Home > Programs
> Democracy
Now! > Tues., Jan. 3, 2006
Democracy Now!
ATTN: ALL STATIONS
From: Democracy Now!
Re: Rundown 1-3-06
PRSS Channel: A67.7
National Security Agency Whistleblower Warns Domestic Spying
Program Is Sign the U.S. is Decaying Into a “Police
State”
Former “Economic Hit Man” John Perkins on “The
First Truly Global Empire” and its Impact on Latin America
National Security Agency Whistleblower Warns Domestic
Spying Program Is Sign the U.S. is Decaying Into a “Police
State”
Former NSA intelligence agent Russell Tice condemns reports
that the Agency has been engaged in eavesdropping on U.S.
citizens without court warrants. Tice has volunteered to testify
before Congress about illegal black ops programs at the NSA.
Tice said, “The freedom of the American people cannot
be protected when our constitutional liberties are ignored
and our nation has decayed into a police state."
We turn now to the growing controversy over President Bush’s
decision to order the National Security Agency to eavesdrop
on U.S. citizens inside the country without the legally required
court warrants. Bush’s decision was first revealed in
the New York Times in mid-December. The Times published the
expose after holding the story for more than a year under
pressure from the White House. The paper reportedly first
uncovered the illegal order prior to the 2004 election. When
the editors at the Times decided last month to go ahead with
the article, President Bush personally summoned the paper’s
publisher, Arthur Sulzberger, and executive editor, Bill Keller,
to the Oval Office in an attempt to talk them out of running
the story. Since the story broke, calls for Congressional
hearings and the possible impeachment of the president have
intensified. Conservative legal experts have even admitted
Bush may have committed an impeachable offense by ordering
the NSA to break the law.
On Sunday, the New York Times revealed there was dissent
within the upper echelon of the Bush administration over the
legality of the president’s order. According to the
Times, Attorney General John Ashcroft's top deputy, James
Comey, refused to sign on to the continuation of the secret
program in 2004 amid concerns about its legality and oversight.
At the time, Comey was serving in place of then Attorney General
John Ashcroft while Ashcroft was hospitalized for a medical
condition. Comey’s refusal prompted senior Presidential
aides Andrew Card and Alberto Gonzales to visit Ashcroft in
his hospital room to grant the approval. The Times reports
Ashcroft expressed reluctance to sign on to the program. It
is unclear if he eventually relented. Both Ashcroft and Comey’s
concerns appear to have led to a temporary suspension of parts
of the program for several months. But the administration
has repeatedly defended its actions.
- President Bush, speaking on Sunday:
“If somebody from al Qaeda is calling you, we'd like
to know why. In the meantime, this program is conscious
of people's civil liberties as am I. This is is a limited
program designed to prevent attacks on the United States
of America - and I repeat limited. It is limited to calls
from outside the United States to calls within the United
States. But, they are of known numbers of known al Qaeda
members or affiliates. I think most Americans understand
the need to find out what the enemy is thinking. And that's
what we are doing. We're at war with a bunch of cold blooded
killers who will kill in a moment's notice. I have a responsibility
to act within the law which I am doing. The program has
been reviewed constantly by Justice Department officials.
A program to which the Congress has been briefed. A program
that is in my judgment necessary to win this war and to
protect the American people."
Meanwhile, the Washington Post is reporting that the NSA
passed on records of intercepted email and phone calls to
other government agencies including the FBI, the Defense Intelligence
Agency, the CIA and the Department of Homeland Security. This
news come on the heels of several other reports that the FBI’s
Joint Terrorism Task Force, military intelligence and local
police departments have all been engaged in monitoring peaceful
groups including Greenpeace, PETA - the People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals, Catholic Worker, anti-war groups and
even bicyclists in New York City. During the 1960s and 1970s,
the military used NSA intercepts to maintain files on U.S.
peace activists. It was this domestic surveillance that led
Congress to intervene and pass Foreign Intelligence Surveillance
Act of 1978 in order to prevent future such abuses. The statute
permits domestic intelligence surveillance with the approval
of a court order from the FISA court.
In 1975, Senator Frank Church, a Democrat from Idaho, said,
"We have a particular obligation to examine the NSA,
in light of its tremendous potential for abuse. . . . The
interception of international communications signals sent
through the air is the job of NSA; and, thanks to modern technological
developments, it does its job very well. The danger lies in
the ability of the NSA to turn its awesome technology against
domestic communications."
Now Congress is considering holding a new round of hearings
on Bush’s domestic spying program. A bipartisan group
series of Senators have already issued their public support
including several top Republicans including Senator Dick Lugar
of Indiana, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Arlen Specter
of Pennsylvania.
Two weeks ago, a former NSA intelligence officer publicly
announced that he wants to testify before Congress. His name
is Russell Tice. For the past two decades he has worked in
the intelligence field both inside and outside government,
most recently with the National Security Agency and Defense
Intelligence Agency. He was fired in May 2005 after he spoke
out as a whistleblower.
In his letter, Tice wrote, "It is with my oath as a
US intelligence officer weighing heavy on my mind that I wish
to report to Congress acts that I believe are unlawful and
unconstitutional. The freedom of the American people cannot
be protected when our constitutional liberties are ignored
and our nation has decayed into a police state."
- Russell Tice, former intelligence agent at the National
Security Agency and Defense Intelligence Agency. He worked
at the NSA up until May 2005.
Former “Economic Hit Man” John Perkins
on “The First Truly Global Empire” and its Impact
on Latin America
We speak with the author of “Confessions of an Economic
Hit Man” about his former work going into various countries
to create a secret empire through economics after being recruited
by the National Security Agency. Perkins discusses the policy
in the context of the recent WTO meetings, the NYC transit
strikes, and U.S. economic interventions in Latin America.
- John Perkins, from 1971 to 1981 he worked for the international
consulting firm of Chas T. Main where he was a self-described
"economic hit man." He is the author of the book
"Confessions of an Economic Hit Man."
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
|
Listen
to the show
Help
whole
show
