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What The Telecoms Are Afraid Of
A little more from that Wall Street Journal piece:
The White House wants to give companies that assist government surveillance immunity from lawsuits alleging an invasion of privacy, but Democrats in Congress have been blocking it. The Terrorist Surveillance Program has spurred 38 lawsuits against companies. Current and former intelligence officials say telecom companies' concern comes chiefly because they are giving the government unlimited access to a copy of the flow of communications, through a network of switches at U.S. telecommunications hubs that duplicate all the data running through it. It isn't clear whether the government or telecom companies control the switches, but companies process some of the data for the NSA, the current and former officials say.
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Josh
Zachary
Please.
The reason for Telecom Immunity is that Bush and the NSA were spying on the American people in March of 2001, well before 9/11.
It was for political reasons (think about Nixon and Hoover), I'd guess, because terrorism was not on Bush's radar at the time, or he wouldn't have blown off the CIA when the told him "Bin Laden determined to strike inside the United States".
If the Dems must cave (because they knew about the later spying - which was still illegal) on immunity, at least limit it to actions taken After 9/11!!!!!
March 10, 2008 12:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
We still don't know what the NSA and telecoms were really doing. There are additional disclosures today. Are the telecoms really asking for immunity for the the other things they didn't get warrants for, nor coordinate with the FISA court; and what else have the telecoms and NSA agreed to in secret?
It's unclear why the telecoms and NSA refused to fully coordinate with the FISA Court: What were they really hoping for; and did they not trust the judicial branch to exercise oversight? It is irrelevant the President and NSA do not trust the judicial branch: It is part of the US government.
March 10, 2008 2:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
I've been shouting this for a while, but this is all so the administration can protect it's ass for 9/11 liability.
March 10, 2008 10:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
I am not going to count on it yet - but the House seems to actually be standing up for the constitution and is not giving in on telecom immunity.
I think this shows two things - Pelosi has a bigger majority and is a better leader than Reid. Also - some democrats are actually taking astand. there has been NO security lapse and we don't need amnesty for illegal spying - I say prosecute the criminals to the full extent of the law and reward the companies that did NOT comply with illegal government orders (Qwest).
March 11, 2008 2:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Perhaps the election of Democrat Bill Foster in a safe Republican seat has given the House some courage. Courage is defined as getting re-elected safely.
No doubt the telecommunications companies hire very good lawyers as they are involved in many legal hassles. Consequently, i doubt they did their spying without reassurances from Bush people that the companies would not be liable. Hence Bush's insistence on immunity from everything.
March 13, 2008 12:34 PM | Reply | Permalink