone from that frequency.
Ohhhh - okay thanks!
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