Re: Here's how to get on the NSA's radar screen

[Matthew Murphy <mattmurphy () kc rr com>]

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Richard M. Smith wrote:
> Here's how the Weekly Standard explained NSA's monitoring program:
>
> http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/006/569wwiwx.a
> sp?pg=2
>
> Beginning in early 2002, the National Security Agency began monitoring
> telephone numbers and email addresses discovered in the computers, cell
> phones, and address books of captured al Qaeda operatives, and it has
> continued to do so, following resultant leads into an expanding, digital
> network of terrorism suspects. Even by Risen's account, an overwhelming
> majority of the program's targets are located overseas--currently "about
> 7,000 people" abroad, along with "about 500" other people they've contacted
> here in the States. Just the same, because nowadays "many purely
> international communications--telephone calls and email messages from the
> Middle East to Asia, for example--end up going through telecommunications
> switches that are physically based in the United States," eavesdropping on
> any call so routed "might be a violation of the regulations and laws
> restricting the NSA from spying inside the United States." 

Given that these numbers and e-mail addresses were found essentially *in
the hands* of captured al-Qaeda (read: people who want to kill Americans
and westerners), it would seem to me to be a slam dunk to get a FISA
warrant.  It would be akin to capturing a low-level member of some kind
of crime ring and then wiretapping people that individual is known to
have associated with in a bid to further infiltrate the organization.
Albeit with more secrecy.

If the account here is indeed accurate, I'd have *NO PROBLEM* with these
wiretaps, _with a FISA warrant_.  It's the lack of a warrant that is an
issue for me.

- --
"Social Darwinism: Try to make something idiot-proof,
nature will provide you with a better idiot."

                                -- Michael Holstein
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