linkovich chamosky Bush says spying leak causes great harm President calls domestic surveillance program limited The Associated Press Updated: 4:19 p.m. ET Jan. 1, 2006 SAN ANTONIO - President George W. Bush strongly defended his domestic spying program on Sunday, calling it legal as well as vital to thwarting terrorist attacks, and contended the leak making it public had caused "great harm to the nation." "This is a limited program designed to prevent attacks on the United States of America and, I repeat, limited," Bush told reporters after visiting wounded troops at Brooke Army Medical Center. "I think most Americans understand the need to find out what the enemy's thinking." Congressional hearings In Washington, lawmakers are preparing for hearings to consider Bush's domestic spying program. Four senators -- two of them Republicans -- indicated Sunday that congressional hearings were appropriate for considering Bush's assertion that he had constitutional and congressional authority to authorize domestic wiretaps without a court order in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. "In the first few weeks we made many concessions in the Congress because we were at war and we were under attack," said Sen. Richard Lugar, the Republican chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. "We still have the possibility of that going on, so we don't want to obviate all of this. But I think we want to see what, in the course of time, really works best." The New York Times reported last month that the National Security Agency had been conducting warrantless surveillance since 2002. Bush then acknowledged that he had authorized the NSA program and pointed to informing congressional leaders and regular reviews by administration officials as evidence of oversight for the program. Leak investigated The Justice Department on Friday opened an investigation into the leak that resulted in news stories about the secret order to eavesdrop on Americans with suspected ties to terrorists. "The fact that somebody leaked this program causes great harm to the United States," Bush said before returning to Washington from a holiday break at his Texas ranch. "There's an enemy out there." Bush stressed that the surveillance involved telephone calls from outside the United States by people associated with al-Qaida, the terrorist organization that plotted the Sept. 11 attacks. "It's seems logical to me that if we know there's a phone number associated with al-Qaida or an al-Qaida affiliate and they're making phone calls, it makes sense to find out why," he said. "They attacked us before, they'll attack us again." Bush didn't answer a reporter's question about whether he was aware of any resistance to the program at high levels of his administration and how that might have influenced his decision to approve it. Justice Department concerns The Times reported Sunday that a top Justice Department official objected in 2004 to aspects of the NSA program and would not sign off on its continued use as required by the administration's guidelines. James B. Comey, a top deputy to then-Attorney General John Ashcroft, was concerned with the program's legality and oversight, the Times and Newsweek reported. Administration officials then went to Ashcroft, who had been hospitalized for gallbladder surgery, to gain his approval, according to the newspaper, but it was unclear whether Ashcroft gave his approval. Neither Comey nor Ashcroft would comment on the meeting, according to the Times. White House spokesman Trent Duffy declined Sunday to answer questions about the administration's internal discussions. Many Democrats and some Republicans in Congress have questioned whether Bush's actions went beyond the constitutional powers and congressional resolution he has cited. In 1978 Congress established a secret court to handle sensitive requests for surveillance and to issue warrants -- a system the NSA program bypassed. Sen. Arlen Specter, the Pennsylvania Republican who chairs the Judiciary Committee, has called for hearings into the program. Sen. Mitch McConnell, a Republican, said Sunday that he would prefer that any hearings be held by the Intelligence Committee, which likely would be in secret. "We're already talking about this entirely too much out in public as a result of these leaks ... and it's endangering our efforts to make Americans more secure," McConnell said. Motivation of leaker? Appearing with McConnell on "Fox News Sunday," Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer said the Justice Department investigation should explore the motivation of the person who leaked the information. "Was this somebody who had an ill purpose, trying to hurt the United States?" Schumer asked. "Or might it have been someone in the department who felt that this was wrong, legally wrong, that the law was being violated?" Schumer released a letter he sent to Specter suggesting that current and former administration officials, including Comey and Ashcroft, be called to testify and that the administration waive executive privilege. Democratic Sen. Richard Durbin, appearing with Lugar on "Late Edition" on CNN, agreed with Lugar that Congress will focus in the new year on presidential powers in wartime. "The White House wants to expand that power in so many areas," Durbin said. "Clearly, Congress is holding back." © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. © 2006 MSNBC.com URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10673060/ continue to throw **** at each other. someone else can get tossed off the island.
