JohnnyBz00LS
Dedicated LVC Member
Posted on Thu, Jan. 05, 2006
Cheney cites 9/11 defending eavesdrop
By Jim VandeHei and Dan Eggen
Washington Post
WASHINGTON – Vice President Cheney said Wednesday that the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks might have been prevented if the Bush administration had had the power to secretly monitor conversations involving two of the hijackers without court orders.
As part of an effort to sell Americans on the administration’s recently disclosed program to eavesdrop on telephone and e-mail communications between people in the United States and people overseas without a warrant, Cheney told a small group at the Heritage Foundation that instead of being able to “pick up” on the terrorist plot, “we didn’t know they were here plotting until it was too late.”
But Cheney did not mention that the government had compiled significant information on the two suspects before the attacks and that bureaucratic problems – not a lack of information – were primary reasons for the security breakdown, according to congressional investigators and the Sept. 11 commission. Moreover, the administration had the power to eavesdrop on their calls and e-mails, as long as they sought permission of a secret court that oversees clandestine surveillance in the United States.
The bigger problem was that the FBI and other agencies did not know where the two suspects – Cheney’s office confirmed that he was referring to Nawaf Alhazmi and Khalid Almihdhar – were living in the United States and had missed numerous opportunities to track them down in the 20 months before the attacks, according to the Sept. 11 commission and other sources.
In his speech, scheduled as part of a White House offensive to defend the recently disclosed surveillance program, Cheney painted an ominous portrait of U.S. security without the practice.
Cheney said the NSA program, combined with the expanded surveillance powers authorized by the USA Patriot Act, has saved lives – and thwarted terrorist attacks.
“No one can guarantee that we won’t be hit again, but neither should anyone say that the relative safety of the last four years came as an accident,” Cheney said. “America has been protected not by luck but by sensible policy decisions.”
Under a secret order signed by President Bush after Sept. 11, the NSA was freed from its normal restraints and allowed to eavesdrop on the international communications of U.S. citizens and residents. Bush and other administration officials have said the spying has been limited to cases involving suspected al-Qaida associates either in the U.S. or overseas.
The american people should feel, as I do, like they've just been slapped in the face with this most blatent insult by Cheney expecting us to believe this crock of crap. I hereby retract my call for "Cheney '06". This guy is a complete and utter moron.
Cheney cites 9/11 defending eavesdrop
By Jim VandeHei and Dan Eggen
Washington Post
WASHINGTON – Vice President Cheney said Wednesday that the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks might have been prevented if the Bush administration had had the power to secretly monitor conversations involving two of the hijackers without court orders.
As part of an effort to sell Americans on the administration’s recently disclosed program to eavesdrop on telephone and e-mail communications between people in the United States and people overseas without a warrant, Cheney told a small group at the Heritage Foundation that instead of being able to “pick up” on the terrorist plot, “we didn’t know they were here plotting until it was too late.”
But Cheney did not mention that the government had compiled significant information on the two suspects before the attacks and that bureaucratic problems – not a lack of information – were primary reasons for the security breakdown, according to congressional investigators and the Sept. 11 commission. Moreover, the administration had the power to eavesdrop on their calls and e-mails, as long as they sought permission of a secret court that oversees clandestine surveillance in the United States.
The bigger problem was that the FBI and other agencies did not know where the two suspects – Cheney’s office confirmed that he was referring to Nawaf Alhazmi and Khalid Almihdhar – were living in the United States and had missed numerous opportunities to track them down in the 20 months before the attacks, according to the Sept. 11 commission and other sources.
In his speech, scheduled as part of a White House offensive to defend the recently disclosed surveillance program, Cheney painted an ominous portrait of U.S. security without the practice.
Cheney said the NSA program, combined with the expanded surveillance powers authorized by the USA Patriot Act, has saved lives – and thwarted terrorist attacks.
“No one can guarantee that we won’t be hit again, but neither should anyone say that the relative safety of the last four years came as an accident,” Cheney said. “America has been protected not by luck but by sensible policy decisions.”
Under a secret order signed by President Bush after Sept. 11, the NSA was freed from its normal restraints and allowed to eavesdrop on the international communications of U.S. citizens and residents. Bush and other administration officials have said the spying has been limited to cases involving suspected al-Qaida associates either in the U.S. or overseas.
The american people should feel, as I do, like they've just been slapped in the face with this most blatent insult by Cheney expecting us to believe this crock of crap. I hereby retract my call for "Cheney '06". This guy is a complete and utter moron.
