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Why Spy? What's behind Bush's actions? Email Print

By Devilstower
12/19/2005 03:01:46 PM EST

Bush has not only confirmed his use of domestic spying without a warrant, but vowed that he will continue, despite deep concerns from legal scholars, senators, and anyone who has a lick of sense.

For those on the far right, the real danger is those traitors at the New York Times and the leakers who actually revealed what our glorious leader was up to, or something like that.  Bush is leading the chorus.  

"My personal opinion is it was a shameful act, for someone to disclose this very important program in time of war," the president said. "The fact that we're discussing this program is helping the enemy."

Is it?  Is it helping "the enemy," Mr. President?  Because, you know, the enemy already knew that the NSA could monitor overseas calls.  Heck, that's part of the agency's charter.  So what, exactly, is it that the reports have revealed?

Why, Mr. President, did you break the law?

Far from being a threat to national security, the only new information revealed in the NYT reporting is that the NSA has been ordered to carry out taps without a warrant.  That information can hardly be called critical.  Bush has suggested that the warrants are needed to allow wiretaps to begin on a timely basis.
"We've got to be fast on our feet, quick to detect and prevent" terrorist attacks," he said.
But that doesn't mesh with reality.  The FISA regulations allow taps to operate up to 72 hours before receiving a warrant, and judges make it a high priority to review cases within 48 hours of a request.  So allowing the NSA to go forward without a warrant does nothing to get wiretaps in place faster.

If it's not speed that's the concern, when just what is it?  Why bother to go around the court if time is not an issue.

There's only one other possible reason.  Bush was concerned that these surveillance requests wouldn't make it past the court.

The FISA courts have been notoriously generous, giving authority to the NSA in all but a handful of cases.  But what if Bush had some, special cases -- cases that he knew would not pass the scrutiny of a judge.  Then, and only then, would it make sense to push the NSA forward without bothering with a warrant.

So perhaps the question really isn't "why," but "who?"  Who did Bush want monitored so badly, that he would risk going outside the law and beyond the constitution to get it done?


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Why Spy? What's behind Bush's actions? | 4 comments (4 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)
well... (none / 1)
Who did Bush want monitored so badly, that he would risk going outside the law and beyond the constitution to get it done?

Patrick Fitzgerald, for starters....

Journalists
Democratic Congressmen
Oil Company critics

and, well, me.

The Albany Project. The best damned blog about New York State politics.

by NYBri on 12/19/2005 03:48:21 PM EST

In his statement on Saturday, (none / 0)
Bush didn't address the main question directed at him by some members of Congress on Friday --  why he felt it necessary to circumvent the system established under current law, which allows the president to seek emergency warrants, in secret, from the court that oversees intelligence operations. Under that law, the administration could have obtained the same information.

Political Cortex -- Brain Food for the Body Politic

by Tom Ball on 12/19/2005 10:36:24 PM EST

What a mess (none / 0)
Even Republicans are jumping ship.  Things are so bad that they had to dig Dick Cheney out from his bunker to make a surprise trip to Iraq to try to knock this stuff off the front pages.

by Embolden on 12/19/2005 10:37:52 PM EST

From... (none / 1)
From Larry Johnson on the capture of Dandeny Munoz-Mosquera, how the FISA can be used, and why Bush avoided using it.  

Mosquera was grabbed thanks to a roving wiretap. I've heard the story from friends who were involved with the operation. DEA officials learned that Mosquera's mom was going to call him. They moved quickly to set up a roving wiretap. They knew he was in New York but did not know where. Mosquera took many precautions, including having the in bound call bounce around the United States. He sent a third party to answer the phone. Once certain the coast was clear Mosquera climbed out of his car. DEA agents closed in and put a major league killer in jail. He was later convicted and is serving a long sentence in a high security US penal facility. The FISA authorization was obtained subsequently.

So, President Bush is wrong. You don't have to break a law to get quick action. Not only can you catch terrorists using FISA, we have caught terrorists. The real story behind the unauthorized wiretaps authorized by President Bush probably concerns the source of the info. It appears the most likely explanation is that the Bush Administration did not want to have to tell a Federal judge that they were using information obtained from interrogations that violated the spirit and the letter of the Geneva Conventions. Instead of protecting the nation the President may be covering his derrier.

Since the FISA can give him all he said he needs...speed and secrecy...there must have been another reason he side-stepped the law...and this could be it...or he just didn't want ot tell the judge the names of the people he was spying on.

The Albany Project. The best damned blog about New York State politics.

by NYBri on 12/19/2005 10:50:23 PM EST

Why Spy? What's behind Bush's actions? | 4 comments (4 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
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