My Take on Domestic Spying …
by Larry C. Johnson (bio below)
I suppose the average American, one who has never held a security clearance or handled NSA intelligence, is inclined to cut George W. Bush some slack. Only a crazy person would argue that Al Qaeda terrorists have a right of privacy in the United States. But that, my friends, is a canard. The issue is not about giving aid and comfort to the enemy. Instead, does this President, hell, any President, have the right to unilaterally decide what does and does not constitute a threat to national security? We are a Republic founded on the principle that the power of the Federal Government is limited. It does not matter if George W. Bush is sincere or his intentions benign. What matters is whether he has chosen to ignore the Fourth Amendment because he, and he alone, has decided that the end justifies the means.
As one who has had access to NSA material, I am completely puzzled by the refusal of the Bush Administration to seek FISA approval for what amounts to roving wiretaps.
Here is what I know for certain:
NSA can act like a giant vacuum cleaner, sucking in signals/communications from around the globe. NSA has a variety of platforms for collecting this intelligence. Some are in space, some are in the air, and some on the ground. Even with massive computer power, however, the NSA collection effort does not automatically produce usable intelligence. Conversations in Arabic or Chinese have to be translated before they can be used by analysts.
NSA collection is not a one time event. With each passing minute the NSA is gathering a bigger pile of info. If you don’t exploit that information it is useless. Don’t be surprised to discover that most of the info collected by the NSA is never exploited.
NSA can also do very precise, specific collection. The ideal scenario is to know when a person of interest (aka a target) is going to be talking on a phone, or at a meeting, or on a computer. If you have those details then the act of intercepting a conversation is a piece of cake. Unfortunately the U.S. Government rarely gets such tidbits.
It would also be useful to have the phone numbers and emails used by known bad guys. The President and his spinners have said that this is in fact one of the sources they are using to launch the NSA domestic surveillance activity. But even this explanation does not hold water. Why? Because if you have phone numbers/emails that were used by known terrorists there is not a FISA judge in the history of the program who would deny the Government a chance to find out what the terrorist pen pals were doing.
So what is Bush up to? I see at least two possibilities. First, they may be allowing unfettered data mining on domestic targets without probable cause. An old fashioned “fishing” trip. You cast out a net and pull it in, picking over the contents, and hoping you snared the oyster with the big pearl. This nonsense works in a Tom Clancy novel but not in the real world. Even with the most robust computer power you have no simple way to find “actionable intelligence”.
Second, the source of the intel tips is tainted. If you are generating leads from persons being held in secret prisons or if the info is obtained thru torture, then it makes it difficult to make a truthful declaration before a judge. Why not lie to the FISA court? That’s called perjury. I suspect this explains the real motive for the refusal of the Bush Administration to go the FISA route.
We are asked to accept on faith that this program is working wonders. Really? Then where is the proof. Where are the arrested terrorist suspects? Has even a single person in the United States been taken into custody because of this info? I believe the answer is no. At a minimum, the heads of the House and Senate intel committees should have been briefed on the successes, if there were any. The White House is silent on this issue for one simple reason–they don’t have the goods. And, oh, by the way; Osama Bin Laden is still on the loose.
It is essential, therefore, that President Bush be held accountable by the Congress and the Judiciary. He is not a King. He is not unilaterally empowered to decided what is right and wrong. He is not entitled to use his own best judgment to determine which parts of the Constitution are acceptable or archaic. He is supposed to protect and defend it, not trash it.
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Larry C. Johnson is CEO and co-founder of BERG Associates, LLC, an international business-consulting firm that helps corporations and governments manage threats posed by terrorism and money laundering. Mr. Johnson, who worked previously with the Central Intelligence Agency and U.S. State Department’s Office of Counter Terrorism (as a Deputy Director), is a recognized expert in the fields of terrorism, aviation security, crisis and risk management. Mr. Johnson has analyzed terrorist incidents for a variety of media including the Jim Lehrer News Hour, National Public Radio, ABC’s Nightline, NBC’s Today Show, the New York Times, CNN, Fox News, and the BBC. Mr. Johnson has authored several articles for publications, including Security Management Magazine, the New York Times, and The Los Angeles Times. He has lectured on terrorism and aviation security around the world. Further bio details.
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Third possibility:
The results of that spying…or even more likely, the very TARGETS of it…are entirely political in nature.
