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."
I think he swallow too many Jamaican beef patties from the buffet line.
"How about a fine in the tens of millions against the press for breaching national security without following normal channels?"
I don't think there are "normal channels" for breaching national security. There are the usual suspects, yes, but no normal channels.
What about incoming calls? Did they eaves drop on conversations I had with my son, when he called from various unnamed locations? He could have revealed top secret info to me, if he was anything like Tice. His Dad & I raised him better than that, but I would hope our spies aren't stupid enough to just have faith that everyone in the world is working toward the security of the US. What's the point in having spies at all if they don't spy on the most obvious suspects?
Not OTHER leakes, this guy probably never talked to any one from the NYT. The real leakers are probably from the Senate. Rockefeller has been named as the most likely target, but you knew that, didn't you?
Treason.
"However, because of the President's constitutional duty to act for the United States in the field of foreign relations, and his inherent power to protect national security in the context of foreign affairs, we reaffirm what we held in United States v. Clay, supra, that the President may constitutionally authorize warrantless wiretaps for the purpose of gathering foreign intelligence."
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"We agree with the district court that the Executive Branch need not always obtain a warrant for foreign intelligence surveillance."
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"Prior to the enactment of FISA, virtually every court that had addressed the issue had concluded that the President had the inherent power to conduct warrantless electronic surveillance to collect foreign intelligence information, and that such surveillances constituted an exception to the warrant requirement of the Fourth Amendment."
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"The Truong court, as did all the other courts to have decided the issue, held that the President did have inherent [constitutional] authority to conduct warrantless searches to obtain foreign intelligence information."
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And in a contest between the Constitution and Congresses laws, who wins?
"We take for granted that the President does have that authority and, assuming that is so, FISA could not encroach on the President’s constitutional power."
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If the press has something that might reveal things that could hurt national security, I think they are supposed to approach the CIA, FBI, Military and White House.
I thought it would be high up Democrats since they have been so defensive in saying whistle blower...
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."
Excuse me. What damn world am I living in? I just can't believe I am not dreaming this is all going on. In the army, with just a "secret clearance" something said to the press about how many "buddies" you had in number in your outfit might be enough to get you fried in a relative sense.
Rent the movie "Sin City" and watch the hurt Mickey Rourke's charater puts on Eligh Wood for what would be appropriate for this scum.
Also everything he says is covered in The Code Breakers by David Kahn, first published in 1973.
I guess nobody reads any books nowadays.
Why isn't this prick in jail?
Rockefeller is pretty high up. I hope he ends up way down, after this latest trick.
Um, wasn't what he said classified?"
My thought exactly! If the info wasn't classified, then why did NYTImes Risen SAY it was...why did they have "secret" drops? And more importantly, why is there a justice department investigation INTO the illegal leaks of the info the NY TImes published?
This guy IS a whack job!
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.
Makes me think he's talking about Echelon. Wasn't that exactly the complaint bout that program (in the Clinton era) that the media wasn't interested in?
I believe that NYT's Risen(sic?) said there were twelve sources aka. illegal leakers.
Here is an interesting and informative opinion of the sorting process written by Judge Posner of the Court of Appeals. Note the Judges comments regarding the Constitutionality of such a process.
"The collection, mainly through electronic means, of vast amounts of personal data is said to invade privacy. But machine collection and processing of data cannot, as such, invade privacy. Because of their volume, the data are first sifted by computers, which search for names, addresses, phone numbers, etc., that may have intelligence value. This initial sifting, far from invading privacy (a computer is not a sentient being), keeps most private data from being read by any intelligence officer. The data that make the cut are those that contain clues to possible threats to national security"
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