- WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President
George W. Bush acknowledged he signed a secret order to allow eavesdropping
on people in the United States on Saturday, as he fought for the renewal
of the anti-terror USA Patriot Act.
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- In a rare live radio address, Bush defended the monitoring
of telephone calls and e-mails as a "vital tool" to protect the
United States against an attack and criticised the leak to the news media
of the program's existence.
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- "In the weeks following the terrorist attacks on
our nation, I authorised the National Security Agency, consistent with
U.S. law and the Constitution, to intercept the international communications
of people with known links to al Qaeda and related terrorist organisations,"
he said. [JR: The Constitution may allow the president to issue EOs, but
if the EO's directive is not in compliance with the Constitution and the
Bill of Rights then it's content is therefore illegal and null and void.]
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- "This is a highly classified program that is crucial
to our national security," Bush said.
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- He said he had reauthorised the program 30 times since
the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States and intends to continue
it "for as long as our nation faces a continuing threat from al Qaeda
and related groups."
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- Bush's address from the White House Roosevelt Room came
as Congress was locked in an impasse over a measure that would extend expiring
provisions of the Patriot Act, a centrepiece of Bush's war on terror.
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- Some opponents of the Patriot Act's renewal said their
concerns about the need to protect civil liberties were heightened by the
eavesdropping report.
-
- A group of senators, including mostly Democrats and a
handful of Republicans, on Friday put a roadblock on the bill as they demanded
increased protections of civil liberties.
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- Bush said that decision was irresponsible and could endanger
the lives of Americans as he warned of the risk of another attack.
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- "Key provisions of this law are set to expire in
two weeks," Bush said. "The terrorist threat to our country will
not expire in two weeks. The terrorists want to attack America again, and
inflict even greater damage than they did on September 11."
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- The presidential order on eavesdropping was first reported
in The New York Times on Friday. The Times said the order allowed the National
Security Agency to track international telephone calls and e-mails of hundreds
of people without the court approval normally required for domestic spying.
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- The Bush administration initially refused to confirm
the program, saying to do so might jeopardise security.
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- Bush said his order was constitutional and has been carefully
reviewed by legal authorities and that leaders in Congress were aware of
it. He criticised the disclosure of the directive as improper.
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- "As a result, our enemies have learnt information
they should not have, and the unauthorised disclosure of this effort damages
our national security and puts our citizens at risk," Bush said. "Revealing
classified information is illegal, alerts our enemies, and endangers our
country."
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- Comment
- John Ray
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- Falsifying intelligence is also illegal! They also said
the illegal invasion of Iraq was constitutional even though it was done
soley on the premise of lies and false intelligence.
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