New York terror plot said to justify wiretaps

[sabra]

http://www.wpherald.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20060619-124811-3332r

New York terror plot said to justify wiretaps

WASHINGTON -- The Chairman of the U.S. Senate intelligence committee said Sunday that reports of a planned cyanide gas attack on the New York subway system showed the need for continued warrantless surveillance of suspected terrorists.
...

Two U.S. officials confirmed the main elements of the story to United Press International Sunday. But in public, officials cautiously declined to comment in detail.

Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, told CNN only that "the intelligence committee is briefed on these kinds of threats. I would simply say that we've had a briefing."

But Roberts said the report showed the need for the administration's program of warrantless surveillance of electronic communications from terror suspects into and out of the United States.
...

"It points up, once again, the value of the terrorist surveillance program, the NSA program that's been in the news so much," Roberts told CNN. "We are able to detect and deter and stop such attacks."

[Tanuki]

1. Then how come

Homeland Security is cutting funds for protecting NYC (aside from the obvious fact that they vote Dem.)?

[acmavm]

2. continued warrantless surveillance of suspected terrorists

<snip>

But they snoop on us all.

[flyarm]

3. i am laughing.,..sick laugh..oh but homeland security cut ny funding 40%

what a crock of shit!!

and homeland security wouldn't take the thousands of letters from NY'ers..when the fuck are people going to wake the hell up???????????

what a fucking joke!

and NJ gets cut by homeland security...and Pa gets cut...would the people in the midwest wake the fuck up????????????????

we NY'ers and Nj people are not scared..we are fucking pissed off!

wake up America!!!!!!!!!

fly

p.s.
no intention to be angry at any DU'ers..i am not and this is not meant for you...you are doing your jobs as American citizens..this is meant for the dumb assed freepers who read this..and support this fucking bullshit!

hey chicken shit freeepers... go fuck yourselves! what a disgrace you are to this nation!

[babylonsister]

4. "We are able to detect and deter and stop such attacks."

Yeah, sure. They knew nothing about this until after the fact and they were wiretapping then. Who's Roberts trying to fool?

[TomInTib]

5. So we know the details but not the actors?

This smells really bad.

So who was making the calls, Roberts?

[Mz Pip]

6. And going through the FISA Court

would have prevented this how, exactly?

Good, I'm glad such attacks are stopped, but I have see no justification for wiretapping without a warrant. They are NOT mutually exclusive.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[NYC]

7. FISA warrants are routinely granted.

Keep reminding people. That is the key.

[IndyJones]

16. Exactly my thoughts. This is no real justification.

[DBoon]

8. with all these wiretaps, have they fond the anthrax poisoner yet?

nt

[lapfog_1]

9. 'Cause, you know, there's just NO WAY to tap the phones

of people getting phone calls from Zawahiri telling them to call of the attack because it just doesn't measure up to 9/11... those FISA court judges just won't allow that.

BTW, the whole "not a big enough thing so we shouldn't do it" just smells really bad.

:sarcasm:

[aquart]

10. Someone from KANSAS is using New York?

Yet the representatives of New York do not find it so. Funny how the people in danger ain't impressed by this malarkey.

What a load of crap they're trying to shovel.

[endarkenment]

11. Uh, um, wait one goldarned minute there Roberts.

If we are to believe the report then al qaeda called the attack off because it wasn't going to be 'big enough'. Our fabulous domestic spying program did not bust up some 'terra' cell hell bent of murder and mayhem. I missing the part where scrapping our liberties for false security actually made us any safer.

I find it ironic that the freewheeling boomer generation's legacy to our nation's history will be the abolition of the basic liberties enshrined in the founding documents under the banner of keeping america safe from bogeymen of every imaginable flavor.

[benEzra]

19. Sad but true...

I find it ironic that the freewheeling boomer generation's legacy to our nation's history will be the abolition of the basic liberties enshrined in the founding documents under the banner of keeping america safe from bogeymen of every imaginable flavor.

Sad but true. Very well put.

[rodeodance]

12. drats--of course Roberts would bounce on this one!

[quiet.american]

13. Does ANYONE with a brain believe this B.S.? n/t

[struggle4progress]

14. World Peace Herald is a publication of "I'm the Messiah" Moon

[HuffleClaw]

15. 'reports' ?

using their own bullshit propaganda to justify their criminal acts now ?

[krkaufman]

17. So then Roberts has disclosed that we learned of the attack...

... through warrantless spying?

Right; we didn't. Warrantless spying had nothing to do with learning of this attack.

[denverbill]

18. We need to track everyone then, esp. right-wing hate groups.

After all, Timothy McVeigh could have just as easily planned a cyanide gas attack on the NY subway.

If we don't let the government take away our rights, how will they protect us?

I, for one, think the federal government should be allowed to rummage through every American's home on a daily basis, looking for anything suspicious...explosives, missiles, cyanide making materials, guns, knives, marijuana, PC games loaded to multiple computers, illegally copied music, fake designer jeans, evidence of an abortion or gay sex, pornography, books like 'On Liberty' and 'The Origin of Species', and other terrorist related materials. That's the only way to ensure our safety and the survival of our way of life.