President Orders NSA To Spy On Americans After 9/11 - New York Times Reports

I found this on CNN. My comments will appear below the story.

"A story in The New York Times on Friday claimed that Bush secretly signed an order authorizing the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans who were communicating with individuals overseas to determine if they had terrorist ties.

"After 9/11, I told the American people I would do everything in my power to protect the country, within the law, and that's exactly how I conduct my presidency," Bush said in an interview with PBS' "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer," which was scheduled to air Friday evening.

"Sources with knowledge of the program have since told CNN that Bush did sign the secret order in 2002. The sources refused to be identified because the program is classified.

"Pressed on the topic in the PBS interview, Bush said he understood people want him to confirm or deny the report, but he couldn't discuss specifics because "it would compromise our ability to protect the people," according to a transcript of the program.

"The NSA eavesdrops on billions of communications worldwide. While the NSA is barred from domestic spying, it can get warrants issued with the permission of a special court called the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Court.

"The court is set up specifically to issue warrants allowing wiretapping on domestic soil.

"In the New York Times report, the paper said the NSA has monitored the international telephone calls and international e-mail messages of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people inside the United States without warrants during the past three years as part of its war on terror.

"Bill Keller, the Times' executive editor, said in a statement that the newspaper postponed publication of the article for a year at the White House's request as editors pondered the national security issues surrounding the release of the information.

"I think the point that Americans really want to know is twofold. One, are we doing everything we can to protect the people? And two, are we protecting the civil liberties as we do so?" Bush said during the PBS interview. "And my answer to both is yes, we are."

My Comments: Go figure. I can understand them doing this, to a point.

Tell me, though, what does my dad's emails from Oregon to my uncle who's way outside London gonna tell us about national security? I'm assuming that most terrorists would live in bigger cities. Seriously, they could choose better who they need to watch.

The U.S. has a terror suspect list. They could, oh maybe, focus on these people. They could also check out those who recently were denied entry to the U.S. THis might be easier AND more lucriative than checking EVERYONE who communicates with those outside the U.S., especially since, I assume, they didn't find anything.

The President says he won't confirm or deny the story, due to national security.

UPDATE to Novak story: The President said he doesn't have "any idea" as to why Bob Novak said he would know who the source is. I guess we'll see who's right when the source finally comes out!

-Adam
oregondemocrat@hotmail.com
Source: CNN.com