The Department of Justice has a list of roughly 330 million suspected
terrorists living in the United States O:-)
-jma
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/07/10/bush.surveillance/index.html
Report: Domestic surveillance program relied on flawed analysis
By Pam Benson and Terry Frieden
CNN
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The highly controversial no-warrant surveillance
program initiated after the September 11 terrorist attacks relied on a
"factually flawed" legal analysis inappropriately provided by a
single Justice Department official, according to a report to Congress on
Friday.
The report was compiled by the inspectors general of the nation's top
intelligence agencies, the Pentagon and the Justice Department.
The report, mandated by Congress, provides fresh context to information
previously leaked in press accounts and buttressed by both congressional
testimony and books written by former officials involved in the
surveillance effort.
The 38-page unclassified version of the document reaches a cautious
conclusion, stating that any use of the information collected under the
surveillance program "should be carefully monitored."
The program, launched by President Bush in the weeks after the September
11 attacks, allowed for -- without court approval -- the interception of
communications into and out of the United States if there was a
"reasonable basis" that one of the parties was a
terrorist.
The report, though not critical of the program's objectives, sharply
criticizes the legal advice provided to the White House by the Justice
Department.
Among other things, the report cites a Justice Department conclusion that
"it was extraordinary and inappropriate that a single DOJ attorney,
John Yoo, was relied upon to conduct the initial legal assessment"
of the surveillance program.
"The lack of oversight and review of Yoo's work ... contributed to a
legal analysis of the [program] that at a minimum was factually
flawed," it says.
The report says Yoo largely circumvented both his boss, Assistant
Attorney General Jay Bybee, and Attorney General John Ashcroft.
Yoo, described by Bybee in the report as "the White House's
guy" on national security, also provided the legal justification for
the CIA's controversial harsh interrogation program. Yoo's legal
rationale was later repudiated by the Justice Department.
The bitter debate within the Justice Department over the legal basis for
the warrantless surveillance and related intelligence efforts is
highlighted in references to the much-documented dramatic account of a
March 2004 confrontation in Ashcroft's hospital room. Deputy Attorney
General James Comey defied then-White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales by
refusing to sign off on the reauthorization of the program.
The report notes that several members of Congress -- including then-House
Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Nancy Pelosi -- were briefed on the
program on October 25, 2001, and a total of 17 times before the program
became public in 2005.
The document repeats the public assertion by former National Security
Agency Director Michael Hayden that no member of Congress had urged that
the program be stopped.
The new report makes clear that the President's Surveillance Program was
only a small part of the counterterrorism intelligence efforts in the
aftermath of the September 11 attacks, and its impact even today remains
unclear.
Most of the intelligence officials interviewed by the inspectors general
had, according to the report, "difficulty citing specific instances
where PSP reporting had directly contributed to counterterrorism
successes."
The report was compiled by inspectors general of five agencies despite
the apparent refusal by key figures -- including Yoo, former Attorney
General John Ashcroft and former CIA Director George Tenet -- to be
interviewed by investigators.
Those who consented to be interviewed by the investigators included
Hayden, former Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte, former
White House Counsel and Attorney General Gonzales, FBI Director Robert
Mueller and former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
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James M.
Atkinson
Phone: (978) 546-3803
Granite Island
Group
Fax: (978) 546-9467
127 Eastern Avenue
#291
Web:
http://www.tscm.com/
Gloucester, MA
01931-8008
E-mail:
mailto:jm..._at_tscm.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesmatkinson
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No enterprise is more likely to succeed than one concealed from the
enemy until it is ripe for execution. - Machiavelli, The Prince,
1521
Received on Sat Mar 02 2024 - 00:57:28 CST