A gigantic, techno version of the Nixonian “enemies list”.
j.edgar v.2f
AG
4. A warrant leaves a paper trail. Bush may not want anyone ever being able to find out, in the future, who he has been spying on.
The powerful NSA usurped for political trolling would be a Rovian dream.
Folks wondered how 2002 and 2004 looked like the R’s knew what we were doing before WE knew what we were doing.
The “enemy” as everyone calls it is not some pack of esoteric clerics reduced to the hinterlands of Afghanistan and Pakistan. No, Dubya’s and thus Rove’s “enemies” have names like John Kerry, Max Cleland, and so on.
The NSA was usurped for political gain, it would have absolutely irresistible for Rove.
That’s two strikes on Rove, I’m betting…..one for Valerie Plame, and one for misuse of the NSA. does Rove still have a security clearance, and if so, why?
Rove does NOT “dream”.
Rove creates new realities.
He is all OVER the NSA.
Or if not that particular segment of the PermaGov, an equivalent and even MORE secret one.
Or…some PART of the NSA.
BET on it.
AG
Yes, if there’s a clandestine agency using technology that we know about, there is a more secret group using tools we can only imagine.
OF COURSE they’re spying on their politial enemies.
And potential enemies. And allies who can’t really be trusted. And each other just in case. This is a bunch of Nixonian and Neo-Nixonian crooks who’s goal is to acquire, consolidate and hold power. They don’t give a damn about terrorism, expect as a propaganda tool to keep the masses frightened and distracted. This perpetual war on a technique is a calculated rationale for totalitarianism. Have we learned nothing from the reigns of Hitler, Stalin, and Mao ? Choose an enemy, build them up as a threat, round people up (the more ramdomly and secretly the better, to reinforce the idea that anybody could be One Of Them, and to ensure a fear induced orthodoxy), employ agents provocateurs, and manufacture atrocities that justify retaliation and stricter controls.
Why are we falling for the same old crap AGAIN ?
Don’t we teach HISTORY or POLITICAL SCIENCE any more ? No, wait, I remember now; when my daughter was in school she hated history because it had nothing to do with her. I had to “suppliment” her mind-pap, jingoistic, God-Bless-America education before she learned to love history.
I know I’m rambling, but it all goes together; the dumbed down masses, rapacious capitalism, consumerism, debt, poverty as policy, vistim blaming, racism, sexism, religious fanaticism, war, government of the corporations, by the corporations, and for the corporations, a tame, paper trained media, and fear, lots of fear.
Yes .. what are they hiding… ? I agree that the uses of wiretapping have been put to not only illegal use but even immoral in terms of the politization of the NSA.
This nation has been led down a totalitarian path and now we’re having difficulty seeing which way is up. The old media is no help .. in fact they delight in obscuring the truth. Our only means of restoring the health of the country is another revoultion. It will begin here on the progressive blogs.
We’re fighting for our lives.
I pray it will non violent.
He’s running a corporation rather than govering a country. It’s literally nobody’s business what he’s doing or how he’s doing it.
Because it’s a corporation he’s running, my guess is that the big collective harm he’s causing is in two areas.
That’s another offshoot of the NSA trolling.
Insider tips would have created great opportunities for Bush loyalists to pad their wallets. Further, this would have been untraceable.
Political and corporate “rewards.” What a strong temptation to go “Phhhhtttt” to America and it’s principles.
It’s not even a corporation. The Bush regime is a Cult!
There’s another dimension here that might be in play.
Just as it is often the case that torturers often “forget to ask the questions” once they start inflictingpain on their victims; just as thieves very often steal things without regard to whether they need those things or not, so too megalomaniacs craving power often seize it even when they have no demonstrably specific need for it.
In short, lunatics often do things, even horrible things, just because they can, not because they’re able to extract any practical benefit from those actions.
This is not to say that tyrannical types like Cheney & Co. don’t recognize the tactical benefits of spying on their opponents. But if they’re not rounding up Al Qaeda affiliates or journalists or those dangerous Quaker anti-war people or outspoken, uppity Democrats, then what is the purpose of this whole scheme but to intimidate with the threat of future action if and when they finally decide to impose martial law on America?
So, if they can scare people into blind obedience, their task of domination is much easier. Cults of all sorts operate this way, and if nothing else is clear about the Bush/Cheney regime, it is a group whose structure is completely built upon cultic dynamics of deception, the inculcation of fear, the weaponization of ignorance, and the exploitation of every human vulnerability.
