Now let’s see if I’ve got this straight. . .
- FISA Court has been around since the late 70’s, and works some of the time
- BUT - with FISA provisions/rules intact to safeguard civil liberties - national intel agencies missed catching/preventing the attacks on the Twin Towers TWICE (1993 & 2001 - doubt those who died would share Congress’ privacy concerns over safety/defense of our country and citizens)
- inability to ‘connect the dots’ by intel agencies before 9/11 led Congress to correct past mistakes (unintended consequences) of limiting intel agencies ability to effectively obtain available intelligence
THEN,
- Bad (or faulty) intelligence (but the best available nonetheless) led the President and Congress to go to war with Saddam Hussein’s Iraq (right decision based on info available at the time, but turned out to be wrong - or at least questionable - decision once better knowledge of the facts became known (hindsight - always 20/20)
- Congress now locked in a political battle of will(s) with President because we’re in a war that takes a lot of money that they’d rather spend on social programs. Congress wants out of Iraq, absolutely does not want to deal with Iran, and has no confidence in the administration’s intelligence analysis
- Iran’s President is ‘transparent’ in his goals and defies all international efforts to rein in his nuclear program. (If he reminds anyone of Adolph Hitler . . . well, duh!)
NOW,
- Congress wants to roll back the law they passed only a few months ago that actually gives our intel agencies the tools and ability they need to better find out what our enemies are plotting. Congress wants to return to the bad old days when we gave our enemies a ‘pass’ to plan our destruction with impunity.
AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO SEES THE INSANITY OF THIS???
If Congress passes the “Restore Act - H.R. 3773). We go back to the days when the civil rights of terrorists to make private phone calls trumps protecting Americans from violent attack and adds insult to injury by prosecuting the men and women who are trying to defend us if they listen in! This is absolutely nuts!
We should hold every member of Congress who votes for this bill personally accountable and liable for damages when (not 'if') the next terrorist attack occurs, especially if this could have been prevented by electronic surveillance!
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3 comments:
Benjamin Franklin is credited with writing: "Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." Is what Benjamin Franklin said still valid today?
I don't give up any liberty by allowing our Intelligence Community intercept terrorist phone calls. In fact, as a US citizen, making a call in the US to another US citizen, the IC is forbidden from listening to me, because it is assumed I am a US citizen - therefore they must not listen. FISA isn't about listening to me. It's about listening to known terrorists who are here in the US talking to overseas terrorists.
I haven't given up any liberty.
Ben Franklin was a bright man, but I'd hardly tie my fate and the fate of my country in the 21st century to a 225 year old quote.
Well written article.
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