Posted on 12/15/2005 5:27:25 PM PST by West Coast Conservative
Months after the Sept. 11 attacks, President Bush secretly authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans and others inside the United States to search for evidence of terrorist activity without the court-approved warrants ordinarily required for domestic spying, according to government officials.
Under a presidential order signed in 2002, the intelligence agency has monitored the international telephone calls and international e-mail messages of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people inside the United States without warrants over the past three years in an effort to track possible "dirty numbers" linked to Al Qaeda, the officials said. The agency, they said, still seeks warrants to monitor entirely domestic communications.
The previously undisclosed decision to permit some eavesdropping inside the country without court approval represents a major shift in American intelligence-gathering practices, particularly for the National Security Agency, whose mission is to spy on communications abroad. As a result, some officials familiar with the continuing operation have questioned whether the surveillance has stretched, if not crossed, constitutional limits on legal searches.
"This is really a sea change," said a former senior official who specializes in national security law. "It's almost a mainstay of this country that the N.S.A. only does foreign searches."
Nearly a dozen current and former officials, who were granted anonymity because of the classified nature of the program, discussed it with reporters for The New York Times because of their concerns about the operation's legality and oversight.
According to those officials and others, reservations about aspects of the program have also been expressed by Senator John D. Rockefeller IV, the West Virginia Democrat who is the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and a judge presiding over a secret court that oversees intelligence matters.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
13039
Don't you mean "the dam burst"!? Just another story from the NYT using anonymous sources! Have they no one credible or nameable to quote! Answer: NEVER! They make 'em up as they go!
Translation:
Ten former Clinton Administration officials or holdovers from Democrat Administrations past, many of whom are on several NY Times reporters' speed-dials, were promised a front-page vehicle to undermine President Bush, and so discussed how to utilize their knowledge of sensitive anti-terrorist security measures with two Times reporters, along with their editor (over the phone), because they all detest Republicans and want to damage the credibility of the present Administration.
"Another freaking leak..."
Is it? Considering the penchant the MSM has for making up the news, I suspect they continue to make up their sources as well.
We know they use polls to drive stories, promote reporters they know are making up stories, sources and facts as they go along - Jayson Blair - to advance the MSM societal agenda.
I daresay we should request bookstores put newspapers in their fiction sections.
Mr. President, Tear down that wall.
"I'm impressed you have been paying close attention." Yeah, but as a Freeper you have one day on me.
If the NYT thinks this is the first time the NSA has monitored calls, with or without a warrant, they're sniffing too much printing ink. Basically, if you're not a terrorist or engaging in international phone sex, you've got nothing to be worried or embarrassed about.
Perhaps based on Able Danger links?
whiny NYT beeotches getting the vapors-
I noticed a four hour delay in my emails to my husband when my son was caught up for the second time in the London terrorist bombings. I was so mad at him for not responding that I spammed his email, trying to get a response. He didn't even get half of the emails that I sent.
Obviously, the NYTimes doesn't think this is fair to domestic terrorists.
This is the same logic that didn't allow Clinton to pick up OBL.
Is it? Given the Times' track record and lack of credibility, I'm more inclined to say "Prove it".
So the CIA's covert operation to topple a government continues. Sadly it's not Iran, it's the US govt. that they're trying to topple.
Only a traitor or an @ss would be opposed to this.
"Nowadays the MSM even gets weather reports from anonymous sources."
Now that's funny
You would think they would recognize Dan Rather's voice on the phone when he leaves these tips.
That would explain why the taps were described by the "anonymous sources" as "more unconstitutional than a weasel in a cardboard shirt."
So the NYSlimes wants us to get permission from France to monitor it's citizen's communications?
Did it ever occur to you that thousands upon thousands of people were trying to email friends and family at the same time?
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