Via the NYT: Cheney Pushed U.S. to Widen Eavesdropping
In the weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, Vice President Dick Cheney and his top legal adviser argued that the National Security Agency should intercept purely domestic telephone calls and e-mail messages without warrants in the hunt for terrorists, according to two senior intelligence officials.
While it is not surprising that immediately after the 911 attacks that various extreme ideas might come to mind, it is telling that one of Cheney’s early reactions was domestic spying sans warrant. Such inclinations do not, in my mind, speak well of the Vice President. More importantly, such revelations add another bit of evidence to the overall case that the current administration is far too willing to sacrifice liberties belonging to American citizens in the interest of promoting security.
Even if such willingness is borne from the simple motive to protect, it is still wrong.
Why there is such a clear distrust of using appropriate oversight is beyond me, save the notion that it seems many in the WH trust only themselves, and not the federal government writ large:
If people suspected of links to Al Qaeda made calls inside the United States, the vice president and Mr. Addington thought eavesdropping without warrants “could be done and should be done,” one of them said.
While I have no problem with the notion that federal law enforcement would eavesdrop on a known al Qaeda associate, I fail to see why a warrant could not be obtained in such a case.
At any rate, the story notes that Cheney’s request for surveillance of purely domestic communications evolved into the NSA wiretap scheme that allowed for tapping calling that were half domestic and half international.
I will state unequivocally that the notion the any action taken in the nation of national security is, ipso facto, constitutional is both ludicrous on its face, and frightening that this seems to be the view of this administration.
May 14th, 2024 at 1:23 am
Hey, I’m a liberal guy. I don’t agree with probably 95% of the stuff you say.
But I must say you’re hitting the nail on the head regarding the wiretap issue.
It’s always interesting when the left meets the right on certain issues. While rare, I do believe it is telling of situations where the current administration–democrat or republican–just happens to be dead wrong about the issue at hand.