Posted on 10/15/2007 9:32:09 AM PDT by Truth29
'WIRE' LAW FAILED LOST GI
10-HOUR DELAY AS FEDS SOUGHT TAP TO TRACK JIMENEZ CAPTORS IN IRAQ
October 15, 2007 -- WASHINGTON - U.S. intelligence officials got mired for nearly 10 hours seeking approval to use wiretaps against al Qaeda terrorists suspected of kidnapping Queens soldier Alex Jimenez in Iraq earlier this year, The Post has learned.
(snip)
Sometime before dawn, heavily armed al Qaeda gunmen quietly cut through the tangles of concertina wire surrounding the outpost of two Humvees and made a massive and coordinated surprise attack. Four of the soldiers were killed on the spot and three others were taken hostage.
A search to rescue the men was quickly launched. But it soon ground to a halt as lawyers - obeying strict U.S. laws about surveillance - cobbled together the legal grounds for wiretapping the suspected kidnappers. Starting at 10 a.m. on May 15, according to a timeline provided to Congress by the director of national intelligence, lawyers for the National Security Agency met and determined that special approval from the attorney general would be required first. For an excruciating nine hours and 38 minutes, searchers in Iraq waited as U.S. lawyers discussed legal issues and hammered out the "probable cause" necessary for the attorney general to grant such "emergency" permission. Finally, approval was granted and, at 7:38 that night, surveillance began.
"The intelligence community was forced to abandon our soldiers because of the law," a senior congressional staffer with access to the classified case told The Post.
(snip)
The body of one was found a few weeks later in the Euphrates River and the terror group Islamic State of Iraq - an al Qaeda offshoot - later claimed in a video that Jimenez and the third soldier had been executed and buried.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Did Harry Reid stand up and say, “WE GOT A SOLDIER KILLED!” to a round of leftist applause?
This is what happens when their whinging and moaning is heeded.
We need lawyers to conduct surveillance in a war zone ?
Also known as the Terrorist Rights Preservation Act.
I read this in the NY Post earlier today. Sad they had their heads up their butts while the poor guy was being tortured.
This begs the question since it is all legal based:
Can the family of these soldiers sue congress for interfering with the war?????
Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper
If this does not set real Americans to steaming, IT GODDAMNED WELL SHOULD!
I am effing THROUGH with playing polite pussyfoot with liberals. I am throwing my full support behind Americans like Ann Coulter, the biting vituperation she heaps on them is richly deserved.
I am sick of this crap.
We are no longer a serious country.
..who, besides FOX, will even mention it?
Good God - this is sheer stupidity.
Why on earth would we need any authorization crapola in Iraq??? Isn’t tracking and listening in on the enemy part of fighting a fracking WAR???????????????????
arghh the dems make me sick.
I mean top/center of the fold, rather than page 43?
This is the first I'm hearing about it....
Hey, in the age of the internet, who needs the MSM? :) Some blogs have been following this, too.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.