What our other readers are saying:
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FISA works!
The people who agree that Bush can wiretap without warrants won't admit or don't understand that FISA allows these activities to be undertaken at once, and thus we have the protection we need. A warrant can be sought up to 72 hours after the fact.
The court that issues these warrants has only denied a handful, has allowed many thousands, and has only modified less than 100. So the need to act immediately is permitted! Wire tap and then go get a warrant.
There was no need for Bush to go around FISA. It allowed him his immediate response. Using FISA protects us and protects our civil liberties.
Mitchell Gold, Los Angeles, Calif., USA
More fear equals more tolerance
There was a time when such surveillance would have been recognized and received as a "terrorism" all unto itself. Americans are only demonstrating the truth of the maxim, "The more fearful a people become, the more they tolerate."
Grayson Lucky, Oklahoma City, Okla., USA
Will we trade safety for freedom?
If rights and freedoms are the hallmark of the American experience, how can anyone advocate their abridgement and still believe that they are defending "America"? It seems to me that many of the actions taken by this administration play directly into the hands of those who want to destroy our way of life. They may be technically correct that our lives will be safer, but at what cost? Will we trade safety for freedom? Security purchased with the coin of liberty?
Merry Dobbins, Dallas, Georgia, USA
Unchecked executive powers?
What happened on September 11 was a nightmare, but if President Bush continues to use 9/11 as a mantra to invoke unchecked executive powers, the results could be tragic for many years to come.
Eileen Quigley, Pittsburgh, Penn., USA
...This administration plays directly into the hands of those who want to destroy our way of life. Merry Dobbins, Dallas, Georgia, USA |
A government in and of himself
President Bush has made a habit of overstepping his role while using 9/11 as an excuse for everything. He is now a government in and of himself with no checks and balances. I have joined the ACLU just because of this latest wiretapping issue. It was either stay and fight for the Constitution or leave the country.
Thomas Guzman, Naperville, Ill., USA
Bush acted in citizens' best interest
Considering the extreme danger we are in because of the ability of a single person to kill thousands, and the fanatic element in the Middle East, I think President Bush had the right to authorize domestic wiretapping in this instance.
Lorna Freihofer, San Anselmo, Calif., USA
Strength in unity
It is the president's responsibility and obligation to protect national security and the citizens of America. These wire taps are not a police matter, so no court order is necessary. These wire taps were a matter of national security, so the president acted appropriately in monitoring the electronic communications of terrorists, suspected terrorists, and those who associate with them. President Bush should be applauded for taking such action in protecting America and its citizens. Those who oppose are ignorant of the law and are in essence aiding those who want to cause America harm. All Americans must unite and stand together as one to defeat terrorism. The president is doing his best to protect us and acting responsibly and within the law.
Glenn Moore, Seoul, Korea
Whatever it takes
We are at war. If you are an enemy of the United States, you have no rights. If you are a loyal American, you have nothing to fear. What the NSA is doing is about the same as what Amazon, eBay, and a host of other retailers do. It's called data mining. Only the NSA is looking for bad guys, not new customers. The crocodile tears here are from knee-jerk Bush haters, none of whom can complain about their rights being violated by the NSA.
Keep defending America, Mr. President, with whatever it takes.
Al Heather, Irvine, Calif., USA
Two possible reasons; neither is acceptable.
I think the main concern isn't whether or not the president is eavesdropping. I find it much more concerning that he seems to feel that he is above the law. You want to try somebody for terror? Fine. Charge them, find them guilty, and sentence them, but don't let them disappear without rights. You feel a need to eavesdrop? Do it. Then go to the court for your warrant.
I can only see two reasons that you wouldn't get a warrant "after the fact." One: you are so arrogant that you feel "I am the president. I can do what I want." Or two: "I don't want the court to know who I am spying on." I find neither of these reasons acceptable.
Dave Dahl, Maple Grove, Minn., USA
Federal judges want to catch terrorists
I was a Federal criminal investigator for 35 years. You can get a court ordered wire tap approved and installed within 24 hours, if it's an emergency. Under FISA, you can install a wire and wait 4 days before getting approval. This failure to comply with the law is illegal and demonstrates arrogance by this administration.
Believe me, Federal Judges want us to find terrorist and criminals, but they have this one little fault. They need to know that the suspect is a potential terrorist or criminal and what makes us believe this to be so.
Joseph Vigna, New York, N.Y., USA
These wire taps were a matter of national security... Glenn Moore, Seoul, Korea |
Eerie obsession with complete secrecy
The regulations governing the secret court that authorizes requests are very flexible, and using the court would have in no way slowed the process to get the wiretaps if requested by the White House. In my opinion it is just another example of an administration consumed with increased executive authority and control over the other branches of the government, and an eerie obsession with complete secrecy.
Chris Summers, Kingwood, Texas, USA
Who will be left to defend us?
What President Bush did was illegal and reminiscent of the McCarthy era. Loss of freedom starts with others' rights. If we don't defend the rights of all Americans, who will be left to defend us?
Ken Mroczek, Tucson, Ariz., USA
Investigation should point in the other direction
The president didn't overstep his authority. He took an oath of office to defend the US and the Constitution. What needs to be investigated is who leaked an ongoing NSA operation. This leak is nothing but treasonous.
