Well, well, well....

[Lynne]

Breaking News from NewsMax.com

Clinton NSA Eavesdropped on U.S. Calls

During the 1990's under President Clinton, the National Security Agency monitored millions of private phone calls placed by U.S. citizens and citizens of other countries under a super secret program code-named Echelon.

On Friday, the New York Times suggested that the Bush administration has instituted "a major shift in American intelligence-gathering practices" when it "secretly authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans and others inside the United States to search for evidence of terrorist activity without [obtaining] court-approved warrants."

But in fact, the NSA had been monitoring private domestic telephone conversations on a much larger scale throughout the 1990s - all of it done without a court order, let alone a catalyst like the 9/11 attacks.

In February 2000, for instance, CBS "60 Minutes" correspondent Steve Kroft introduced a report on the Clinton-era spy program by noting:

"If you made a phone call today or sent an e-mail to a friend, there's a good chance what you said or wrote was captured and screened by the country's largest intelligence agency. The top-secret Global Surveillance Network is called Echelon, and it's run by the National Security Agency."
NSA computers, said Kroft, "capture virtually every electronic conversation around the world."

Echelon expert Mike Frost, who spent 20 years as a spy for the Canadian equivalent of the National Security Agency, told "60 Minutes" that the agency was monitoring "everything from data transfers to cell phones to portable phones to baby monitors to ATMs."

Mr. Frost detailed activities at one unidentified NSA installation, telling "60 Minutes" that agency operators "can listen in to just about anything" - while Echelon computers screen phone calls for key words that might indicate a terrorist threat.

The "60 Minutes" report also spotlighted Echelon critic, then-Rep. Bob Barr, who complained that the project as it was being implemented under Clinton "engages in the interception of literally millions of communications involving United States citizens."

 

[C-pher]

You know, I've always said that e-mail and the like was monitored.

And phone calles never suprised me. But I don't really care... What the hell would the government want to listen to me talk to my mother-in-law about the horrible poopie diaper that my daughter had today....

 

[Lynne]

And phone calles never suprised me. But I don't really care... What the hell would the government want to listen to me talk to my mother-in-law about the horrible poopie diaper that my daughter had today....

Ya never know luv...depending on what she ate, that could be considered a deadly weapon.

[lol] [lol] [lol]

 

[03roushs1]

It doesn't suprise me that Clinton would do that. I hate that it seems that when a Republican is in the WHite house, everything is criticized. But none of the retarded statements made by the amazingly "intelligent" democrats seem to be questioned.

 

[Lynne]

It doesn't suprise me that Clinton would do that. I hate that it seems that when a Republican is in the WHite house, everything is criticized. But none of the retarded statements made by the amazingly "intelligent" democrats seem to be questioned.

You got that right hun.

 

[Garys]

Even better is this,

"For now, let me simply quote the November 2002 decision of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review, in Sealed Case No. 02-001:

The Truong court [United States v. Truong Dinh Hung, 4th Cir. 1980], as did all the other courts to have decided the issue, held that the President did have inherent authority to conduct warrantless searches to obtain foreign intelligence information. *** We take for granted that the President does have that authority and, assuming that is so, FISA could not encroach on the President's constitutional power."

And even mo' better, http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/eo12139.htm

Signed by President James Carter.

Not to mention that the Clinton administration argued the same thing in 1994.

Remember, the President, acting as Commander in Chief has fairly wide latitude in ordering surveillance to be conducted on enemies in time of war.

Gary

 

[Lynne]

Gary - bless your heart. I was just going to see if I could find something on that. I heard Michael Graham talking about that this afternoon on 96.9. You're such a good boy.

 

[Garys]

Aw shucks, t'weren't nothin. <G> I too heard Michael Graham this afternoon. However the Carter information came from this site,
http://www.sweetness-light.com/archive/jimmy-had-the-power-to-spy/

I also read somewhere the President Reagan issued a similar executive order.

Far too many people are still under the impression that we're dealing with criminals, not at war.

Gary

 

[Nickle]

Hell, Nixon was doing the same thing to Phone Conversations in the 60's. The only reason he didn't have e-mail monitored was because it essentially non-existant at the time.

Good to see it come out that Clinton was having it done. Shocking to hear it was reported on See-BS. Maybe there's hope for them to become non-biased now that Dan Blather is gone. Good to hear they're reporting this one objectively, anyways.

 

[mark056]

Well...the truth of the matter is that domestic evesdropping by the NSA or elements within the NSA go back almost to the agency's founding in the late 1940's. It is kind of like the CIA isn't supposed to carry out domestic intelligence operations, but it does and always has, and the FBI is supposed to be the only agency that deals with domestic intelligence collection, but it has carried out overseas collection since at least WWII. The CIA isn't supposed to conduct Signals Intelligence missions but it does, and the NSA isn't supposed to carry out Human Intelligence missions but it does.

For the most part, the national agencies DO follow their respective charters, but not 100 percent. This latest "revelation" is really old news and it is really much ado about nothing. The Dems are ragging on Bush because they can over this, but Truman, Kennedy, Johnson, Carter, and Billy BJ have all done the same thing.

As someone who I respected very much told me once: "Americans have a right to privacy, but certainly should have no expectation of it." That pretty well sums it up.

Remember, anything you don't say or write won't and can't be used against you, anything else is, unfortunately, fair game.

Mark

 

[MrsWildweasel]

We knew about Echelon in the early 80's. but then concidering who we actually worked for back then was NSA. Just wore the Army uniform. Knowing what we know and what we did way back then would also scare the bejeezus out of most people. As Mark has said it is something that has been going on for a very long time.

 

[Pilgrim]

It's been legal since at least 1968 !!

Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act OF 1968, 18 U.S.C. 2510-2520
***************************************

"Nothing contained in this chapter or in section 605 of the Communications Act of 1934 (48 Stat. 1143; 47 U.S.C. 605) shall limit the constitutional power of the President to take such measures as he deems necessary to protect the Nation against actual or potential attack or other hostile acts of a foreign power, to obtain foreign intelligence information deemed essential to the security of the United States, or to protect national security information against foreign intelligence activities. Nor shall anything contained in this chapter be deemed to limit the constitutional power of the President to take such measures as he deems necessary to protect the United States against the overthrow of the Government by force or other unlawful means, or against any other clear and present danger to the structure or existence of the Government. The contents of any wire or oral communication intercepted by authority of the President in the exercise of the foregoing powers may be received in evidence in any trial hearing, [407 U.S. 297, 303] or other proceeding only where such interception was reasonable, and shall not be otherwise used or disclosed except as is necessary to implement that power."

 

[Lynne]

I heard today that FDR was doing it. Well...with phone calls anyway.