Posted on 12/18/2005 7:21:35 PM PST by doesnt suffer fools gladly
Clinton NSA Eavesdropped on U.S. Calls
During the 1990's under President Clinton, the National Security Agency monitored millions of private phone calls placed by U.S. citizens and citizens of other countries under a super secret program code-named Echelon.
On Friday, the New York Times suggested that the Bush administration has instituted "a major shift in American intelligence-gathering practices" when it "secretly authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans and others inside the United States to search for evidence of terrorist activity without [obtaining] court-approved warrants."
But in fact, the NSA had been monitoring private telephone conversations on a much larger scale throughout the 1990s - all of it done without a court order, let alone a catalyst like the 9/11 attacks.
In February 2000, for instance, CBS "60 Minutes" correspondent Steve Kroft introduced a report on the Clinton-era spy program by noting:
"If you made a phone call today or sent an e-mail to a friend, there's a good chance what you said or wrote was captured and screened by the country's largest intelligence agency. The top-secret Global Surveillance Network is called Echelon, and it's run by the National Security Agency."
NSA computers, said Kroft, "capture virtually every electronic conversation around the world."
Echelon expert Mike Frost, who spent 20 years as a spy for the Canadian equivalent of the National Security Agency, told "60 Minutes" that the agency was monitoring "everything from data transfers to cell phones to portable phones to baby monitors to ATMs."
Mr. Frost detailed activities at one unidentified NSA installation, telling "60 Minutes" that agency operators "can listen in to just about anything" - while Echelon computers screen phone calls for key words that might indicate a terrorist threat.
The "60 Minutes" report also spotlighted Echelon critic, then-Rep. Bob Barr, who complained that the project as it was being implemented under Clinton "engages in the interception of literally millions of communications involving United States citizens."
One Echelon operator working in Britain told "60 Minutes" that the NSA had even monitored and tape recorded the conversations of the late Sen. Strom Thurmond.
Still, the Times repeatedly insisted on Friday that the NSA surveillance under Bush had been unprecedented, at one point citing anonymously an alleged former national security official who claimed: "This is really a sea change. It's almost a mainstay of this country that the NSA only does foreign searches."
In response, Sen. Harry Reid stated: "But that's not what we're talking about!"
If there is a pile of sh*t, the Dems will step on it.
Backstabbing, America-hating, communist, atheist, liars that they are!!!
Holy Moley! Does the MSM know about this?
Great Post
bttt
Come, come....a few of them are not atheists....
OUCH, That's gonna leave a mark :-)
Well, well, well! Good find!
Paging the warriors
I remember "Jam Echelon" sessions, back in the day, during the Clinton era.
Great find; thanks for posting.
OK. There are a few.
Well, this news certainly makes what Bush has done OK. I feel so much better now.
It's only "news" if a Republican does it, or allows it to continue....
"....under President Clinton, the National Security Agency...."
Sandy Berger, Clinton's Nat'l Security Advisor led the agancy......recently stole highly classified (code named, I think) documents relevant to the 9!! Commission "investigation from the Nat'l Archives.
I'm so glad this has finally been brought up! The scary thing -- look at who was in power (and look at the number of IRS audits).
bttt
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