Kenneth Breeden, Saltwater, Tenn., USA
Reasons for taps were tenuous
Bush most certainly did overstep his bounds. His unwillingness to seek the readily available wiretap warrants, even on a post facto basis, indicates to me that the reasons for the taps were either so tenuous that he was afraid to subject them to any kind of scrutiny, or the intent was to cast such a wide surveillance net that step by step warrants were deemed impracticable. Either way he has violated US law and should be impeached.
Athur L P Brown, Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles
Bush has best interests of the country in mind
You can argue that this eavesdropping oversteps the boundaries of privacy and decency. On the other hand, the rules the NSA has been working under were formulated for countering a perceived communist threat. This current threat is different and the rules must change to fight it. While going behind the court's back may not have been the nicest thing to do, I am certain that the president felt there was a pressing need. The people who perpetrated the 9/11 attacks, the attack against the USS Cole, the London and Madrid bombings, along with many other such attacks, will not play nicely and conform to our legal standards. They will use our decency against us. They will not wait for all parties to be dressed for battle to start that battle. It stands to reason, then, that such an extreme measure was considered and, ultimately, taken. We may never know what sorts of planned attacks have been averted.
For those of you worried about being spied on, you might do well to read the details of what sorts of conversations are of interest. If you're not having those sorts of conversations, you have little need to worry. The government, and, by extension, the NSA has finite resources. It can ill afford to focus on irrelevant material.
Mark Slenczka, Norwich, Norfolk, UK
We may never know what sorts of planned attacks have been averted. Mark Slenczka, Norwich, Norfolk, UK |
To protect and ... weaken?
The president swore to protect the Constitution while in office, yet it seems this administration is doing its part to weaken it, especially in terms of its desire to strengthen the executive branch at the expense of the legislative and judiciary branches. Yes, he oversteps his bounds every day.
Rick Wagner, Fort Collins, Colo., USA
Not a country of emergency measures
It sounds boring and trite, at least to half the population, but this is a country of laws. It is not a country of leaders and emergency measures. Perhaps that is why our truly exciting leaders have been so few and far between - because thet MUST obey the law and that limits their drama.
Robert Myers, Roswell, N.M., USA
Boundaries should be flexible
Whether President Bush overstepped the present boundaries of wiretapping is irrelevant. I think anything should be done to protect against terrorists. If yesterday's boundaries limit and prevent stopping terrorists, then the boundaries need to be changed. Later, after the threat is gone, the boundaries can be changed to suit that situation.
Gerald Erikson, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA
A nation of laws
We are a nation of laws, and the leader of this nation violated the laws of this nation and the trust of 300 million Americans.
The USA Patriot Act states that a court order must be obtained before wiretapping can be done. I don't know how to say it any other way, than to say our president has violated the law of this nation and nobody seems worried or outraged. The lies and deception continue. What next?
Lawrence D. Pierce, Austin, Texas, USA
"I'll violate your rights to protect your rights" doesn't work. Stuart N. Damon, DO, Bangor, Maine, USA |
Down the slippery slope
President Bush has overstepped his authority by his policy of wiretapping Americans without court approval as required by law. By doing so, Bush demonstrates his complete contempt for the 1st and 4th amendments to the Constitution, and takes the US down the slippery slope of becoming more and more a police state. All Americans who cherish privacy should be alarmed by Bush's dangerous and unjustified actions.
Ray Doherty, Waitsfield, Vermont, USA
Look out, 2008
The Constitution regulates the power of the presidency. Checks and balances cannot be arbitrarily rescinded by the president. For five years he has shown himself to be incompetent to be president. His powers must be curtailed before he calls off the 2008 election.
Jerome Schnell, Port Townsend, Wash., USA
Hold the president accountable
Without question, the president has grossly overstepped his constitutional authority in ordering wiretaps and other forms of spying on the communications of American citizens. The illogic of his reasoning - I'll violate your rights to protect your rights - is unexplainable.
The fact that he has admitted to violating the FISA and to violating the 4th Amendment of the very document he swore to uphold is criminal. That he vows to continue to do so is the height of arrogance.
The right is fond of saying that 9/11 changed everything; this is only true if we as Americans allow it to be true. We must hold the president accountable for his violation of the law and the trampling of the Constitution, because if we do not, we will have truly lost to the terrorists.
Winning the war on terror is not about overcoming the terrorists as much as it is about remaining true to the calling of America. Our president - if ever he knew this - has long forgotten this fact.
Stuart N. Damon, DO, Bangor, Maine, USA
Trade some liberties for security
I believe that our president must act when the safety of citizens is threatened. The courts may have to review it later, but as issues develop action needs to be taken. I'd rather lose some liberties for a time and be alive than have to be sorry that not enough was done to protect me.
William Brander, Jenison, Mich., USA
Constitution and Bill of Rights are pre-9/11, too...
You bet President Bush has violated civil liberties. The tools for legally obtaining warrants were in place, but he has simply chosen to thumb his nose at them. The intent is to consolidate power into an imperial presidency. His claim that both warrants and the FISA court are "so pre-9/11" is baloney. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights are pre-9/11 too. If Bush feels that they too, are outdated, he should say so, so that we can start impeachment proceedings immediately.
Greg Rossel, Troy, Maine, USA