Friday, October 10, 2008

Remember those “overseas” wire taps that we were assured were only used on known terrorists? The wire taps that did not require a warrant because the calls originated from folks who were not citizens and who had terrorist ties? Those wire taps?

Well guess what, it turns out that maybe known or suspected terrorists were not the only ones being listened to:

From Los Angeles Times

By Greg Miller

WASHINGTON — U.S. intelligence analysts eavesdropped on personal calls between Americans overseas and their families back home and monitored the communications of workers with the Red Cross and other humanitarian organizations, according to U.S. military linguists involved in U.S. surveillance programs.

The accounts are the most detailed to challenge the assertions of President Bush, CIA Director Michael Hayden and other administration officials that the United States’ controversial overseas wiretapping activities have been carefully monitored to prevent abuse and invasion of U.S. citizens’ privacy.

‘Disturbing’

Describing the allegations as “extremely disturbing,” Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., the chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said the panel has launched an inquiry and requested records from the Bush administration.

The linguists said recordings of intimate conversations between U.S. citizens and their loved ones were sometimes passed around, out of prurient interest, among analysts at an electronic surveillance facility at Fort Gordon, Ga.

They also said they were encouraged to continue monitoring calls of aid workers and other personnel stationed in the Middle East even when it was clear that the callers posed no threat to U.S. interests…

The American People were sold a bill of goods on how important the NSA overseas wire tapping was to American security. We were promised that only phones from known terrorist would be tapped, and that no one was interested in our daily conversations with friends and loved ones. The American People bought this bill of goods hook, line and sinker. We, as a people, have to wake up. We have to relearn how to resist to trade these small appearing infringements on our liberty for the promise of security.

There are ways and means in place to authorize wiretapping. These procedures are in place to help protect our privacy. When we allow the .gov to bypass these procedures, we give up just a bit more freedom.