Obama embraces Bush intelligence policies
As the administration of President George W. Bush came to a close, Democrats predicted a much different approach to the War on Terror under President Obama, one that would not allow U.S. intelligence gathering to trample on civil liberties.
Instead, the Obama Administration has continued some controversial intelligence gathering techniques of the Bush years, alienating and disappointing supporters alike.
And that was borne out by Wednesday night's disclosure that U.S. Intelligence agencies have been gathering mounds of data about regular phone calls by American citizens, which was then followed by another blockbuster story on Thursday, that the U.S. has engaged in a comprehensive internet data mining operation with the assistance of major internet companies and providers.
The NSA phone data story disappointed a number of more liberal Democrats in Congress, some of whom had been cryptically raising red flags about intelligence operations in recent years.
"The American people have a right to know whether their government thinks that the sweeping, dragnet surveillance that has been alleged in this story is allowed under the law and whether it is actually being conducted," fumed Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR).
"The government's collection of millions of Americans' phone records is the type of surveillance I have long said would shock the public if they knew about it," grumbled Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO).
"Left untouched, these provisions violate the privacy rights of Americans and give the government too much leeway for abuse," said Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM), cousin of the Colorado Democrat.
The bitterness wasn't left only to Democratic politicians.
"The administration has now lost all credibility on this issue," wrote the New York Times in an editorial. "Mr. Obama is proving the truism that the executive branch will use any power it is given and very likely abuse it."
"It is the very sort of thing against which Mr. Obama once railed, when he said in 2007 that the surveillance policy of the George W. Bush administration 'puts forward a false choice between the liberties we cherish and the security we provide,'" the Times editorial board wrote.
In other words, it wasn't exactly what Democrats had envisioned when the moving vans took Bush out, and put Obama into the White House.
Both the NSA phone data gathering story, and a secret internet data mining operation by the NSA and FBI revealed by the Washington Post on Thursday, started six to seven years ago in the Bush Administration - and have continued on in the Obama Presidency.
On the Republican side of the aisle, those with more of a libertarian streak also expressed concern about the latest intelligence revelations.
"Such an intentionally general and suspicionless collection of citizens’ private data is troubling, to say the least," said Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) in a letter to the head of the FBI and NSA.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) meanwhile turned a quote around on President Obama from 2006 on the subject.
"Americans fought a Revolution in part over the right to be free from unreasonable searches," Sen. Obama said seven years ago in criticizing the Bush Administration, as Paul and other Republicans complained about the NSA phone data effort.
But while there was criticism in both parties, it was not an avalanche by any means.
The revelation of the NSA phone data operation drew a shrug of the shoulders from those on the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, as they said the court approved plans had stopped terrorist efforts.
"It has proved meritorious," said Sen. Saxby Chambliss, saying it had only focused on "bad guys" and not law-abiding Americans.
As for regular Americans, it was clear that some of those who supported the President on the Democratic side were not pleased with the turn of events.
"I expected a reversal of these outrageous breaches of our civil liberties!" wrote Rob from Connecticut on the New York Times web site.
"This started with Bush and I am outraged it is continuing with Obama," wrote one commenter on the Washington Post web site, where the comments piled in almost non-stop as word of this latest story emerged.
“The stories published over the last two days make clear that the NSA – part of the military – now has direct access to every corner of Americans’ digital lives,” said Jameel Jaffer of the ACLU.
As for the two major leaks in two days, the nation's top intelligence official denounced it in a rare public statement issued on Thursday night.
"Information collected under this program is among the most important and valuable foreign intelligence information we collect, and is used to protect our nation from a wide variety of threats," said James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence.
In an additional release, Clapper went to great length to defend and describe the phone data program; here is his statement:
DNI Statement on Recent Unauthorized Disclosures of Classified Information
The highest priority of the Intelligence Community is to work within the constraints of law to collect, analyze and understand information related to potential threats to our national security.
The unauthorized disclosure of a top secret U.S. court document threatens potentially long-lasting and irreversible harm to our ability to identify and respond to the many threats facing our nation.
The article omits key information regarding how a classified intelligence collection program is used to prevent terrorist attacks and the numerous safeguards that protect privacy and civil liberties.
I believe it is important for the American people to understand the limits of this targeted counterterrorism program and the principles that govern its use. In order to provide a more thorough understanding of the program, I have directed that certain information related to the “business records” provision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act be declassified and immediately released to the public.
The following important facts explain the purpose and limitations of the program:
- The judicial order that was disclosed in the press is used to support a sensitive intelligence collection operation, on which members of Congress have been fully and repeatedly briefed. The classified program has been authorized by all three branches of the Government.
- Although this program has been properly classified, the leak of one order, without any context, has created a misleading impression of how it operates. Accordingly, we have determined to declassify certain limited information about this program.
- The program does not allow the Government to listen in on anyone’s phone calls. The information acquired does not include the content of any communications or the identity of any subscriber. The only type of information acquired under the Court’s order is telephony metadata, such as telephone numbers dialed and length of calls.
- The collection is broad in scope because more narrow collection would limit our ability to screen for and identify terrorism -related communications. Acquiring this information allows us to make connections related to terrorist activities over time. The FISA Court specifically approved this method of collection as lawful, subject to stringent restrictions.
- The information acquired has been part of an overall strategy to protect the nation from terrorist threats to the United States, as it may assist counterterrorism personnel to discover whether known or suspected terrorists have been in contact with other persons who may be engaged in terrorist activities.
- There is a robust legal regime in place governing all activities conducted pursuant to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which ensures that those activities comply with the Constitution and laws and appropriately protect privacy and civil liberties. The program at issue here is conducted under authority granted by Congress and is authorized by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC). By statute, the Court is empowered to determine the legality of the program.
- By order of the FISC, the Government is prohibited from indiscriminately sifting through the telephony metadata acquired under the program. All information that is acquired under this program is subject to strict, court-imposed restrictions on review and handling. The court only allows the data to be queried when there is a reasonable suspicion, based on specific facts, that the particular basis for the query is associated with a foreign terrorist organization. Only specially cleared counterterrorism personnel specifically trained in the Court-approved procedures may even access the records.
- All information that is acquired under this order is subject to strict restrictions on handling and is overseen by the Department of Justice and the FISA Court. Only a very small fraction of the records are ever reviewed because the vast majority of the data is not responsive to any terrorism-related query.
- The Court reviews the program approximately every 90 days. DOJ conducts rigorous oversight of the handling of the data received to ensure the applicable restrictions are followed. In addition, DOJ and ODNI regularly review the program implementation to ensure it continues to comply with the law.
- The Patriot Act was signed into law in October 2001 and included authority to compel production of business records and other tangible things relevant to an authorized national security investigation with the approval of the FISC. This provision has subsequently been reauthorized over the course of two Administrations – in 2006 and in 2011. It has been an important investigative tool that has been used over the course of two Administrations, with the authorization and oversight of the FISC and the Congress.
Discussing programs like this publicly will have an impact on the behavior of our adversaries and make it more difficult for us to understand their intentions. Surveillance programs like this one are consistently subject to safeguards that are designed to strike the appropriate balance between national security interests and civil liberties and privacy concerns. I believe it is important to address the misleading impression left by the article and to reassure the American people that the Intelligence Community is committed to respecting the civil liberties and privacy of all American citizens.
James R. Clapper, Director of National Intelligence
As the administration of President George W. Bush came to a close, Democrats predicted a much different approach to the War on Terror under President Obama, one that would not allow U.S. intelligence gathering to trample on civil liberties. Instead, the Obama Administration has continued some controversial intelligence gathering techniques ...