Interesting, thought-provoking diary. Interesting comments.
I love Booman Tribune.
I applaud your sentiments wholeheartedly, Larry.
My question to you is, should the intelligence agencies also be subject to the law? As I’m sure you know, since the creation of the CIA, many of its operations are accountable to no one but the very few in the loop. Congressional oversight only works if the CIA fesses up to what it’s doing, and many times in the past, they have not.
I was rereading today “The Invisible Government” (published in 1964), a chilling expose of an intelligence community running operations unanswerable to any normal chain of command. As I read it, I couldn’t help thinking, plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose (the more things change, the more they remain the same.)
Thoughts?
I strongly suspect that in the frantic days after 9/11 they just decided to turn the giant vacuum cleaner on for all “foreign” calls. But it’s probably not that easy to turn on the giant Hoover without getting a mix of domestic and foreign calls, and their ability quickly screen which calls are NOT to be retained is so limited that they just keep all of it and throw it all into a big data mining operation. I agree that the NSA’s ability to find actionable leads in this is very questionable, but it’s a wonderful way to monitor public figures.
What really got us into this mess was the Bush WH totally dropping the ball on terrorism for over a year after they took over. They obviously had plenty of warning signs that SOMETHING was going to happen, but handling it just wasn’t on the agenda so shit happened. Afterward, these guys decided the ends justify the means and are willing to ignore the Constitution to “smoke him out of his hole”, except that, well, they’ve FAILED.
Thank God Bush is STRONG on defense. I’d hate to see the things he sucks at, because I cannot imagine a lower level of incompetence than he’s shown on DEFENSE.
You say
I saw somewhere not too long ago (but cannot find a link) a comment/report to the effect that Cheney sent a Clancy book to, I think, a general as a suggestion for planning military strategy. This 2002 story from The Nation
on Cheney’s “Nightmare of Peace” is instructive.
Also, there have been reports, although minimal and not followed up by media, that the illegal spying began almost immediately after the present administration took office. That, to me, argues strongly for its being about spying on political figures and potential citizen leaders. Because this crowd operates to instill fear and to exert control.
Larry,
Your post assumes that the Buah administration is using NSA to spy on terrorists. What if it is being used to spy on domestic political opponents, for political purposes that have no connection to National Security.
Are they using the NSA capabilities for Republican Party Security or Bush/Cheney personal security instead of National Security? Because the FISA Court seems unlikely to approve those wiretaps or searchs either.
Of COURSE they are.
if you were them…as unscrupulous a bunch as has ever infested this government (A FACT, proven many times over…) wouldn’t YOU use it?
Can yiu imagine them saying “Well.,..we’ll subsidize Enron; we’ll lie our asses of tp get into Iraq; we’ll smear Max Cleland and John Kerry and John McCain…but use the NSA for political purposes? HEAVENS, no!!! THAT would be IMMORAL!!!”
Give me a break…
AG
My point is that Larry’s Diary assumes that they are not doing this.
Most Americans are not yet ready to accept that our government has been taken over by an immoral mafia organization that will sacrifice any American “values” or lives for their own gain.
Even with the media beginning to publish the evidence [Newsweek] most Americans are not willing to accept what is right there in front of all of us. They still think that it is probably just a few rogue elements.
It’s not just rogue elements. It is a Republican Party coup-de-etate and we are watching it work its way through the entire American government.
The diary, as informative as it is, assumes this is not the case.
“The diary, as informative as it is, assumes this is not the case. “
Well…yttes.
I like much of what Mr. Johnson has posted here on this website, but we must always remember…he spent years as part of the Secret Government, and even if he has TOTALLY seen the light, his “seeing” must still be tempered by his previous experience.
For good OR for not so good.
As is the case with all of us.
It is the freedom to apply widely different experiential vectors to the problems at hand that make the whole blog experience so valuable. Those vectors will push problems in a truly democratic manner towards their multi-sighted conclusions.
That’s the theory, anyway…and short of governmental meddling, be it overt or covert, that theory will WORK if we keep up the effort.
That’s my take on it, anyway.
Later…
AG
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Animals of prey are not satisfied until it gets to the bone. Watching Joe Biden on CNN’s Wolf Blitzer Late Edition, Joe didn’t attack the Chairman Intelligence Cte Pat Roberts believing in a result, but Joe, as so many Democrats just doesn’t believe a strong argument will persuade the viewer. It shows, the viewer will see it as early surrender to the repugs roaming the Hill with impunity.
