bush started his illegal spying on US citizens BEFORE 911.

[LynnTheDem]

BEFORE 911.

So fuck all bush & cartel's bullshit excuse of "911 changed everything" crap.

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. We have to have proof of this. What do we have to blow the lid off this?

[LynnTheDem]

8. Documents;

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB24/nsa25.pdf

The rest of the world has read the proof for awhile now. Strange how the US "msm" hasn't bothered much on reporting the FACT that bush authorized illegal spying on Americans right after he took office...LONG BEFORE 911.

[GreenPartyVoter]

11. Thanks!

[peekaloo]

2. and the arsewipe is using the defense that if he HAD done this before

9/11 we "may" have averted the attack.

If only we had a media dedicated to the truth.

[helderheid]

3. EXACTLY!!! K & R AND PROOF

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011706Y.shtml

NSA Spying Evolved Pre-9/11
By Jason Leopold
t r u t h o u t | Investigative Report

Tuesday 17 January 2006

In the months before 9/11, thousands of American citizens were inadvertently swept up in wiretaps, had their emails monitored, and were being watched as they surfed the Internet by spies at the super-secret National Security Agency, former NSA and counterterrorism officials said.

The NSA, with full knowledge of the White House, crossed the line from routine surveillance of foreigners and suspected terrorists into illegal activity by continuing to monitor the international telephone calls and emails of Americans without a court order. The NSA unintentionally intercepts Americans' phone calls and emails if the agency's computers zero in on a specific keyword used in the communication. But once the NSA figures out that they are listening in on an American, the eavesdropping is supposed to immediately end, and the identity of the individual is supposed to be deleted. While the agency did follow protocol, there were instances when the NSA was instructed to keep tabs on certain individuals that became of interest to some officials in the White House.

What sets this type of operation apart from the unprecedented covert domestic spying activities the NSA had been conducting after 9/11 is a top secret executive order signed by President Bush in 2002 authorizing the NSA to target specific American citizens. Prior to 9/11, American citizens were the subject of non-specific surveillance by the NSA that was condoned and approved by President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, according to former NSA and counterterrorism officials.

The sources, who requested anonymity because they were instructed not to talk about NSA activities but who hope they can testify before Congress about the domestic spying, said that in December 2000, the NSA completed a report for the incoming administration titled "Transition 2001," which explained, among other things, how the NSA would improve its intelligence gathering capabilities by hiring additional personnel.

Moreover, in a warning to the incoming administration, the agency said that in its quest to compete on a technological level with terrorists who have access to state-of-the-art equipment, some American citizens would get caught up in the NSA's surveillance activities. However, in those instances, the identities of the Americans who made telephone calls overseas would be "minimized," one former NSA official said, in order to conceal the identity of the American citizen picked up on a wiretap.

"What we're supposed to do is delete the name of the person," said the former NSA official, who worked as an encryption specialist.

<snip>

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011706Y.shtml

[laheina]

14. Awesome article!

"However, we did keep tabs on some Americans we caught if there was an interest" by the White House. "That's not legal. And I am very upset that I played a part in it."

I think that this sentiment will be indicative of more NSA employees. After all, the above link (regarding transition 2001) states that over 50% of their employees have advanced degrees. And to some degree that will make it harder for the whitehouse to mindlessly follow unethical orders.

[Double T]

4. With bush's behavior afflictions, none of this should be..........

a surprise. This guy is certifiably insane.

[helderheid]

5. paranoid. He's totally paranoid.

[hedgehog]

6. But -

if the Cold War was over -

and

they obviously weren't picking up on chatter from terrorists -

and

unions and the left in general were so inept -

just what were they listening for?

[helderheid]

7. Dissenters who knew he stole the election n/t

[hedgehog]

9. Guilty consciences?

As I remember it, there wasn't very much happening to solve that problem.

[helderheid]

10. KICK

[laheina]

15. Good points.

If Chaney was so paranoid about people in the whitehouse and the dod--what could he have been so paranoid about? Being outed.

[KittyWampus]

12. good question. Did they LET 9/11 happen then? What good did it do

if they did't stop 9/11.

[helderheid]

16. Anthrax in the house and the senate. Perfect excuse to bug

[NVMojo]

13. I am not surprised ...didn't they say Rummy and pals wanted to spy

on us 30 years ago?

[robbedvoter]

17. That's why Gonzi refused to answer WHEN (he advised W he can)

leahy was very insistent about it and he absolutely refused to say.

[helderheid]

18. you said it!

[zbdent]

19. And yet they couldn't even catch a few guys who were SUSPECTS

who just so happened to be taking flying lessons using commercial jets . . . WHICH WAS REPORTED TO THE FBI!!!!

[helderheid]

20. oh there you are wrong. They could have.

[Festivito]

21. CNN ea. hr reports on investigation of Bush order AFTER 9/11.

The investigation may be focused on what happened after 9/11, but the CNN newsbreaks let it sound like Bush ordering occured after 9/11 without doubt. They know they're lying.

ALSO:
The hearings had Bush AG NOT SWORN so it can be a whitewash.

[LuCifer]

22. Can you say DOG & PONY show?!

Unfrigginbelievable. What a true piece of crap.

READ AL FRANKEN'S NEW BOOK PEOPLE!!!!!!!

Lu

[LuCifer]

23. kick!

this so needs a kick!

[EFerrari]

24. So many good threads today, Lynn

Thanks.

:hi:

[LynnTheDem]

25. Thanks!

:hi:

[yellowdogmi]

26. Who were the American Citizens? They have a right to know

and probably a right to sue. I also wonder if anyone knows anything about this top secret executive order? The timing of that order may be what sinks their ship. Can we sue under FOIA to find out? I'm not a lawyer and did not stay at holiday inn express last night but those are the questions that come to my mind.


What sets this type of operation apart from the unprecedented covert domestic spying activities the NSA had been conducting after 9/11 is a top secret executive order signed by President Bush in 2002 authorizing the NSA to target specific American citizens. Prior to 9/11, American citizens were the subject of non-specific surveillance by the NSA that was condoned and approved by President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, according to former NSA and counterterrorism officials.