Domestic Policy

NSA Chief Not Worried About Congress

January 9, 2006 ⋅  E-Mail Article ⋅ ⋅ Post a comment

The wiretap issue is a topic that Americans cannot let go of. The issue has sparked raw emotion and deep feelings of vulnerability. Americans want to blame someone and the Government is offering up the NY Times as their sacrificial lamb. The issue has turned into a shell game as far as who is to blame. Americans are saying their rights are being violated and the Bush administration is stating the NY Times may have put our safety at risk. This is akin to comparing apples to oranges. We are asking one question, they are answering in another. What is going on here?

While Americans ask questions about the program itself, the Bush administration is berating media leaks. This reminds me of the jokes during the debates, “What is your plan for the economy?answer:9-11. What is your plan for education?answer:Sadaam and 9-11. How will you eliminate the trade defifict?answer: 9-11, terrorism. They are not answering the real questions being asked. Rather they are redirecting us and hoping we jump on their bandwagon.

The White House has voiced strong outrage over the New York Times media who broke, the NSA wiretapping story, however many feel this is just a smokescreen for more redirection, many feel the government is hiding more facts than are being discussed or leaked.

There are reports that certain CNN reporters have been under surveillance. However, the government strongly refutes these allegations. There are growing concerns that more political action groups have also been under surveillance, again these accusations have been refuted.

Frank Rich claims in his Sunday Times article that, “ the motive for attacking the press is to deflect attention from embarrassing revelations about its incompetence and failures, and that other leaks may soon reveal what the White House is really so defensive about.”

His claim echoes the feelings felt by many in the media. Frank went on to say that, “
Almost two weeks before The New York Times published its scoop about our government’s extralegal wiretapping, the cable network Showtime blew the whole top-secret shebang. In its miniseries “Sleeper Cell,” about Islamic fundamentalist terrorists in Los Angeles, the cell’s ringleader berates an underling for chatting about an impending operation during a phone conversation with an uncle in Egypt. “We can only pray that the NSA is not listening,” the leader yells at the miscreant, who is then stoned for his blabbing.” Frank believes that if fictional terrorists concocted by Hollywood can figure out that the National Security Agency is listening to their every call, guess what? Real-life terrorists know this, too.

That is why many believe the very pointed and emotional comments made by President Bush over the leak, regarding exposure of his warrant-free wiretapping, is just a smokescreen. President Bush advised, “the leak put our citizens at risk.” But many feel this (wiretapping) may have already been public knowledge in some circles.

The Department of Justice has advised that it has begun an investigation into the reported leak of classified information regarding the National Security Agency’s domestic surveillance program. The investigation centers on the New York Times article by James Risen and Eric Lichtblau which described a secret executive order to allow domestic wiretaps without a warrant.

The article refers to about comments made by about a dozen current and former officials, the Times granted anonymity for their identities because of the classified nature of the program discussed in the article; there were concerns by these officials over the policies legality and oversight.

The article has again raised the question on whether news media is allowed to leak government secrets to expose an illegal act. Most professionals in this are of law state the answer to this question is ‘No’. They refer to the whistle-blower protection law.

According to the federal whistle-blower protection law, members of the intelligence community are not protected by the law if they divulge classified information to anyone without prior proper security clearance. This stipulation is enforced even if there is a question of criminal activity. Individuals can pass along their concerns and information to higher-up professionals and internal auditors within the bureaucracy without fear of reprisals or retaliation. They also have the option to spaek to a member of Congress who has the appropriate clearance.

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