Haven’t seen the combination with the John Bolton NSA Intercepts and the refusal of the White House to hand over the specifics in the John Bolton – John Negroponte – Gen. Michael Hayden – David Wurmser alternate intelligence group.
John Bolton & NSA Intercepts: The Connection That Mattered Was International
The Huffington Post by Steve Clemons – Jan. 4, 2006
Of the ten intercepts that Bolton requested to know the identities of 18 American individuals whose identities had been redacted, we know that two of the intercepts were based on international communications.
One of these transcripts was leaked to Douglas Jehl of the New York Times and had to do with American corporate activity in China. Another of these intercepts — or at least the contents of such — came the way of TWN and dealt with American policy towards Libya. The name of the individual requested by Bolton was then Assistant Secretary for Near East Affairs William Burns.
In all of my discussions with people about these intercepts, none — other than the Richardson/North Korea matter which might have been monitored domestically — ever had a “domestic spying” dimension to it.
The names that most suspected of being on the roster of names requested by Bolton might have been John Wolf, Richard Armitage, William Burns, and others. Or, they might have been names we simply do not know, and which would not be easily recognized except by those familiar with working staff inside the national security and diplomatic bureaucracy.
In my view, Bolton was spying on his colleagues.
June 1, 2005 — Doug Jehl, however, confirms something TWN had previously reported — that Senator Roberts and Rockefeller did not see the actual intercepts but rather reviewed digested accounts of them. They also received none of the 19 U.S. officials’ names that Bolton had requested from the NSA and been granted access to.
“But I will not let myself be reduced to silence.”
▼ ▼ ▼ MY DIARY
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NSA Intercepts for Bolton masked as “training exercise”
In the case of Bolton and other Bush administration hard liners, the material in question was not deleted and was transmitted in raw intercept form to external agencies for clearly political purposes. A violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and USSID 18, which only allows such raw training mission intercepts to be transmitted when evidence of criminal activity is uncovered during the training mission. Unlike signals intelligence (SIGINT) data stored in the “Anchory” (formerly known as the SIGINT On-line Intelligence System or “SOLIS”) database, training intercepts are completely off-the-books.
In the case of raw intercepts provided to Bolton and others, the NSA and its Signals Intelligence Directorate (SID) can claim “plausible deniability” in stating that only “official” intercept transcripts were provided to users outside the agency. Because they are to be destroyed after completion of training missions, the training intercepts do not appear in any agency logs and cannot be obtained by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee unless they are subpoenaed directly from Bolton and his colleagues.
HAYDEN INTERNAL NSA MEMO
From an internal FOUO NSA document from 2003 written by Hayden. Hayden indicates that SIGINT was responsible for Bush administration pre-Iraq war demarches at the UN. This is clear proof that Hayden was working hand-in-hand with Negroponte, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Bolton and other war hawks and that the order to bug the UN Security Council by NSA came from the highest levels in the Bush administration …
Intelligence strategy used world-wide, used by both CIA and Mossad: play both sides. Mossad support for Hamas to offset the Palestinian base for Arafat’s Fatah movement. Mossad funding of the Baader Meinhoff terror and Rote Armee Faction in Germany, to learn of intelligence in European PLO circles and to assassinate its members in the revenge for Munich 1972 hijack.
Another indication is masking of covert action by a “training exercise” as was seen on 911 with NORAD and in the Washington area. Not surprising a “training exercise” was held on July 7 in London at the timing of the quadruple metro “suicide bombing”. MI5 is left emptyhanded for clues or evidence to explain how, why and what persons or organizations were involved. This leaves a lot of room for speculation that a foreign intelligence service was involved, which is well organized and cleans up loose ends.
Same can be said for the Beirut bombing and assassination of Rafik Hariri, the bombing area was nor preserved to gather evidence for the primary forensic investigation.
In simple practise to cover up information available on the Internet, operations are obscured by usage of duplicate terms or readily common names to make mining of data more difficult. One example that comes to mind is the Croatian pipeline of illegal arms trafficking by U.S. and coalition members during U.N. embargo on Bosnia and states involved in the Balkan wars. A new oil pipeline today as referred to as: “Croatian pipeline“.
“But I will not let myself be reduced to silence.”
▼ ▼ ▼ MY DIARY