"So I went to this Weight Watchers course, but they wanted $300. Three hundred!"
Posted on 01/10/2006 4:22:59 PM PST by West Coast Conservative
Russell Tice, a longtime insider at the National Security Agency, is now a whistleblower the agency would like to keep quiet.
For 20 years, Tice worked in the shadows as he helped the United States spy on other people's conversations around the world.
"I specialized in what's called special access programs," Tice said of his job. "We called them 'black world' programs and operations."
But now, Tice tells ABC News that some of those secret "black world" operations run by the NSA were operated in ways that he believes violated the law. He is prepared to tell Congress all he knows about the alleged wrongdoing in these programs run by the Defense Department and the National Security Agency in the post-9/11 efforts to go after terrorists.
"The mentality was we need to get these guys, and we're going to do whatever it takes to get them," he said.
Tice says the technology exists to track and sort through every domestic and international phone call as they are switched through centers, such as one in New York, and to search for key words or phrases that a terrorist might use.
"If you picked the word 'jihad' out of a conversation," Tice said, "the technology exists that you focus in on that conversation, and you pull it out of the system for processing."
According to Tice, intelligence analysts use the information to develop graphs that resemble spiderwebs linking one suspect's phone number to hundreds or even thousands more.
President Bush has admitted that he gave orders that allowed the NSA to eavesdrop on a small number of Americans without the usual requisite warrants.
But Tice disagrees. He says the number of Americans subject to eavesdropping by the NSA could be in the millions if the full range of secret NSA programs is used.
"That would mean for most Americans that if they conducted, or you know, placed an overseas communication, more than likely they were sucked into that vacuum," Tice said.
The same day The New York Times broke the story of the NSA eavesdropping without warrants, Tice surfaced as a whistleblower in the agency. He told ABC News that he was a source for the Times' reporters. But Tice maintains that his conscience is clear.
"As far as I'm concerned, as long as I don't say anything that's classified, I'm not worried," he said. "We need to clean up the intelligence community. We've had abuses, and they need to be addressed."
The NSA revoked Tice's security clearance in May of last year based on what it called psychological concerns and later dismissed him. Tice calls that bunk and says that's the way the NSA deals with troublemakers and whistleblowers. Today the NSA said it had "no information to provide."
Ordinarily NSA and other highly secure agencies don't just "get rid of deadwood". That would be quite stupid.
"So I went to this Weight Watchers course, but they wanted $300. Three hundred!"
BTTT
OK, if this isn't aiding and abetting the enemy, what is? What does this jerk want us to do? Call up AlQaeda and ask them what they're going to do? "hey Osama, what's the plan for today? " And as far as the New York Times and their "we hate Bush so much we'll ruin the country to get him" mentality, well, this phone stuff's been going on for longer than the Bush administration. So get your little stenographers (for the democrats) out there and "discover" it happened under the Clinton administration too... Opps, sorry, that would take "reporting" not stenographing. Nevermind...
"The NSA revoked Tice's security clearance in May of last year based on what it called psychological concerns and later dismissed him. Tice calls that bunk and says that's the way the NSA deals with troublemakers and whistleblowers. Today the NSA said it had "no information to provide."
This fat clown is probably a predator homosexual, who got caught lining up a trip to SE Asia or Mexico to poach on young kids. He got caught with this system, and now he hates it.
Any NSA employee has the right to tell congress behind closed doors about anything he believes is a violation of the law. He does not have the right to talk about it to the media. He should be prosecuted.
bump
There are lawyers in place in every intelligence agency which are available to discuss any violations of the law. If they don't give one satisfaction then one can go to the Inspector General, and if that doesn't give one satisfaction one can go to a member of one of the intelligence committees. The problem is, this guy Tice is not saying anything that all members of the Senate and House oversight committees didn't know about, so in fact to whom is he blowing the whistle? Individuals within the intelligence community do not have the right to decide what is or is not a violation of the constitution and then take independent action.
So he's the one. Not necessarily the only one.
It IS treason.
Two EXCELLENT scotus nominees. Of course I reserve the right to change my mind if Roberts turns out to be a manchurian nominee. But it looks like, in spite of Mires and the false starts and missteps, W has dotted the i and crossed the t on the remaining requirement for greatness, re-shaping the Supreme Court.
If only he wasn't such an internationalist and suck up to Fox and the Saudis, and weak on borders, he might be the best president ever.
Supposedly, or was for a fact?
We had to go into every detail with the Plame case just so we could make ourselves feel that maybe the White House leaker didn't break the law, but as soon as anyone says that this guy has revealed classified information, we're ready to hang him. Cognitive dissonance, anyone?
My feelings exactly.
He signed an agreement not to talk "EVER".
Time to lock his A$$ up and throw away the KEY
A lot of the beefing that is going on from Congress is a result of the little-remembered Bush Administration decision in the early days not to provide Congress with a great deal of highly classified information because of leaks that were already occurring. Unfortunately they still had to make it available to the Intelligence Committee. Which has Rocky and Leaky on it.
I don't know if I'd go that far. The one that gave the missle technology to the Chinese, now that one is on a par with Ethel and Julius.
I think Leavenworth is a sufficient punishment for this joker. I think he would be "pushed around" a lot in jail. And no country club prisons for him either.
Morris is a hugely talented and brilliant analyst. I'm always amazed by the way he is able to analyze political situations.
When he draws conclusions he is an absolute dolt, and almost invariably wrong. I've never seen such a delineage in a single person before.
I used to think that was what had happened with Scott Ritter, and maybe it did. But I think what happens to most of these jokers is that they suddenly come into "Soros Money."
There may be some more reporters going to jaol in the Plame case. I look forward to that.
And big spender.
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