US probes eavesdropping leak
The U.S. Justice Department has launched an investigation to determine who disclosed a secret NSA eavesdropping operation approved by President George W. Bush after the September 11 attacks, officials said on Friday.
"We are opening an investigation into the unauthorized disclosure of classified materials related to the NSA," one official said.
Earlier this month Bush acknowledged the program and called its disclosure to The New York Times () "a shameful act." He said he presumed a Justice Department leak investigation into who disclosed the National Security Agency eavesdropping operation would get under way.
Justice Department officials would give no details of who requested the probe or how it would be conducted.
(I wonder if it's against the law to leak a secret operation that isn't legal to begin with. I think the legality of what the president ordered should be determined before wasting time/money finding out who divulged what they were doing. eaprez)
posted by EAPrez @ 11:47 AM
1 Comments
1 Comments:
Whether the Times' source actually broke the law is secondary to the public service they performed in releasing the information and subsequently forcing a debate on how much power should be given the president to fight the war on terrorism. How much of our civil liberities will we compromise in order to feel safe and secure? It is vital that we have that debate now, before another 9/11 because if there is another catastrophic attack on America, the debate will be over for good.
Whether someone broke the law is also secondary to the government's reason for starting another leak investigation. The real intent, it appears, is to once again try to cast a chill on the media's reporting of how the Bush administration is conducting the war on terrorism. The Bush administration hates the press about as much as it hates criticism of and dissent from its policies and practices. The attempt to criminalize dissent is a threat to the freedom the war on terrorism is suppose to protect. Fortunately, the media — at least for now — has the Constitution on its side. That's more than Bush can say on many days.
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