Op/Ed by Pat Roberts (R, co-Chair Sen Intel Comm) re Surveillance

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Get a load of the first sentence

No investigation needed
By Pat Roberts

Through a criminal leak of highly classified information, the public, and our enemy, learned that President Bush authorized the National Security Agency to intercept international communications of people believed to be linked to al-Qaeda. Many in Congress and the media rushed to judgment, decrying the program as illegal and unconstitutional, demanding congressional investigations.

As chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, I - along with Vice Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va. - have been briefed on the details of this program since 2003. I believe this terrorist surveillance capability is legal and constitutional.

The courts have long recognized that the president has the authority under the Constitution to conduct "warrantless" surveillance for the purposes of collecting foreign intelligence.

While Congress enacted the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to establish procedures for foreign intelligence surveillance, this law did not, indeed cannot, extinguish the president's constitutional powers. FISA provides one way for him to conduct foreign intelligence surveillance, but not the only way.
...
It's the constitutional duty of the executive branch to make the tough decisions necessary to win wars. That's not the case for the legislative branch, which has the luxury of criticizing actions with the benefit of hindsight. When it comes to national security, we should fight the enemy, not each other.

More: http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20060310/cm_usatoday/noinvestigationneeded

[Hissyspit]

1. Trees have died for that shit to be published.

Pathetic.

[leftchick]

2. toilet paper

:puke:

[acmejack]

3. I have two words for Pat!

In the interests of starting the week on a polite note I will let you guess what they are. Hint, I was a professional sailor!

[ixion]

4. yeah, right, Pat. It was the leak that was criminal, not the crime itself

yeah. right. whatever. :crazy: :eyes:

[BR_Parkway]

5. "the public, and our enemy" anyone else think the punctuation in that

sentence was slightly different than what he meant to say?

[greenman3610]

6. I'm meeting with my congress person on this, would like some help

Roberts gives no examples where the courts have approved this
or does he just mean that we can spy on the enemy in wartime, like
in WWII?

I have read snips here and there about how this spying may well
have gone beyond just listening to a few Al Quaeda calls.

I will be meeting with my congress person next week on this,
so would appreciate any links that help me fill in info,
particularly on the NSA leaker...

[liberal N proud]

7. Pat Roberts is a criminal

That article is criminal

[atommom]

8. Not a big surprise. He's been bending over backwards to

make sure that no crime of Bush's gets properly investigated, and he has taken a special interest in this one.

[TankLV]

9. No you asswipe - Through the efforts of a true PATRIOT and HERO,

the publicn has been informed of ANOTHER CRIME this CRIMINAL REPUKE Administration has been conducting on the AVERAGE AMERICAN CITIZEN!

If we don't fight the enemies within, how are we ever going to fight the enemies outside our borders.

Too many REPUKES in who currently control EVERY BRANCH OF OUR GOVERMENT have been too lax in their excuses and covering-up of the CRIMES of this administration!

Except for a few REPUKE who hold the protection of this REPUKE pResident and all REPUKES above the law of this land and our country, EVERYONE KNOWS what these CRIMINALS have done to advance their own SELF SELFISH INTEREST is CLEARLY ILLEGAL.

The courts have EXPLICITLY forbade these kids of activities and have condemned them as ILLEGAL EVERY TIME THEY HAVE OCCURED IN PAST REPUKE ADMINISTRATIONS.

Why is it that it is only REPUKE administration that believe they are above the law?

From Nixon, to RAYgun, to the first Bush and now his son, they have been continually exposed for the CRIMES they have committed!

FISA has clearly delineated the ONLY LEGAL way that is permissable to conduct such surveillence of FOREIGN entities. NEVER has ANY law allowed that the President may conduct such ILLEGAL WARRENTLESS searches of AVERAGE AMERICAN CITIZENS without obtaining a warrent, EVEN obtaining one DAYS after the surveillence was DONE!

It is the constitutional duty of each and every citizen to expose such ILLEGAL CRIMES AGAINST THE USA.

I urge and call on such patriots, if they exist at all in the bowel of this thoroughly corrupt and criminal administration at all level, to come forward and EXPOSE ALL CRIMES AGAINST THE CONSTITUTION that this REPUKES in this government have committed!

To delay another moment is to endanger our democracy!

Tank.

[radio4progressives]

10. kicking so people can see what this asshat wrote..

seemed to me Rockefeller just wrote an OpEd piece a few days ago putting today's piece by this former Nixon thug to the lie that it is..

i don't have that piece at my finger tips, but for the poster that's going to pay a personal visit to their rep should read that article by Rockefeller and bring it with you...