MSM All Over This
NYPost has a story about how current surveillance laws hindered out intelligence agency’s ability to listen on Al Qaeda causing them to miss an opportunity to rescue a capture soldier.
U.S. intelligence officials got mired for nearly 10 hours seeking approval to use wiretaps against al Qaeda terrorists suspected of kidnapping Queens soldier Alex Jimenez in Iraq earlier this year, The Post has learned.
Thank god my rights to talk to a suspected non-citizen terrorist in a different country are secure. Who cares about acquiring the intelligence needed to bring back a solider when my right to talk to non-citizens outside the country is in peril?
Don’t hold your breath waiting for the NYtimes to make this a front page story. They were the turncoats that made public this program while we were at war. See they betrayed the country because they care about it so much. Makes sense when you think about it. Inform our enemy of our actions to make our country better.
October 15th, 2007 at 8:43 pm
What criteria are used to classify someone as a ’suspected terrorist’ in the absence of any external oversight?
Do you feel that government agents should be able to tap phone calls between two citizens if one of them is a ’suspected terrorist’ without seeking approval?
October 15th, 2007 at 9:24 pm
Let’s censor free market organizations. How dare they ever go against our government. In fact, let’s censor the blogosphere. They do nothing but point out problems that exist with the current government. Long live fascism!!
October 17th, 2007 at 3:51 am
And you say liberals are crassly attempting to turn the deaths of U.S. soldiers into political issues?
Setting that aside and examining the article at face value, its argument is rather implausible. If I am a terrorist and I just captured a US soldier, why would I say something incriminating USING MY OWN PHONE LINE then politely wait around long enough for the soldier to be rescued?
“Who cares about acquiring the intelligence needed to bring back a solider when my right to talk to non-citizens outside the country is in peril?”
Fostered attitudes of paranoia and emergency government powers have rarely been about military advantage, even when presented that way by supporters. More often they are tools for suppressing or intimidating dissent.
October 18th, 2007 at 7:18 pm
In principle the Al Qaeda agent would use that phone not knowing that US intelligence were able to listen in on their conversation. But thanks chiefly to the efforts of irresponsible editors at the NYTimes your observation holds. Current Al Qaeda, now aware of our programs, are much less likely to make calls that could lead to detection by intelligence agents.
The success of your argument largely depends on US news organization keeping our enemies informed of our programs. Something up to this point publications like the NYTimes have been more than willing to do.
As to your second point, I would argue that many additional powers are granted as a means to facilitate enforcement or intelligence gathering but are eventually abused. Most of these policies should have sunsets expirations attached to the law so that if it becomes clear that its easy for abuse the law will be automatically discontinued.
October 18th, 2007 at 8:23 pm
Just to get the facts straight here…. You are against private organizations (NYT) or regular citizens (you) pointing out illegalities and potential injustices that exist in society? Would you prefer that the NYT is not allowed to report on things that might compromise the greater good? Would you then say that the acts of Woodward and Bernstien during the watergate scandal were irresponsible? Afterall, because of their reporting a president had to resign leaving the post to someone who was not elected and probably not the best choice for an American president. This kind of move could cause some serious compromises in our ability to operate on the world stage. I ask you a simple question. Is it wrong for the media or private citizens to blow the whistle on potential government injustice?
My guess is that you won’t answer. Instead you will stick to your posts of “on the whole” complaining that nobody answers your question.