[Mb-civic] Bush Defends Spying Program As 'Necessary' to Protect U.S. - Washington Post

[William Swiggard]

Bush Defends Spying Program As 'Necessary' to Protect U.S.
But President Acknowledges Civil Liberties Concerns

By Lisa Rein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, January 2, 2006; A02

President Bush today mounted his third defense in two weeks of his 
secret domestic spying program, calling his order authorizing 
warrantless eavesdropping on U.S. citizens a limited, legal program that 
Americans understand is protecting their security.

Taking questions from reporters after a brief stop at an Army hospital 
in San Antonio to visit wounded troops, the president acknowledged 
concerns that monitoring overseas telephone calls and e-mails of 
citizens with suspected ties to terrorism may violate civil liberties. 
But he called his directive to the National Security Agency (NSA) after 
the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks "vital and necessary" to protect 
the country.

"This is a limited program designed to prevent attacks on the United 
States of America, and I repeat limited," Bush said before flying back 
to Washington after six days cloistered on his ranch in Crawford, Tex. 
"I think most Americans understand the need to find out what the enemy's 
thinking.

"If somebody from al Qaeda is calling you, we'd like to know why."

The president's first public comments of the new year after no public 
appearances last week offered a glimpse into how his administration 
intends to deflect congressional inquiries into his authorization of 
wiretaps on terrorism suspects -- with a vigorous defense of the program 
as a matter of national security. Bush acknowledged in a live radio 
address last month that he authorized the four-year-old surveillance 
program and defended it as "critical to saving American lives," a tool 
to prevent another attack on U.S. soil. Two days later, he defended the 
legality of domestic spying in a lengthy year-end news conference at the 
White House.

"It seems logical to me that if we know there's a phone number 
associated with al Qaeda or an al Qaeda affiliate and they're making 
phone calls, it makes sense to find out why," Bush said at the Brooke 
Army Medical Center, where he met with about 50 wounded soldiers, 
Marines and airmen and their families. He also awarded nine Purple 
Hearts to troops who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. "They attacked us 
before, they'll attack us again."

The NSA is empowered to monitor international telephone calls and 
e-mails of U.S. citizens and residents without the warrant usually 
required by a secret foreign intelligence court. Government officials 
have said that hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of people have been 
under surveillance.

Questions about whether Bush overstepped his constitutional authority 
and violated a law intended to prevent the government from spying on its 
citizens without court approval are likely to be central to hearings 
planned this month by lawmakers, who stepped up their criticism today.

Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said he supports a Senate investigation 
into who leaked classified information on the spying program. But he 
said the issue of whether the president skirted the law when he embarked 
on the program is more important than who leaked the information.

Schumer said today that he has sent a letter to Senate Judiciary 
Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) calling on him to request 
testimony from Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, White House Chief 
of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr. and former attorney general John D. 
Ashcroft. Specter, who has expressed "grave" doubts about the program, 
has vowed to conduct hearings this month.

"I hope the White House won't hide behind saying, 'Oh, executive 
privilege, we can't discuss this,' " Schumer said on "Fox News Sunday." 
"That's the wrong attitude."

Along with the Senate, the Justice Department announced last week that 
it has opened a criminal investigation into disclosures about the 
domestic wiretaps, revealed last month by the New York Times. Today, 
Bush said the leaks could cause "great harm" to the United States. 
"There's an enemy out there."

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), speaking on Fox, agreed that finding out 
who leaked details of the spying program is crucial "because whoever 
leaked this information has done the U.S. and its national security a 
great disservice."

But he said the investigation may be more appropriately handled by the 
Senate Intelligence Committee, where many discussions are held behind 
closed doors. "We're talking about this entirely too much out in public 
as a result of these leaks and it's endangering our efforts to make 
Americans more secure," McConnell said.

In Texas, Bush dodged a question about whether he was aware of any 
resistance to the spying program by high-ranking Justice officials and 
whether those concerns may have influenced his decision to approve it.

He said the Justice Department and members of Congress have reviewed the 
program and continue to have oversight. He said he believes he is acting 
within in law.

"The NSA program is one that listens to a few numbers called from the 
outside of the United States of known al Qaeda or affiliated people," he 
said.

The White House later clarified that the program monitors both incoming 
and outgoing calls.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/01/AR2006010100428.html?nav=hcmodule
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