Its about time someone brought up ....(censored)
What with the illegal wire tap probes going on in the states. One word seems to be failing to enter the debate. One word that makes all these current allegations seem like small fish by comparison. This word brings forth a concept straight from the land of George Orwell and 1984.Any guess ?
Yes, we're talking about our old friend Echelon, as Kurt Nimmo usefully reminds us. A 1999 report by the European Parliament llaid bare the lineaments of the program, which has been carried out on a global basis since the end of World War II by the English-speaking powers of the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Decade after decade, every new communication technology has been gathered into the Echelon net. (The program, a closely guarded secret for decades, was confirmed by Australia's Defence Signals Directorate chief in 1999.)
"The stations collectively monitor millions of voice and data messages each day"
Read the full article here
posted by _H_ at 4:44 am
6 Comments:
There is, nor ever have been, nothing illegal about the US government eavesdropping. If you'd have done even a modicum of homework, you'd know that back in the days of Western Union, anything sent overseas, or to or from groups suspected of being involved with orgainzed crime. was copied and sent to the FBI.
Every country does this to some degree, and every US President since the age of wired communications on up, has employed methods to listen in on enemies. From your perspective, it would have been wrong to break German and Japanese codes during WWII, because,after all, most of it was being sent from the Allied nations.
Doesn't it even begin to dawn on you and yours, that the states has not been hit again because law enforcement is busily cracking down on these barbarians?
Guess not. Your blog is well done, and well written. Other viewpoints are always necessary, I just don't happen to agree with yours, but keep up the good work.
The difference between this president and the others is that he is spying on ANY citizen it deems to be a threat. Nobody is safe from a wire tap.
And, the States may not have been hit but England has, Spain has... England is a key ally in the war on terror and it too has cracked down on many of the barbarians, but it was still attacked.
Fits
Based on the facts available to date, the wiretap program appears to be clearly illegal.
1. Wiretaps by federal officials are generally prohibited, unless there is a particular legal basis such as a court order. The “exclusive basis” for wiretaps is either Title III for criminal investigations or the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) for foreign intelligence investigations. It is a crime to conduct wiretaps unless there is a “statutory basis” for doing so.
2. The Administration has given two, and only two, reasons why it says the criminal law does not apply to the program.
3. The first is the Authorization of Use of Military Force (AUMF), passed on September 13, 2001. For multiple reasons, the AUMF does not provide a legal basis for the NSA wiretap program.
4. The second is that the President has inherent authority that does not derive from statutes. The President indeed has important inherent authority as leader of the Executive Branch and Commander-in-Chief, but the current Administration has taken that position to unprecedented lengths. We have a system of checks and balances. As the Supreme Court has made clear, the President’s power is at its “lowest ebb” when his actions directly contradict a lawful statute, as they do here.
5. In addition, as we learn more facts about the program, there may well be a clear case that government actions have violated the Fourth Amendment rules against unreasonable searches and seizures.
6. In short, it is a crime to conduct wiretaps in the United States, of U.S. citizens, unless there is a statutory basis for doing so. There was no statutory basis here.
seems like we did do our homework
Thanks for your polite dissent.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Jonz, FYI, I moderate here and don't like straw man attacks. Welcome to the void.
Its a good job the void has so much space.... :-)
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