First thing Bush should do is fire whoever leaked Valerie Plame's identity before talking about leaks causing great harm.
This has already been proven to be a lie. Again! Even I agree with this. Just get the warrent. Did someone get banned?
I don't understand the point of the post, Kam. Are you upset about DaDakota? If he has something to straighten out with the mods, then it's between him and them, or him and Clutch. Took me awhile to figure that out, but I think it's the best way to handle things like that. Leave well enough alone, and DD will return, I hope, in due time. As for the topic, isn't it covered elsewhere? Ashcroft went into the hospital for surgery, his deputy suspended the illegal operation that is spying on Americans, and Card, with Gonzales, went to the hospital to persuade Ashcroft to reinstate the spy-on-Americans-and-to-hell-with-the-Constitution program. I read somewhere that even Ashcroft had his doubts about it, but don't recall where. Bush should be facing impeachment, so he does what comes naturally... attacks his critics. Now Justice has been told to find and prosecute the person, or persons, who deserve the Medal of Freedom for leaking this mess. Does that sum things up? Keep D&D Civil.
you left out the part about the times endangering the safety of my children, and you trumpeting how cool that is.
So are you trumpeting how cool it is for your children's Constitutional rights to be torn up at a moments notice?
That's, with all due respect, complete garbage, basso. Bush is endangering your children's freedom under the Constitution of the United States, and that of my own children. I guess it doesn't matter how many times someone tells you that his secret spying on Americans could have been done under the laws passed by Congress to prevent just this type of illegal abuse, without any delays, and with an infinitesimal chance of being turned down. And saying I think this is "cool," is just a load of that stuff the cows litter a pasture with. I think Bush should be impeached for his illegal actions, and whoever leaked this is a patriot. "Cool," doesn't enter into it. Keep D&D Civil.
So under this SAME set of ridiculous assumptions...those responsible for the Plame leak endangered your children just as much. Why arent you screaming for the Incarceration of Rove, Cheney ect ect.
look basso and company. can yall please tell me why FISA courts aren't good enough? time constraints? we understand. 72 hours. security? of course. courts are secret. whats the freaking deal? i personally think FISA is a rubber stamp...but whats the reason to bypass it? it makes no sense.
i think dada wanted to post that article about whatever the topic is. he doesnt have access to this part of the forum cause i guess he got banned. This place, instead of being a place to discuss crap about politics, and other crap like that, it's more to talk **** to each other. you know if you guys saw each other face to face, you guys wouldn't do **** to each other.
Speak for yourself, Kam. That's not why I'm here. I'm sorry that happened to him, whatever the reason was, and I hope he's able to return, but there are many excellent discussions here, amongst the poo. Perhaps you haven't looked closely enough. Keep D&D Civil.
I understand how you feel and I feel that way too at times but I far from losing hope about the D & D. I can honestly say that I've learned a lot from this forum and for the most part feel I've had interesting, insightful discussions. It doesn't mean I haven't gotten pissed at a poster now and then but for the most part try to look past that and not take anything personally here. I think you're right though that this kind of remote text based debate can easily lead to trash talking since we never see each other's faces or even here each other voices and can hind behind usernames. For me though there is nothing that I have posted here I wouldn't say in person. When I first signed on here I mistakenly postd my real name as my username thinking that there would be another area for making a username I wanted to change it for awhile but decided it didn't matter and I stand by what I post.
i would argue that outing plame was far more endangering to basso's children than whistleblowing of illegal activities. she was working on nuclear counter-proliferation. keeping WMD's out of the hands of those who would harm us. she and her group were deep undercover doing this, probably in some pretty dangerous places in the world. she was outed by someone at the white house as an act of political vengance. this act compromised our ability to keep potential nuclear assaults from occuring. it was much more than a leak - it was treasonous, traitorous and compromised the security of our country. the person responsible should be lined up against a wall and shot.
Your children are in more danger from the poor people around the corner than anyone in Iraq, except maybe the servicemen who will be coming home to fewer benefits and may well end up living down the street with the poor people.
I haven't said that I do. Despite that, many people here know their stuff or have an interesting take on topics. The thread gets derailed at times, but with all that tension around, these topics you're refering to would rarely be brought up face to face. Oh well, this is coming from an inmate of the asylum.
