Summarized -- Spying Program Snared U.S. Calls - New York Times

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/21/politics/21nsa.html? 
hp&ex=1135227600&en=4ef661fe7d71febe&ei=5094&partner=homepage

WASHINGTON, Dec. 20 - A surveillance program approved by President  
Bush to conduct eavesdropping without warrants has captured what are  
purely domestic communications in some cases, despite a requirement  
by the White House that one end of the intercepted conversations take  
place on foreign soil, officials say.

The officials say the National Security Agency's interception of a  
small number of communications between people within the United  
States was apparently accidental, and was caused by technical  
glitches at the National Security Agency in determining whether a  
communication was in fact "international."

...Eavesdropping on communications between two people who are both  
inside the United States is prohibited under Mr. Bush's order  
allowing some domestic surveillance.

But in at least one instance, someone using an international  
cellphone was thought to be outside the United States when in fact  
both people in the conversation were in the country.  Officials, who  
spoke on condition of anonymity because the program remains  
classified, would not discuss the number of accidental intercepts,  
but the total is thought to represent a very small fraction of the  
total number of wiretaps that Mr. Bush has authorized without getting  
warrants.  In all, officials say the program has been used to  
eavesdrop on as many as 500 people at any one time, with the total  
number of people reaching perhaps into the thousands in the last  
three years.

Mr. Bush and his senior aides have emphasized since the disclosure of  
the program's existence last week that the president's executive  
order applied only to cases where one party on a call or e-mail  
message was outside the United States.

...director who is now the second-ranking intelligence official in  
the country, was asked at a White House briefing this week whether  
there had been any "purely domestic" intercepts under the program.

...General Hayden said the determination was made by operational  
people at the agency and "must be signed off by a shift supervisor,"  
with the process closely scrutinized by officials at the agency, the  
Justice Department and elsewhere.

But questions about the legal and operational oversight of the  
program last year prompted the administration to suspend aspects of  
it temporarily and put in place tighter restrictions on the  
procedures used to focus on suspects, said people with knowledge of  
the program.

...General Hayden, at this week's briefing, would not discuss many  
technical aspects of the program and did not answer directly when  
asked whether the program was used to eavesdrop on people who should  
not have been.

-------------------------------------
You are subscribed as lists-ip () insecure org
To manage your subscription, go to
 http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip

Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/