Freeper Challenge: Explain how revealing illegal wiretapping hurt security

[StefanX]

Atrios: "No one has yet managed to explain how revealing that the administration illegally spies on American citizens without obtaining warrants, instead of legally spying on people after obtaining such warrants, damages national security.

"Anyone?"

<crickets...>

http://atrios.blogspot.com/2006_01_01_atrios_archive.html#113647758285096010

[Ezlivin]

1. You don't have the "need to know"

We're at war.

Everything this government does is now classified.

You don't have sufficient clearance or the need to know.

Case closed.

:sarcasm:

[Supersedeas]

2. Direct - intelligible - and never to be forwarded by the Corporate Media

[BushOut06]

3. Okay, I'll bite

Here's their basic argument: revealing the illegal wiretapping hurts national security because it lets the terrorists know we're listening to their calls.

However, this argument is sheer folly. This assumes the terrorists are too dumb to assume their calls are being monitored in the first place. Does anyone really think that terrorists are going to discuss their plans over an unsecure line?

[Dr.Phool]

4. Yeah, I used to know a lot of gangsters and such 25 years ago.

Even the dumbest ones assumed that just about any phone they used was bugged. They never even used the same pay phones very often. I knew one guy who even had a encrypted scrambler phone (very high tech back then), and assumed that it wasn't foolproof.

It's all a smokescreen to throw people off the real story.

[StefanX]

5. No good... the question is about revealing ILLEGAL wiretapping

The terrorists already knew we wer LEGALLY listening to their calls.

Now they know we're doing it ILLEGALLY... without a warrant.

Conservatives have CLAIMED that this information helps the terrorists. But they haven't offered an explanation of HOW it helps them.

[BushOut06]

6. Hey, I didn't say it was a smart argument

But that's pretty much what I've heard from every freeper and neocon when they are defending the illegal wiretaps. "Now the terrorists know we're listening to them".

[Felix Mala]

7. It gives them more ammo for defending themselves when Iraq

finally gets sucked down the coming black hole... i.e. liberal "leakers" undercut our war effort... counting and naming our fallen soldiers undercut our war effort... investigations of CIA leaks undercut our war effort...

Remember, the big issue that gave rise to Nazism were all the "reasons" the Jews were responsible for Germany losing WWI. The Neo-cons are going to need similar arguments to keep their (bowel) movement going after the Iraq plan fails.